LOS ANGELES-Use of creative office space in L.A. County is expanding beyond its roots in media, tech and entertainment companies on the West side. Now law firms, real estate and financial companies in different submarkets are leasing them.

That was the conclusion of a CBRE Research report that investigated the growth of creative office space in L.A. County. In addition to an expanding tenant scope, the report says the trend toward a more efficient use of office space is expected to gain velocity in the near-term, as lease expirations will increase by approximately 10% each year for the next three years.

Traditional office configurations are only occupied roughly 48% of the time, according to CBRE's Workplace Strategy Group. As a result, many firms are eliminating the cubicle/executive office configurations in favor of shared workplaces, hoping to increase collaboration, creativity and productivity.

“We are seeing office tenants across all industries focusing on space optimization, increased collaboration, enhanced culture, employee wellness, and the ability to attract, engage and retain top talent,” said Gary Baragona, director of research and analysis for CBRE and the author of the report, in a prepared statement. “More and more, we are seeing work environments with open seating, collaborative workspaces, focus rooms, learning corners and socialization areas.”

Citing CBRE's most recent “Tenants in the Market” report for West Los Angeles and downtown L.A., Baragona said that “more than 35% of the 114 companies currently in the market with requirements of more than 10,000 square feet have expressed the desire to either locate in a pure creative office building or within an alternative creative space configuration in a traditional office building.” With this shift in demand, the vacancy rate within buildings with existing creative build-out in core creative office markets remains tight, while the vacancy rate in traditional office buildings continues to stay elevated.

In Santa Monica, which some consider ground zero for L.A.'s creative office boom, elevated lease rates and a dwindling supply of vacant space are causing many users to consider adjacent submarkets like Playa Vista, Culver City and Hollywood for their creative space needs. In addition, many office tenants have started to convert space within traditional high-rise office buildings into an alternative creative office space configuration within a similar high-rise building.

In 2011, approximately 10% of the new direct class-A transactions in downtown L.A. were these types of space conversions. This figure increased to 24% in 2012 and is expected to see further increases this year, as more tenants make the move to creative space, according to the CBRE report.

Among the tenants in downtown L.A. converting traditional high-rise space to creative office is CBRE, which will move its global corporate headquarters and 200 regional employees representing all CBRE's service lines into the top two floors at 400 S. Hope St. in September. The new office will be one of the company's first “Workplace360” offices in the United States. “Workplace360” is CBRE's Alternate Workplace Strategy initiative, which attempts to maximize employee collaboration and productivity through technology, space utilization, sustainability, mobility and enhanced flexibility.

“In the process of designing our new space, we extensively researched different strategies that would allow us to work more collaboratively and efficiently in serving our clients,” said Lewis C. Horne, executive managing director for the greater Los Angeles and Orange County regions for CBRE, in a prepared statement. “The result will be one of the most forward-thinking offices in the country, and will reflect the strategic advice that we are providing to our occupier clients who are increasingly exploring new ways to work better, smarter and more productively in an increasingly mobile, highly connected world. This is not simply about driving efficiencies – it's about building a more collaborative, mobile and healthy environment.”

As previously reported by GlobeSt.com, Avison Young's Neil Resnick says the environment of an office space reflects a firm's character.