The Orange County industrial market includes 42,596,823 square feet of Research and development (R & D;) space. Nearly 63% of the R & D; product is in the southern portion of the county: the Airport Area has approximately 15.7 million square feet, and South Orange County has 10.9 million square feet.
In the first quarter, South Orange County was the only market area to complete construction on R & D; space, with 138,000 square feet being added in Rancho Santa Margarita.
Current construction of R & D; product includes 151,680 square feet in West Orange County, 253,760 square feet in the Airport Area and another 74,780 square feet in South Orange County. No R & D; construction is under way in North Orange County.
A total of 925,276 square feet of R & D; space were leased or sold in OC in the first quarter, an increase from the fourth quarter. Net absorption for the first quarter totaled a positive 262,325 square feet, the most positive absorption experienced since the beginning of 1999. The majority of the positive activity was seen in West Orange County, where there were more than 205,000 square feet absorbed in the first quarter.
R & D; availability declined in the first quarter, continuing a trend that began in the second quarter of 1999. The availability rate for R & D; space dropped to 10.55% in the first quarter, down from 10.91% at the end of 1999.
Industrial asking rents dropped in the first quarter of 2000. The average asking lease rate for R & D; space dropped to 80 cents per square foot per month, down 8 cents from the fourth quarter and 3 cents lower than the asking rate in the first quarter of 1999.
Average asking sale prices for R & D; buildings, however, rose in the first quarter to $110.66, from $107.65 in the fourth quarter.
Asking prices for both sale and leases are highest in the Airport Area and South Orange County.
