Cushman Realty Reports First-Quarter Office Market Statistics; E-commerce Companies Drive West L.A. Absorption, Vacancy Rate at All-Time Low.

Business Editors & Real Estate Writers

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 4, 2000

Cushman Realty Corp., an internationally recognized real estate brokerage and advisory firm, today reported first-quarter market absorption and vacancy figures for downtown Los Angeles, West Los Angeles, Tri-Cities (Glendale, Pasadena, Burbank) and the San Fernando Valley areas.

According to Mitchell F. Russ, manager of real estate services for Cushman Realty, West Los Angeles leads all sub-markets in the first quarter with net absorption of 430,306 SF (square feet). The San Fernando Valley added 280,057 SF of net absorption, while the Tri-Cities experienced net absorption of 158,020 SF. Downtown Los Angeles was the only sub-market to experience negative net absorption of 440,462 SF.

West L.A.'s vacancy rate dropped by 1.2% to 6.7%, marking a new historical low. The Tri-Cities vacancy dropped 1.5% to 10.8%. San Fernando Valley vacancy fell 0.3% to 11.5%. Downtown L.A.'s vacancy level rose by 2.0% to 25.8%.

"The e-commerce and high-tech companies continue to drive the leasing activity in the West Los Angeles market," said Russ. "This market is rapidly running out of space, and we are seeing this demand for space spill over to other sub-markets such as Culver City and El Segundo."

Arden's Westwood Center at 1100 Glendon, Westwood, has pre-leased approximately 90% of its 314,000 SF to several "new-economy" tenants including PeopleSupport.com, 50,000 SF, and Thirsty .com / Handprint, 38,000 SF. Also, Arden's Howard Hughes Center at 6060 Center Drive, Los Angeles, has pre-leased approximately 95% of its 240,000 SF to a diverse tenant group including 100,000 SF to IXL Inc., and 48,000 SF to Fulwider, Patton, Lee & Utecht. Lastly, Fox Entertainment Group renewed 315,000 SF for 15 years at Fox Plaza in Century City.

450 Brand in Glendale has pre-leased 85% of its 237,000 SF to a number of tenants, the largest of which is IHOP for 67,000 SF. 20th Century absorbed more than 170,000 SF in Warner Center. Universal back-filled approximately 40,000 SF it had been marketing for sublease at 10 Universal City Plaza.

Downtown Los Angeles' negative absorption was largely due to the expiration of Arthur Andersen's 124,000 SF direct lease at 911 Wilshire, and the availability of more than 100,000 SF of Deloitte & Touche space at 1000 Wilshire.

"While Downtown still appears to be suffering from fallout by some of the more traditional type tenants, it continues to have considerable success at attracting telecom companies," said Russ. "Metro Media Network, 35,000 SF, and Adelphia Communications, 32,000 SF, leased one space at the former AT&T building at 611 W. 6th Street. This space had only been on the market for only a short time."

For more information, visit the Cushman Realty Corp. Web site at www.cushmanrealty.com.

Headquartered in Downtown Los Angeles, Cushman Realty Corp. is an internationally recognized real estate brokerage and advisory firm specializing in office leasing, investment services and consulting. Founded in 1978, the firm also maintains offices in West Los Angeles, Irvine, San Diego, San Francisco, Walnut Creek, Denver, Houston, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and New York. The firm's corporate headquarters are located at 601 South Figueroa St., 47th floor, Los Angeles, Calif. 90017, 213/627-4700.