Bisnow's Los Angeles Creative Office & Design Trends

Los Angeles has long been recognized as one of the strongest office markets in the Nation. With over 400 million sqft of office in the market and more than one-third of that being Class A & B+ product there is no doubt that LA is an attractive place to work.

Booming media, tech, graphics, gaming and entertainment sectors have driven growth throughout this cycle, in 2017 demand through the first two quarters was slow and the market added 3 million sqft of new office product to the inventory. Are we growing in the right direction?

Rent growth was about 4% this year, with markets like Culver City and El Segundo seeing the largest gains. Vacancy stands at just below the historical average of around 10.5%, but a few of the emerging markets are trending around 15%. We definitely saw lower absorption numbers in 2017, is this a concern?

“Adaptive Reuse projects” have been the winners in LA this cycle. The Reserve in Playa Vista, The Ford Factory in Arts District, both projects attracted major tenants to an underserved submarket, that in turn spurred further local infill. What projects are in the works that could have a similar impact?

Projects in the works like the ROW DTLA and The Mark 302 in Santa Monica are setting new precedents on how we think about this strategy. There is high demand for retrofitted buildings. How far can we push the boundary on making old new? How can we further improve LA's existing product?