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The office market in Downtown Long Beach remains resilient according to DLBA’s Q2 2021 Snapshot Report released in August.

While the pandemic continues to have an impact on trends, there is a good amount of data showing that DTLB has many assets and will continue to play a role to serve as a key component of growth and assist Long Beach in its economic recovery. The latest quarterly report is contextualized with a variety of research about the Downtown office market including inventory, vacancy rates, net absorption, leasing activity, pedestrian counts, and parking activity. 

“Based on the Q2 Snapshot analysis, occupancy rates appear to have stabilized in Downtown and while rents have increased slightly, DTLB remains more cost-effective compared to other markets in Southern California,” said Morris Mills, DLBA Research and Public Policy Analyst.

Office space accounts for about 70 percent of the commercial properties in DTLB. Below are several key findings from the report:

  • Vacancy rates in Downtown were about 19 percent, up 3 percent compared to Q1 2020, a pre-pandemic baseline.
  • In Q2 2021, Downtown experienced its first positive net absorption (35,619 SF) since the beginning of 2020.
  • 33% of employers indicated a return to full in-person work when they can.
  • Over the past nine months, monthly total pedestrian counts in Downtown have steadily increased from 1.1 million to 1.4 million.
  • While street parking activity lagged from previous years, the average duration in paid parking spots has more than tripled to 125 minutes. (Note: on-street metered parking is limited to two hours or 120 minutes).

The Q2 2021 Snapshot Report leverages a combination of real estate market data from CoStar, a DLBA COVID-19 Economic Impact Survey, the California State University, Long Beach Small Business Monitor, and Downtown parking and pedestrian data.  

DLBA is committed to producing its quarterly Snapshot Report featuring a different sector of the Downtown real estate market (retail, residential and office), as well as its Annual Economic Profile, which has established itself as a platinum model in the industry. The next DLBA Snapshot Report, expected in mid-October, will focus on the retail market in DTLB.