The Orange County economy absolutely thrives with unreal weather, 40 miles of coastline and 3 million residents. The majority of office occupiers in the Newport Beach/Irvine OC Airport area are finance, energy, professional services, life science and tech. The media & streaming companies of Silicon Beach in LA County South Bay, namely El Segundo, has just started to move into the area. It ranks in top five office space markets on the West Coast and top thirty in the United States.
For the office market outlook for 2024 and the 40 million square feet in Orange County, overall vacancy ended 2023 at over 23%. In the 1st quarter of 2024, the combined Irvine/Newport Beach market had overall vacancy of 22% which is largely impacted by Irvine’s glut of empty space and subleases. 2024 is sure to remain a bumpy ride for landlords, and it will not be until 2025 that the OC office market has any chance to balance or flatten. It will remain a strong new tenant/occupier market through the rest of 2024. Tenant leverage is particularly acute in non-core Class A and all Class B and Class C buildings.
In the John Wayne Airport Area sub-market, the median office rent per year is $38 per rentable square foot. This market includes Newport Beach, 9 miles of coast and Fashion Island/Newport Center where mid-rise buildings sit amongst the most desirable residential addresses in Orange County.
Fashion Island boasts Orange County’s finest high-end office space. The price per square foot in Newport Beach is the highest in Orange County and tops out at over $4.16/RSF monthly ($50/RSF annually).
The shear market size makes finding the right space difficult and time-consuming. Navigating subleases opportunities particularly requires local knowledge and strong expertise.
