Inside High-end Creative Office

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LOS ANGELES—HQ Creative Office has found a lucrative niche in the high-end small-box, between 8,000 and 30,000 square feet, creative office market. In an earlier story, GlobeSt.com reported that the newcomer has accumulated a portfolio of nine properties in Los Angeles with rental rates 15% to 20% above market rate. Robert Herscu, the CEO and founder of HQ Creative Office, has a tailored design philosophy that gives him an extra competitive edge and attracts the highest quality tenants, he tells GlobeSt.com exclusively.

"The model is working really well. I have never had a building on the market longer than a month before there was a price war on it," Herscu tells GlobeSt.com. "There is a great demand for product right now, but we are surpassing that highest rent by about 15% or 20%. We are just finishing up our ninth building now. I am focused on building out a portfolio." Herscu spends north of $300 per square foot on his build-outs, compared to the standard $50 per square foot that developers usually invest into a creative office conversion. The larger budget shows. Here is a look at some of the interior spaces he has completed. 

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The developer focuses on design when renovating the properties. "We did a lot of research on what these guys want, and there is a huge demand for people to have their own compound," says Herscu. "The tenants who come through fall in love with the buildings. We use beautiful designers to make the properties look and feel more like a home environment." The firm builds out the entire office, adding ample indoor/outdoor spaces, walnut floors, custom tiles, granite counters, high-end appliances and creates a feng shui floor plan so there is a great flow through the space. "People's tastes are changing, and they are paying a premium to be a beautiful space."