The LA Downtown News reports on the meeting of the Downtown Breakfast Club from a week ago, where they determined everything in Downtown LA is coming up roses. Far be it from us to mention anything negative about our fair Downtown, lest we stand in the way of the proverbial charging bull. Highlights include:
· 443,000 new non-farm jobs in LA County and steady growth in Downtown's professional services, education and health services, tourism and hospitality sectors
· Downtown's 450,000 jobs will see modest growth as a result of the billions of dollars being pumped into entertainment, cultural and residential development
· Demand for industrial land is at an all-time high, with a vacancy rate of 1.8%.
· Office vacancies falling from 17.2% last year to 14.7% this year
The red hot real estate market will continue to churn out high-end housing units, with some prices reaching dizzying peaks, said Steve Marcussen, an executive director of Cushman & Wakefield. Marcussen told the audience assembled at the California Club that developers will push the envelope with higher end residential high-rises in which some units could fetch up to $2,000 a square foot. The current high is roughly $600 a square foot. With all the wonderful news on Downtown LA, the only negative really mentioned in the story, was that the residential population wasn't growing fast enough. The bulls are running on Grand Avenue.
· An Economic Peek Into 2006 [LA Downtown News]