Office leasing in Downtown Los Angeles is slowing down. The dearth of tech tenants or interest from tech tenants in the market has been a major reason for the anemic leasing activity, especially as traditional office users have rightsized their office square footage. The slowed leasing activity will almost certainly put downward pressure on rents, but for now, effective rents have continued to increase to $30 per square foot, according to research from Savills Studley. We sat down with Andy Lustgarten, senior managing director in Savills Studley Downtown Los Angeles office, and Jeff Cowan, senior managing director in Savills Studley's West Los Angeles office, to talk about office leasing in Downtown Los Angeles and how it will impact rents.

GlobeSt.com: Why has DTLA leasing activity been impaired because the market is a hub for professional services firms?

Andy Lustgarten: Overall, professional services firms are taking a conservative approach to office occupancy. Firms are not expanding their square footage and are choosing to either renew and occupy the same amount of space or relocate to a more efficient footprint and take, on average, 10% less space. As professional services firms comprise approximately 80% of the DTLA office market, leasing activity remains flat.