Smaller Leases Boosting Industrial Activity

ANAHEIM, CA-Occupancy is increasing in a number of Orange County industrial parks, primarily as a result of relatively small leases that are producing surprisingly steady activity in the midst of economic uncertainty. Seth Davenport, a vice president in the Anaheim Metro Office of Voit Commercial Brokerage, tells GlobeSt.com that in Yorba Linda the occupancy increased 7% in the second quarter of this year in the 105,600-sf North County Business Park owned by Chicago-based Walton Street Capital. Occupancy also increased 7% in the second quarter for a year-to-date increase of 13% at Walton Street’s 110,000-sf Fullerton Business Center.

Davenport is part of a Voit team including Louis Tomaselli, Mitch Zehner, Hayden Socci and Mike Boomer that represents Walton Street on the North Orange County industrial properties. Voit has a unique window into the industrial leasing world in Orange County because, as GlobeSt.com reported earlier this year, the company handles leasing for 19 business parks in Orange County totaling more than 3.3 million sf that are owned by Walton Street.

Davenport tells GlobeSt.com that much of the industrial leasing in Orange County is in deals ranging from about 1,000 sf to 5,000 sf, often with existing tenants taking more space in the same industrial park or signing short-term renewals. He cites a number of reasons for the trend, which contrasts somewhat from conditions before the credit crunch and the economic downturn, when small business owners were buying industrial buildings seemingly as fast as developers could build them.