The majority of the largest Orange County executive suites companies showed little or no change in total leasable square feet in OC, according to this week’s Business Journal list, with the total leasable square feet nudging up 4% to a total of 824,050 square feet.
Industry executives say they are holding their cards and hesitating to buy new properties because of the economic slowdown that has pushed up vacancies at many of their current spaces.
Of the 14 companies on the list this year, only one added an office site. No. 5 Irvine-based Real Estate Management Corp., gained a 20,000-square-foot location in the Crown Cabot Executive Office in Laguna Niguel.
The sluggish year was a result of careful treading in times of economic uncertainty, according to Brandice Beatty, DBS Inc.’s director of operations.
“DBS has always been very conservative, we only bit off what we can chew,” she said
DBS, which ranked No. 2, saw vacancy rates increase 17% from last year. However, according to Beatty, downsizing of OC companies resulted in resistance among current clients to move into home locations, giving executive suites an edge.
The company, which has sites in Newport Beach, Irvine and San Diego, possibly will add a floor of office space in Newport Beach and a new center in San Diego to its portfolio in the next year, Beatty said.
Irvine-based HQ Global Workplace Inc., which retained the No. 1 position, also played off of company downsizing this year. Last year the company closed two sites and added a new one at 895 Dove St. in Newport Beach.
“Lately we’ve been kind of picky about where we choose our locations,” said Diane Kampner, area vice president of the company. “We’re working with a lot of larger companies that are downsizing.”
HQ Global, which leases space to companies like Santa Clara-based 3Com Corp., America Online Inc., and Charles Schwab, is looking at South County for future sites, according to Kampner. Vacancy rates this year for the company increased to 15% from 3% last year.
Recently the industry has seen added interest from clients that want technology amenities like high speed Internet access and sophisticated telephone systems, Kampner said.
Revisions to last year’s Business Journal figures boosted No. 2 DBS up from the No. 5 position last year. The Newport Beach company reported 108,000 leasable square feet for last year and this year.
No. 14 Valley Plaza Executive Suites in Fountain Valley was a new addition to this year’s list with 9,000 leasing square feet. The company, which has been around since 1980, owns a 9,000-square-foot office site in Fountain Valley. n
