Belisle adds thatin places like El Segundo, “you can expect to see redevelopment take place… product is taking on a new face.” He adds that he is bullish about where that story goes in terms of shift away from the “build it and they will come” concept.

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The panel, moderated by John Tipton, partner of Century City Office, was attended by many, of the nearly 1,000 people who joined the RealShare L.A. day-long event. The RealShare conference series event drew nearly 1,000 industry executives and is produced by ALM's Real Estate Media Group, which also publishes GlobeSt.com and Real Estate Forum.

Looking outside of L.A., Martin Pupil, regional managing director of Colliers International, says that although Orange County vacancies are going down, and even though rental rates haven't increased, office product there would be at the forefront of his list for investing. “If you aren't in tech, medical devices or healthcare, you aren't getting the rental growths…it is lumpy market to market.”

Touching on Hunt's point about Downtown, Chris Cooper, principal, managing director of Southern California for Avison Young, says that for as far back as he can remember, Downtown L.A. suffered from musical chairs. “Downtown really was on its way to creating the live work play environment pre-recession. Today, we are well primed to really begin to re-gentrify and reinstate that effort.”

He adds that “As corporate look to find good venues to attract and retain the top talent—which is what you are seeing in the silicon valley and down into silicon beach—the whole live, work and play environment will be critical and the office market will benefit from that… It is a domino effect.”

Lew Horne, executive managing director of CBRE, says that what is most interesting, is the many dynamics that are happening right now. “You are seeing major shifts in the way people are using space,” he says. “Efficiencies in technology is also affecting the way we use space.”

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Creative office and the needs of the office user were the focus in CoreNet sponsored breakout session yesterday. According to panelist Gerry Porter, founding principal of Cresa, there has been a sea change in what users want in office space. Once the phenomenon of the corner office with window space and secretarial front is demoed and converted, according to Porter, the demand will then be for the new product. “That demand isn't a product of the economy. It is a function of utilization of space.”

When asked about the draw to places like Playa, Porter says “there is a sheep mentality going on but it is also partly a function of Santa Monica demand.” Playa was languishing for a while and was more affordable, he said, so “from a supply-demand standpoint, it is the right time.”

Nadine Watt, president, Watt Cos., says that there is room for both types of tenants in the market today—the classic office tenant and the entertainment/creative office type tenant, but she points out that flexibility is key such as movable walls for example.

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But if a landlord doesn't create that flexibility, there is concern over the risk of how the space will be reused in the future for a different tenant and their needs, says David Wensley, partner of Cox Castle Nicholson, who moderated the panel. Cassidy Turley executive managing director, Lee Black wasn't as concerned because the leases are usually long, maybe 10 to 15 years.

Watt agreed, noting that if the tenant stays 10 years, they will take that risk because most likely the space would have to be redone after that amount of time anyway.

What is most important, explained Chari Jalali, VP and director of interiors at HOK, is that a space is being driven by function and needs. Important questions to ask are what are the business drivers and cultures, and how does it all fit together. “As long as people are designing and moving into space that meets their functional requirements, the demand will still be there.”

Keep checking back with GlobeSt.com for more coverage from the RealShare L.A. conference.