In LA County office market, tech leasing drove rents higher in 3Q

Tech firms that inked leases include electric scooter maker Bird, video game publisher Nexon and the biggest, online coupon service Honey

Honey co-founders George Ruan and Ryan Hudson and Fourth & Traction
Honey co-founders George Ruan and Ryan Hudson and Fourth & Traction

Tech companies keep hanging shingles in Los Angeles County.

Tech firms drove office rents higher from July to September, as overall occupancy countywide remained steady, according to a CBRE third quarter data. The Los Angeles Times first reported on the findings.

Asking rents for newer, Class A, space grew to $3.71 per square foot, up from $3.62 per square foot a year ago. The largest deal signed in the third quarter was a 130,000-square-foot lease signed by Honey, an online coupon service, at Hudson Pacific Properties’ Fourth & Traction development in the Arts District.

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Tech companies found homes across the city in the third quarter.

Electric scooter company Bird inked a 58,000-square-foot lease in Santa Monica in August, while video game publisher Nexon signed a nine-year deal for its new 49,000-square-foot headquarters in El Segundo last month.

In its own office market report for Los Angeles city, Savills Studley found much of the same trends. It called  the market “top heavy,” citing much of the activity from large leases signed by tech firms. But the report also found companies were downsizing to smaller space.

According to CBRE, vacancy rates in L.A. County were about flat, rising slightly to 14.4 percent, from 14.2 percent year over year, and from the second quarter. [LAT] — Dennis Lynch