How is the Westside commercial real estate market recovering?
By Dolores Quintana
The commercial real estate market in Los Angeles is still trying to recover from more than two years of pandemic woes. While some areas have shown promise, others do not seem to emerge from the market decline, as reported The Hollywood Reporter.
Jodie Poirier, executive general manager of Colliers, said, quoted by The Hollywood Reporter, “It’s a bit of a tale of two cities, depending on which market we’re talking about,” says
Bill Bloodgood, Newmark’s executive managing director, said, quoted by The Hollywood Reporter, “It’s bouncing back much faster in markets that we consider to be the core tech and entertainment-focused markets.”
That means areas like the newly popular Westside entertainment and tech hubs are doing very well. Areas like Culver City, West Los Angeles, South Bay and the Arts District have an advantage.
It is believed that LA’s strict Covid regulations could affect the recovery of commercial real estate which has 25% of available office space still vacant, according to Colliers’ report for the first quarter of 2022. Employees began to back to offices, but are still not back full-time, which means less office space is needed.
Bloodgood says, quoted by The Hollywood Reporter, “We’re seeing companies doing more with less space.”
A positive effect of the pandemic is that employers have found it necessary to make offices more comfortable and inviting for employees, which is a trend that had already started before COVID, but the tendency for employees to prefer working from home during the pandemic and beyond has forced employers to redouble their efforts to entice employees back into the office.
Employers and businesses are now opting for offices that benefit from more natural light, high ceilings, open spaces filled with plants, and employee amenities. Another priority has been given to making it easier for employees to enter and exit buildings rather than prioritizing security measures for entering and exiting an office.
Water’s Edge in Playa Vista is a good example of this trend, Nike has taken over one of the buildings which has an Olympic size swimming pool.
Jeff Pion, vice president of CBRE, said, quoted by The Hollywood Reporter: “I think more and more companies want to use their office space as a competitive advantage in hiring and creating a culture and an environment where their employees want to come back. in the office,”
Ward recognizes that employers will need to be more competitive. She said, quoted by The Hollywood Reporter, “We have the big resignation on our hands. We have a very tight labor market and we have these changing workplace dynamics. Big companies are all fighting for a lot of the same talent.