Office vacancies at 12.8 percent -- and rising

About 1 million square feet of office space flooded the San Fernando Valley market over the last year, creating a short-term glut that will boost the vacancy rate to more than 13percent by 2010 while driving down rents, according to a report released Monday. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News

The region's vacancy rate jumped 3.9 percentage points to 12.8 percent over the last 12 months as companies downsized or closed under the weight of the recession, said Encino-based Marcus & Millichap.

The construction of 838,000 square feet of space set for completion will push the rate to 13.4 percent by year's end, the company said. The glut of space and tighter credit markets makes it likely that developers will delay future projects.