Basin-wide Two Million Feet Higher Than First Quarter

INLAND EMPIRE OUTPACES BASIN SUBMARKETS FOR INDUSTRIAL

SPACE BY OVER ONE MILLION FEET

LOS ANGELES -- By a margin of well over one million square feet of space, the Inland Empire outpaced every other Los Angeles Basin submarket for industrial building space either leased or sold during the second quarter of this year, according to data released by the American Industrial Real Estate Association (AIR).

AIR¹s Bulletin Statistics, based on transactions reported by over 1200 association broker members for the period, also reveals that basin-wide during the second quarter 16.5 million square feet of space was leased and sold. This is nearly two million square feet more than the previous quarter when 14.7 million square feet was marketed.

The second quarter of this year also outpaced activity for the same period one year ago -- when 11 million feet was leased and sold-- by over five million square feet, AIR data shows.

Recording 3.8 million square feet of space leased and sold during the second quarter of this year, the Inland Empire lists 2.9 million leased and nearly one million feet of industrial space sold. This surpassed the South Bay, the second most active market, which absorbed approximately 2.5 million feet total.

Central Los Angeles and northwest Los Angeles County, including the Santa Clarita Valley, were the next most active markets, with 2.5 million and 2.1 square feet leased and sold, respectively.

Other highlights of AIR¹s second quarter Bulletin Statistics include:

Land sales activity was heaviest in Northwest L.A. County where 3.5 million sq. ft. of industrial acreage changed hands. The South Bay, where 2.4 million square feet of space was sold, was next, while the Inland Empire was third at 975,535 sq. ft.

The Westside submarket continues to show the highest basin-wide lease and sale rates at $.91 and $72.33, respectively. This compares to $.35 and $14.70 in the southeast submarket, representing the area's lowest rates.

The largest organization of its kind in Southern California, A.I.R. is a non-profit corporation formed in l960 for the purpose of fostering knowledge, integrity and efficiency in the field of industrial and commercial real estate brokerage. More than 1200 real estate professionals in over 285 firms located in the eight-county Southern California area actively participate in A.I.R.

Among its many programs and services, A.I.R. provides specialized standard industrial/commercial lease forms and purchase order forms for industrial and office real estate, and The MULTIPLE Listing Service, considered the ultimate source for offering complete facilities for cooperative marketing of industrial and office properties. A.I.R. is headquartered in downtown Los Angeles.

Lawyers Title Company, a California corporation, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lawyers Title Insurance Corporation, a Virginia Corporation, which, in turn, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc.

Lawyers Title Insurance Corporation was formed in 1925 by a group of lawyers in Richmond, VA.  Since then, the company has expanded throughout the U.S.  Teri Kortens is the local representative of the firm with offices in Pasadena, CA.

Of most recent significance is the formation of LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc.  In 1977, Lawyers Title Corporation, holding company for Lawyers Title Insurance Corporation, entered into an agreement with Reliance Group Holdings, Inc. to purchase the title operations of Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Company and Transnation Title Insurance Company of Philadelphia.

The closing occurred early in 1998 and shortly thereafter Lawyers Title Corporation changed its name to LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc., creating the largest family of title insurers in the nation.  The new parent company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock symbol LFG.

As part of the LandAmerica family, Lawyers Title now has approximately 8800 employees, 600 offices throughout the nation, direct operations in over 200 counties, and some 7500 agents.