Both Sides of the Balance Sheet

LOS ANGELES-Many predictions see the commercial office market finally tightening by 2012. Nobody has a crystal ball for today’s global economy but the balance may be slowly shifting towards landlords. In recent months, lenders have been more willing to work with landlords to restructure existing debt and the office market appears to be recovering.

Will the market be fully covered by 2012? I would say yes in certain traditionally strong markets, such as the Century City submarket of Los Angeles, Midtown Manhattan and possibly Washington D.C., but not until late 2012. In other significant markets—including Downtown Los Angeles, Chicago and Dallas—the recovery will probably be delayed until mid 2013 or mid 2014.