Peggy Blizzard
On this page we take a look at what’s in store for Irvine with comments by Irvine Co. officials regarding the housing and office market. There is also good news on the job front.
OFFICE SPACE
The office outlook here is also looking rosier. In a column on this page Bill Halford, president of Irvine Co. Office Properties, notes how office vacancies are closing in on 10 percent compared to the over 20 percent rate just a few years ago.
His outlook is based, in part, on the recent USC Lusk Center for Real Estatecolor> forecast. While it doesn’t go into the Irvine market specifically, it does discuss the airport market which includes Irvine. It notes that vacancy rates for the airport and south Orange County sub-markets, although they have the highest office rents, have been cut in half over the past two years from 25 percent to 11 percent.
The survey adds, "Of all the Orange County sub-markets, the airport showed the strongest net absorption with nearly 900,00 square fee absorbed during 2004. The airport sub-market accounted for fully 44 percent of all net absorption in the Orange County during 2004. Signs of such life in the county’s largest sub-market are important and could be reason for considerable optimism."