The company has inked an 84-month lease with landlord DL San Diego LP to occupy space in Carmel Point Office Park, which is located at 15010 Avenue of Science. According to the terms of the $5.2-million agreement, Northrop Grumman will move into its new space in January 2004.

In the recent transaction, DL San Diego LP was represented by Jim Laing, Dan Broderick, Mark Wayne, Dan Runyon and Steve Wolf of Burnham Real Estate Oncor International. David Crabb and Herb Hafter of Trammell Crow Co. acted on behalf of Northrop Grumman, which describes itself as a $25-billion global defense enterprise with 120,000 employees and operations in 25 countries and all 50 US states.

The San Diego County office market is beginning to turn around, with a significant increase in third quarter net absorption, according to a recent report by Burnham Real Estate Services. The firm's researches put last quarter's net absorption at 843,650 sf, which "has bumped year-to-date activity to 1.4 million sf," according to the report. They also predict that fourth quarter activity will reach 600,000 sf of net absorption, which would push the year's total figure to more than two million sf.