Ventura County is seeing an upswing in non-farm employment growth, and it is spurring demand for class-A office space. Professional services specifically firms have matured in the market and are entering their second generation with new talent and partnership. In total, 9,100 new non-farm jobs have been added to the market since 2016, and this job growth has been the main driver of office market activity.

“We have been seeing growth in the financial sectors, wealth management, and, obviously, the healthcare sector,” Mike Foxworthy, EVP and branch manager of DAUM's Ventura County office, tells GlobeSt.com. “In a lot of cases, these are individual companies that have been around a long time and are run by an entrepreneur and they are expanding and brining on new talent. The area is maturing. Thousand Oaks, Westlake and East Ventura County are young family areas, and people there started their own companies, so eventually, they built their businesses up. These professional services companies are really needed by the families who live out there.”

This new activity is spurring demand for class-A office space, specifically. Foxworthy is handling the leasing of Westlake Park Place, a class-A office campus in Westlake Village. “It is really located at main and main, as far as Westlake is concerned. It always has been the financial sector of the community,” he says. “There were older building that were constructed in the 80s, and Westlake Park Place was never developed. It was really a diamond in the rough. What is really key is that they built really high-end quality office that we really haven't seen in the valley. They really took the time and spent the money to build the kind of office that was attractive to these companies and that would attract talent.”

The property is already 85% leased, including an 8-year, 9,000 square-foot office lease signed by One Capital Management in phase II of the development. The firm is currently located in the first phase of the project, and is doubling its footprint in the campus. Overall, there has been tremendous demand for space in the development. “In the second phase, we have seen a lot of interest,” says Foxworthy. “We captured Dole Packaged Foods before the buildings were even developed, and that is the type of tenants that we are seeing in this market. There are a lot of companies in the financial sectors and high-end professional sectors in the community.”

Instant Insights /

Ventura's Employment Growth Spurs Class-A Office Demand

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