Orange County industrial space, in the tightest infill market in the West.
Orange County has almost no land left to build on, so vacancy stays low through cycles that loosen everywhere else. That makes it a market where preparation matters more than timing. The tenant who knows which buildings are quietly coming available, and what the landlord's alternatives really are, gets terms the asking rent does not suggest.
Where the leverage sits right now.
Vacancy is low by any count, 5.3 percent on CBRE's Q1 2026 page and 5.2 percent on Cushman & Wakefield's Q2 2026 page, but it has been drifting up for a year. Negative absorption in Q1 means more space was given back than taken. Landlords of second-generation buildings are seeing longer downtime than they are used to, and that is where the concessions are.
At $1.55 NNN, Orange County carries the highest asking rent of any market we cover. The premium buys proximity to the port complex, the airport and a dense consumer base. If your operation does not need all three, the Inland Empire is overnight ground away at roughly two thirds of the rent, and that comparison is the single strongest card in an Orange County negotiation.
Only 845K sq. ft. was under construction in Q1. There is no wave of new supply coming to reset pricing, so leverage here comes from landlord-specific situations rather than market-wide softness. We track those building by building.
What the major brokerages report.
Each firm tracks a slightly different building set, and in some markets a different metric, so the figures differ. We show all of them rather than average them, because an average of three different definitions describes nothing. Where the spread matters to a negotiation, we say so above.
| Firm | Quarter | Vacancy | Asking rent | Net absorption | Under construction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CBRE cbre.com | Q1 2026 | 5.3% | $1.55 NNN | -380,718 sq. ft. | 845K sq. ft. |
| Cushman & Wakefield cushmanwakefield.com | Q2 2026 | 5.2% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Colliers Orange County rows inside the Greater Los Angeles report colliers.com | Q2 2026 | n/a | n/a | +206K sq. ft. | n/a |
Reach, infrastructure, and labor.
Share of the US population within 450 road-equivalent miles (one-day ground) and 1,000 miles (two-day ground) of the market center, computed against population-weighted centroids of all 3,125 US counties (2020 Census). Bands approximate FedEx and UPS Ground zone tables within roughly 10 percent and are for comparing markets, not quoting transit times.
Sources: ofis.trade.gov
Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025. Wage is the mean hourly wage for laborers and freight, stock, and material movers (OEWS 53-7062) in the metro area.
Where the buildings are.
Anaheim, Fullerton, Orange and Placentia. The largest concentration of older manufacturing and distribution product, on the SR-91 and SR-57 corridors.
Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Westminster and Cypress. Mid-size buildings with the shortest drive to the Long Beach port complex.
Irvine, Costa Mesa and Santa Ana around John Wayne Airport. Higher-finish flex and light industrial, home to medical device and technology manufacturers.
Lake Forest, Irvine Spectrum, Foothill Ranch and Rancho Santa Margarita. The newest product in the county, mostly flex and R&D with some distribution.
The operations that choose Orange County.
We represent tenants and buyers only. No landlord listings in Orange County, so every building in the market is a candidate and every negotiation is on your side of the table. See the operations we serve.
Evaluating Orange County?
Tell us the size, timing, and operation. We will come back with a curated shortlist and a read on where the leverage is in this market right now.