LOS ANGELES-David Sorenson, VP associate director of retail agency leasing for Jones Lang LaSalle, declares “the Los Angeles retail market is healthy,” during a JLL-produced commercial real estate video series that included three interviews from Southern California retail market experts.

“It is certainly the best that I have seen since 2008 when the floor fell out of the market,” says Sorenson. “Tenants are out looking for projects and certainly development in the area has picked up, so it is certainly the best I have seen in about four years.”

Although much of the retail market growth stems from new tenant projects, Sorenson asserts that new development is the driving force behind the market's stability. “Number one, development activity has picked up around the city and around the county and in California in general,” says Sorenson. “From a tenant standpoint, the healthy sign is not only do you see retailers expanding their current formats or their current brands, but they are out looking for other possibilities to create additional concepts that they can expand.” Sorenson offers Gap Inc.'s recent acquisition of clothing brand Intermix as an example of retailers expanding their brand and, therefore, helping drive the retail market. Gap Inc. fueled the retail market similarly in 2008 with the acquisition of Athleta, which led them to expand their retail space to compete with athletic clothing brand Lululemon Athletica.