Last year, insurance broker Bolton & Co. needed to create a long-term office facility featuring high-end finishes in Pasadena. The organization, which was moving from 245 S. Los Robles Ave. in Pasadena, was seeking a space that fostered employee collaboration and highlighted their brand, with an April 2011 move date.

LOS ANGELES—The most recent report from the state Employment Development Department, released at the end of March, showed that California added 4,000 jobs to its non-farm employment base in February, after adding 1,500 positions in January. The numbers, says economist Christopher Thornberg of Beacon Economics here, show that the state's employment recovery is on pace, albeit a slow one.

ORANGE COUNTY, CA—According to local industry sources, Orange County is on the up and up. Class A retail product in high-traffic locations—urban and strong suburban markets—saw strong demand in 2011, and will continue to lead the market in 2012.

The major markets on the West Coast have held up relatively well, for the most part, but some have fared better than others. One of the stronger economies in the region is San Francisco, driven by healthy employment growth in the technology and professional and business services sectors. Moody's Analytics forecast the city's economy would continue on its upward trajectory with employment expanding 2% in 2012 followed by growth accelerating in the mid-3% range through 2014 and 2015.

BEVERLY HILL, CA—The multifamily market in Southern California will have some pockets of growth in 2012, but it is not going to be as robust or as broad as some people are projecting, according to Paul Daneshrad of StarPoint Properties. Real Estate Forum caught up with the locally based CEO to discuss what's in store for multifamily market this year.

Toward the end of 2011, Caterpillar Logistics Inc. signed on to purchase 46 acres of land at the Tejon Ranch Commerce Center. There, the tractor giant plans to build a 400,000-squarefoot parts distribution facility to serve both dealers and customers throughout California and the Western US.

NEW YORK CITY—The industry has lost three iconic figures—all company founders—in a span of little more than three weeks, most recently with the passing of Wm. Polk Carey, chairman of locally based W.P. Carey & Co. LLC and the W.P. Carey Foundation. The sale-leaseback pioneer died Jan. 2 in West Palm Beach, FL at age 81.

LOS ANGELES—This past July, Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing and Lincoln Property Co. acquired the 950,000-square-foot headquarters campus of engineering firm Parsons Corp. for $320 million. Additionally, NBC Universal signed a 96,000-square-foot lease to move to 10 Universal Plaza in Universal City in 2012. These deals, among many others, show that premier buildings in key L.A. locations are seeing stronger demand from creditworthy tenants "that have identified this period as a historic opportunity to reposition themselves and lock in low rents," according to Grubb & Ellis.