How OC Eclipsed L.A. in ’17 Office Development

Ellis: “It shows that Orange County has done a great job in positioning itself not just as a great office market but as a great creative-office market.”

NEWPORT BEACH, CA—More open blocks of land that were finally being developed in a less-dense environment is one reason why Orange County’s office development eclipsed that of Los Angeles in 2017, CBRE first VP Garrett Ellis and senior associate Carter Haslam tell GlobeSt.com.

According to a recent report from the firm, last year 2.5 million square feet of new office product were added in Orange County, of which more than half were pre-leased at time of completion; this was a greater amount of office development added than the 2.4 million square feet Los Angeles County saw completed last year, despite the fact that L.A. is considerably larger than Orange County. This new high-quality space helped push asking lease rates above prior peak levels, even as vacancy rates increased slightly.