South Orange County is quickly becoming the 'Downtown' of theOrange County office market—stealing the title from the AirportArea. South County has seen migration from other popular officemarkets, namely the Airport Area, and in the first quarter, thesubmarket led office absorption in Orange County, logging 864,000square feet, according to the first quarter report fromNewmark Knight Frank. Broadcom's660,000-square-foot lease at Five Point Gateway in Irvine accountedfor the majority of the leasing activity, while class-B renovationshelped fuel rent growth—making the market the most expensive inOrange County. To find out more about the South County market, wesat down with George Thompson, senior managingdirector at Newmark Knight Frank, for an exclusive interview.

GlobeSt.com: What is driving activity in the SouthOrange County market to the extent that it has become a leader inthe office market?