OFFICE – Individuals Returning to Office Sector

Real estate investment trusts may be buying fewer properties, but that’s certainly not cooling off the sales market for office buildings in the San Fernando Valley.

With the exit of the large, publicly held players, a new group of buyers has emerged. Pension funds account for some of the increased activity, but perhaps more significant is the widening pool of private real estate investors, who were elbowed out of the market when the REITs were most active.

“We’ve been buying more,” said George E. Moss, chairman of the Moss Group, which last year acquired two office buildings in the San Fernando Valley. “Without the REITs in action, there are more opportunities available for individual entrepreneurs at more competitive prices.”

Like Moss, many of these private players are focusing their efforts in the San Fernando and Conejo valleys, where the buildings are smaller and therefore more affordable than those in other parts of L.A., and where there has lately been more product available.

“The market conditions are healthy,” said Kevin Shannon, senior vice president in the investment services group at Grubb