What is happening in the office leasing market?
Wednesday, October 23, 2013 at 5:46PM 
I recently attended a round table lunch discussion with Douglas Emmett in Woodland Hills. The meeting took place in their last remaining full floor availability at the Warner Corporate Center near Victory Boulevard and Canoga Avenue. The office space presented very well while the views of Warner Center was clear as day utilizing the office’s full window line and natural lighting. The turnout among active brokers in the area was successful and the discussion moderated by David Hitzel (Regional Manager –Leasing) from Douglas Emmett was very informative as majority of the brokers affirmed the general consensus about Tenants and Landlords in the marketplace.
“We are seeing that Landlords are giving less concession while larger Tenants have fewer choices.” (Broker)
The pace of demand for office space the San Fernando Valley is being funneled from the west Los Angeles markets. The east and central valley including Studio City, Sherman Oaks and Encino continues to see very strong demand while the west valley is still catching up. The tech boom in the west Los Angeles markets has lead way to fewer options of quality office spaces to lease. As a direct result, Tenants are looking to the central valley along the 405 and 101 corridors as available office spaces are slim. This has resulted in a higher demand for office space and increased rental rates in those areas.
“We expected to see this improving trend towards the Woodland Hills market as the demand for office space continues to extend down the 101 freeway.” (Broker)
“Still we haven’t notice any large hiring in the local area.”(Broker) Although the office momentum seems positive, new full time job creation continues to be sluggish as this continues to be a major concern for real growth in the local economy.