Vacancy rates on rise, but remain lower than last year.

Continued business from the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports kept Mid-Cities rentals near capacity in the fourth quarter, though the data doesn't fully reflect the submarket's condition.

Industrial vacancy rates in the region, which includes Cerritos, Downey, and Santa Fe Springs, ticked up a tenth of a point to 2.3 percent, though that was still down from the 2.7 percent rate of a year ago, according to Grubb & Ellis Co.

Paul Sablock, a senior vice president at Colliers Seeley International, said the increase does not represent a trend in the strong industrial market, given the little space up for lease.

"There's less product available. Empirically, when you have fewer and fewer deals to look at, it throws the numbers off," Sablock said.

Sales and lease activity did increase slightly between the third and fourth quarters to 1.4 million square feet from 1.3 million. But that was still less than half the 3.2 million square feet recorded in the last quarter of 2005.

Rents meanwhile fell to 55 cents per square foot from 58 cents, but brokers said that was more a reflection of the product available.

"The rents have more to do with the type of properties on the market--mostly second and third generation buildings," said Rick Ellison, a senior director at Cushman & Wakefield.

Industrial Market At a Glance

Inventory: 117 million square feet

Under Construction: 341,000 square feet

Class A Asking Rents: 55 cents

MAIN EVENTS

* A joint venture of Hanover Financial and Kennedy Wilson Multifamily Management. a subsidiary of Kennedy-Wilson Inc., paid $51.5 million for Century Place, a 306-unit apartment complex in Paramount. The deal reflected the area's strong housing market.

* Clausen Investments Inc. purchased a 137,700-square-foot building at 16222 Phoebe Ave. in La Mirada from Bristol Industries I LLC for $13 million. Clausen will open a kitchen countertop manufacturing business in May.

* Jamison Properties Inc. bought an 187,105-square-foot office tower from Cerritos Investors at 18000 Studebaker Road for $49.3 million. The Class A office building includes a four-level parking structure and was 98 percent leased at the time of sale.

* Traveler's Club Luggage Inc. signed a five-year lease with Majestic Realty Co. for a 100,000-square-foot industrial building at 14720 E. Alondra Blvd. in La Mirada. The 5-acre property features 16 loading docks and one drive-in bay.

* Master Warehouses leased 52.500 square feet of industrial space from Richline Textile at 8321 Canford St. in Pico Rivera. The five-year lease is valued at $1.5 million.

* Century Place. a 306-unit Paramount apartment complex, was purchased by a joint venture of Hanover Financial and Kennedy-Wilson Multifamily Management for $51.5 million.

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