Michael Soto from Colliers International recently released his reports for office and industrial markets in the San Fernando Valley and Ventura County for the second quarter of 2009. Deterioration in market fundamentals is slowing and leasing activity is increasing for the office market. Total vacancy rates increased to 17.9 percent and net absorption was -224,600 square feet. Weighted average asking rents decreased for the fifth consecutive quarter to $2.38 per square foot per month Full Service Gross. Market fundamentals are the weakest they have been in more than a decade. On the bright side, leasing activity increased 37 percent over the previous quarter to 620,200 square feet. The report said the fact that the amount of space givebacks was lower than expected this quarter suggests cautious optimism that the market may finally be reaching a bottom. Rising vacancy and meager activity show the industrial market has yet to hit bottom, said the report. San Fernando Valley and Ventura County experienced a net absorption of -947,100 square feet in Q2, as industrial users gave back space due to difficult business conditions. The total vacancy rate increased 50 basis points from 3.2 percent last quarter to 3.7 percent. Despite uncertainty facing most owner/users and investors, that market saw a 39 percent increase in the amount of sales and leasing activity from the previous quarter to 820,500 square feet. This is still down 42 percent from the 1.4 million square feet of activity seen a year ago, but a welcome sign amongst weakening fundamentals, said the report. Vacancy rates in the area’s R & D; market increased 40 basis points from 10.3 percent last quarter to 10.7 percent in Q2. Sales and leasing activity were up from 73,700 square feet in Q1 to 176,000 square feet in Q2. Multi-family Slam Dunk(s) Lee & Associates-LA North/Ventura, Inc. recently completed the sale of Canyon Crest, a 158 unit multi-family property at 23639 San Fernando Road in Santa Clarita. The sales price was $23 million and the building’s occupancy rate was 95 percent at the time of sale. The company said it believes the transaction is the largest multi-family deal to occur in the Santa Clarita area since 2006. Jim Fisher, Craig Stevens and Mike Smith represented the buyer, Santa Clarita Canyon Crest LLC. Canyon Crest was built in 1992 and includes one-, two-, and three-bedroom units ranging in size from 690 square feet to 1,122 square feet. Common area ammenities include a pool, two spas, fitness center, basketball court and subterranean parking. The buyer also owns a nearby apartment building and can achieve certain economies of scale with the addition of Canyon Crest to its portfolio, said Lee & Associates. The seller is an institutional real estate investment company that owned the property for approximately 10 years. Investment Real Estate Associates, a commercial real estate advisory firm based in Los Angeles, completed the sale of the 15 unit Sherman Way Apartments in Reseda. The sale price was $1,625,000. Built in 1976, Sherman Way Apartments is located at 19505 Sherman Way. The property offers one-bedroom/one bath loft-style townhouses. Warren Berzack of IREA represented the seller, MG Ventures, LLC. Todd Schwartz of Hanes Investment Realty, Inc. represented the buyer, a private individual. The Grubb & Ellis Factor George Stavaris and his team at Grubb & Ellis recently closed on a sizeable chunk of property. Stavaris, Colette Ramirez and Darren Cline of Grubb & Ellis represented the buyer on the purchase of a 60,453 square foot industrial property located at 9223 Owensmouth in Chatsworth. The Class A building, built in 2007, sold for $6.8 million, or $112.52 per square foot. The seller was Chris Roof and he was represented by Ron Kassan of Beitler Commercial. The buyer was a conglomerate of food companies known as Dream Team Executives LLC. Stavaris said the deal was interesting for a couple of reasons. The first is that the selling price represents a new low for Class A in the area. And given how much money was invested into the building’s infrastructure in recent years, the new owner will have to do less build-out. Secondly, the prior owner had been teetering in and out of foreclosure on the property, so the sale helped him avoid the legal ramifications of the latter. The team also closed on an 8,000 square foot office building at 1721-1725 Victory Blvd. in Glendale. The purchase price was $1,760,000 or $220 per square foot. The buyer, Citadel Environmental, is planning on pursuing Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification for the building. And Bank of America provided the financing needed for the new owner to upgrade the building. Folks from CB Richard Ellis represented the seller, MNM Group. Speaking of LEED Certification A couple months ago I reported that developers of 2300 Empire Center in Burbank had applied for LEED certification. Well, they got it. On July 1, the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) gave the Empire Center project a LEED Gold certification. Ware Malcomb Los Angeles provided architecture and interior design services for the 363,000 square foot, Class A, seven story building. LEED certification refers to an independent third-party -the USGBC- veritfying that a building project meets the highest green building and performance standards. A number of other buildings in Burbank are also pursuing or have already obtained LEED certification. A couple of those include: Hangar 25 at Bob Hope Airport, which obtained LEED Platinum certification; and Warner Bros. Entertainment’s 21,600 square foot Stage 23, which is being constructed to LEED standards and will be the first green sound stage built by a major Hollywood studio. Staff Reporter Eric Billingsley can be reached at (818) 316-3124 or at [email protected] .