Vacancy

For some, construction kicked off during better years, when office rentals in prime locales seemed a sure shot for developers. Others are older, once bustling but now deserted after hemorrhaging tenants during the economic downturn. But one way or another, they are among the emptiest office buildings in Southern California. A number of the highest- vacancy buildings are in Burbank and Glendale, according to data from CoStar Group Inc. The real estate research firm looked at the percentage of space that was rented out at Class A office buildings with 300,000 square feet or more.

Although Memphis Coach Lionel Hollins told a radio station he was stunned the Grizzlies granted him permission to speak with other teams, his representatives called the Clippers on Monday to let them know he was interested in their head-coaching job, according to two NBA executives who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. Hollins and his agent, Warren LeGarie, are waiting for the Clippers' front office to hear back from owner Donald Sterling, one of the executives said.

A surge in leasing activity has put a small dent in the South Bay office vacancy rate, but more than 20% of offices here remain unoccupied, according to quarterly real estate surveys conducted independently by two companies. Grubb & Ellis Commercial Real Estate Services reported this week that 21.5% of the South Bay's 28.7 million square feet of office space is unoccupied, compared to 23% a year ago. Company analysts said that a record amount of space--840,000 square feet--was leased in the first three months of 1989, with particularly heavy leasing in the Torrance-405 Freeway and Los Angeles International Airport areas.

SACRAMENTO - State Assemblyman Robert Blumenfield's election to the Los Angeles City Council last week won't keep him from helping to push a state budget through by June 15. But it could complicate things later for his fellow Democrats in the lower house. Blumenfield, chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee, won't leave state office until July 1. But his planned departure is among a handful of resignations in both houses that have set off a round of musical chairs for the Democrats who dominate the Legislature.

The percentage of homes that are vacant and for sale in the U.S. set a record in the first quarter, the government said. A Census Bureau report showed that 2.9% of U.S. homes -- excluding rental properties -- were vacant and for sale, compared with 2.8% in the fourth quarter of 2007. It was the highest quarterly number in records going back to 1956. The West had the biggest gain in vacancy rates, rising to 3.2% in the quarter from 2.6% a year earlier.

It appears there are some constituents who do not understand the ballot measure I proposed, giving voters more power over council vacancies. For background, in 1987, a council vacancy occurred. The council, myself included, voted to appoint, only for the length of time required to elapse before the election could be held. An election followed as soon as legally possible. In 1990, Paul Lawrason, with two years left in his council term, ran and was elected mayor. A special election, with a 17.2% turnout and costing more than $20,000, filled the vacancy left by Lawrason.

Average vacancy levels for office buildings in downtown business districts fell to 15% from 19% during the third quarter of 1986, according to a nationwide survey by Cushman & Wakefield, a diversified real estate company and subsidiary of Rockefeller Group. The survey showed the lowest central city vacancy rates were in the Northeast, while the highest rates were recorded mainly in the Sun Belt. Hartford, Conn., led the list with a vacancy rate of only 6%, while Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The San Fernando Valley office vacancy rate climbed to 15% in the first quarter of 1989, the highest it has been in nearly two years, according to a survey by the realty firm Grubb & Ellis. In the fourth quarter of last year, the vacancy rate fell to 12%, matching the five-year low. Howe S. Foster, senior vice president at Grubb & Ellis, attributed most the first quarter's increase "to the half-million square feet of new office space that came on line in the East Valley" market.

Applications are now being accepted for a vacancy on the city's Mobile Home Commission. Established in 1978, the commission helps mediate disputes between park residents and owners. Membership on the nine-member commission includes three park owners, three park residents and three at-large members. The current vacancy must be filled by a mobile home park resident. The commission meets "as needed"--in the past about twice a year.

Westside Los Angeles office vacancy rates increased to 17% in the third quarter of this year from 14% last year and--judging by the amount of construction under way--should continue to increase, according to data from Grubb & Ellis Commercial Brokerage Services. As of Aug. 31, about 2.9 million square feet was vacant from the existing base of 96 buildings on the Westside, including Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Century City, Mid-Wilshire, Westwood, Brentwood, Culver City and West Los Angeles.

Office vacancy in Los Angeles County decreased in the fourth quarter in the first year-over-year drop since the economic boom year of 2006. The drop in vacancy to 18.4% was barely measurable at less than half of 1 percentage point, but it's a further sign that the office rental market has reached an even keel and is poised for modest improvement, industry observers said. "We are at the point where we want to be. We are stabilized and going in the right direction," said Joe Vargas, regional manager of real estate brokerage Cushman & Wakefield.

Re "Obama struggles to fill federal court vacancies," Jan. 6 The Times overstates President Obama's (and understates Republicans') responsibility for the persistent judicial vacancies. The federal bench now has more than 80 lower court vacancies. Over the last 31/2 years, the courts have had at least 70 openings, with more than 100 at one point. Last week, the Senate adjourned without considering the 11 highly qualified nominees on the floor. In contrast, on Thursday, Obama renominated all 33 nominees whom he had nominated earlier.

The San Diego Chargers have contacted UCLA football Coach Jim Mora about their head-coaching vacancy through his representatives, according to multiple people familiar with the situation who were not authorized to speak publicly. UCLA had a record of 9-5 in Mora's first season as coach. Mora is likely to remain in Westwood, with UCLA boosting the pay for his assistant coaches and improving the team's facilities, people in the university's athletic department said. Mora did not respond to phone calls or text messages.

WASHINGTON - While Congress and President Obama fight over taxes and spending, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said the third branch of government was doing its part by holding down spending for the federal courts. Roberts said the U.S. Supreme Court would will ask for $75 million next year, a 3.7% decrease from the spending level of three years ago. Nationwide, the federal courts spent about $6.9 billion in the last fiscal year, a "minuscule portion of the federal budget," Roberts wrote in his year-end report on the judiciary.

The City Council of San Bernardino, which is in bankruptcy and facing a $45.8-million budget shortfall, voted Monday to slash more than $26 million in spending and freeze debt payments as the municipality struggles to stay afloat. The austerity plan, a required step in the federal bankruptcy process, freezes vacancies in the Police Department even as the city deals with an increase in violent crime. The Fire Department's overtime budget was slashed by 35%. The city had already stopped making payments to CalPERS, the state's public employee pension fund, since filing for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection Aug. 1, a move city officials estimate will save more than $12 million.

PARIS - Crisis? What crisis? Workers in France are leaders in taking vacation days, a new poll shows. And apparently no credit-rating downgrade or thundercloud of economic gloom is going to stop them. The French use an average of 30 vacation days every year, making them joint world leaders with Brazilians, according to the study released this week by polling firm Harris Interactive . That compares with an average of 26 days of official rest and relaxation by other workers in Europe and an average of just 15 worldwide.

There may be fewer good deals out there for renters of office space if the market continues to tighten, a local brokerage said. With so much vacant office space in the county now, building owners are offering all kinds of concessions to get tenants in the door. But demand is beginning to cut down on the vacancies, said Dick Meyer, senior sales executive in Daum Commercial Industrial Real Estate's Irvine office. According to figures compiled by the consulting firm Newport Economics Group, the office vacancy rate dropped slightly last year, to 19.5% from 20.5% in 1987, even though 4 million square feet of new office space was built in 1988.

In a sign that the nation's foreclosure crisis is taking a toll, renters surged into the U.S. apartment market in the third quarter, pushing up rents and driving down vacancies. The national vacancy rate fell to 7.2% in the third quarter from 7.8% the second quarter, one of the sharpest drops on record, according to New York-based real estate research firm Reis Inc. Rents increased 0.6% to an average of $980 a unit over the same period as landlords were able to cut back on free rent and other incentives that had been used to attract and retain tenants in a weak market.

It's hardly shocking that the most fully realized characters in "The Casual Vacancy," J.K. Rowling's first novel for adults, are the youngest. Fats Wall, Krystal Weedon, Gaia Bawden, Andrew Price, Sukhvinder Jawanda: Even the names are vaguely reminiscent of those in her “Harry Potter” series, and when “The Casual Vacancy” focuses on these teenagers and their interactions (with one another, with their parents, with the petty hypocrisies of...

J.K. Rowling is one of the world's most beloved authors. She's one of the world's richest authors. But can she become one of the few authors to successfully make the transition from children's book author to writing fiction for adults? Join me, Carolyn Kellogg, for a conversation 10 a.m. Tuesday looking ahead to Rowling's first novel for grown-ups, "The Casual Vacancy. " It will be published by Little, Brown on Thursday. Unlike most works of literary fiction, Rowling's novel is being kept under wraps.