Lower rents are the economic downturn's silver lining for those Southern California small businesses that are growing and looking for places to expand.
Joe Kim, the chef-owner of the Flying Pig gourmet taco truck, is checking out new locations. He's working on opening two restaurants in downtown Los Angeles at places he wouldn't have been able to afford before the economic downturn.
Independent restaurants, gyms and office-based firms are some of the local companies that are taking advantage of cheaper rents to open second locations, move into bigger space or relocate to premier addresses they couldn't previously afford. Sometimes, they find, rents are being cut up to 50% off recent highs to get tenants.
The surplus of ready-built, empty commercial space also means small businesses pay less to set up shop than if they had to build new interiors, real estate brokers said. Some small firms are even finding it cheaper to buy a building than pay rent.
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Photo by Lawrence K. Ho, Los Angeles Times
