Valley Primed for Growth

UNIVERSAL CITY, CA-Things are looking bright in the San Fernando Valley, according to a grouping of real estate professionals. The area, often satirized in teen films of the 1980s as a breeding ground for shopaholic teenage girls, is actually a thriving area for business, particularly the entertainment industry. At the second annual San Fernando Valley 2005, held at the Hilton Hotel in Universal City earlier this week, conference topics explored the history, current market trends and what the future holds for the San Fernando Valley. Breakout sessions included panels on affordable housing, financing, apartment opportunities and the market conditions for office and industrial properties.Hosted by California State University, Northridge, the half-day conference featured keynote speaker Joel Kotkin, futurist and author of “The City: A Global History.” In his address, he noted the Valley is gradually shedding its suburban image and becoming more culturally diverse–he specifically pointed to a rise in minority residents. He also noted that the influx of people combined with an increase of infrastructure will make the Valley a more self-sufficient place to live. “The valley is becoming less dependant of the rest of the city,” said Kotkin. Hessam Nadji, managing director for Marcus and Millichap, spoke on economic trends, noting that although the US was facing a downswing after 9/11 and the stock market crash, the commercial real estate market managed to stay afloat, and has been recognized as a stable, long-term producer of returns. “There is a tremendous amount of capital flowing into commercial real estate from all sectors, private investors, institutions, foreign investors, public REITs, private REITs and so on,” Nadji said.In the Valley, Nadji pointed to a tightening apartment market as evidence of the area’s continued economic upswing. He said the Valley boasts “one of the lowest vacancy rates in the county this year.” He said that high demand should drive apartment vacancy in the Valley down to 3%.