IRVINE, CA—Not having one particular industry as dominant in the Orange County office market has been lauded as a blessing by those who lived through the breakdown of the mortgage industry during the recession years. But having this diversity can make it difficult for experts to predict what will happen in terms of net absorption and where the growth will be. GlobeSt.com spoke exclusively with Ryan Ward, senior associate with Colliers International, about the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for the office market in 2015.

GlobeSt.com: What challenges do you foresee next year for the Orange County office market?

Ward: One challenge we foresee for the Orange County office market is the prediction of which industry's growth is posed to accelerate. Orange County contains a diverse base of industries that occupy the office market. Unlike other California office markets such as Silicon Valley and Los Angeles that have an expanding technology base, Orange County is much more diverse, without a single industry leading the charge.

An additional challenge the Orange County office market will face is maintaining the sustained rent growth the market experienced during 2014. The leasing market has largely been dominated by large transactions that accounted for much of the absorption. We are somewhat still waiting for the more local businesses occupying less than 15,000 square feet to fully recover and expand. With that said, our Colliers International research department reported a weighted average asking rate of $2.02 in Q3 2014, up from $1.94 in Q3 2013, and we anticipate this trend continuing through 2015.

GlobeSt.com: What opportunities do you see for this market in 2015?

Ward: One opportunity we see in 2015 is for developers to continue to take advantage of the demand for creative-office space or space that utilizes creative elements or more-contemporary finishes. In our experience, this type of space commands a premium over more traditional office space. We are seeing developers build speculative creative-office suites within a traditional office building as well as full creative-office conversions of existing office projects. This was something that was not done on a large scale before in Orange County, and we expect this trend to continue through 2015.

GlobeSt.com: What other trends do you see for this market?

Ward: We see 2015 continuing where 2014 left off. As the economy continues to grow and with no significant deliveries of office product set for 2015, we believe office rental rates are going to continue to rise and vacancy to decrease. As I mentioned earlier, we believe there will be continued demand for creative-office space and expect to see more delivered to the market.