Commercial construction projects paused during the pandemic in many parts of Southern California. Construction projects in Los Angeles and San Diego, specifically, were put on hold, but in Orange County, construction activity largely carried on without issue. In California, construction activity was considered an essential business, but ongoing projects had to adhere to health and safety guidelines.

"In Los Angeles, we saw a considerable number of commercial real estate projects go on hold especially in the hospitality and commercial tenant improvement sectors. Large corporations that had a book full of projects for 2020 paused on them immediately in March till end of year," Anu Rao, VP at JLL, tells GlobeSt.com.

In San Diego, there was a similar trend. Projects early in the development phase were put on hold. "In San Diego commercial real estate construction has slowed down as stay at home orders were put in place," says Dominica Correia, VP at JLL. "Construction that was already underway, continued and those projects were executed.  For projects in the conceptual phase, companies took a pause to decide if they wanted to move forward."