In Duarte, the City Council last year gave a nod of approval to CarMax Auto Superstores Inc., a division of Circuit City Stores Inc., to build an auto superstore. The retail facility will locate near Burbank's Metro Link stop, effectively creating a transportation-oriented area. With all the development going on in the tri-city corridor, some experts warn that it could be too much, that overbuilding may cause rents to fall and leave real estate investors with holdings worth less than they bargained for. It's a tough call, says Paul Krueger, economic development manager with the Burbank Redevelopment Agency. But if all this space comes on line in the next two to five years, it should be fine.
Entertainment continues to be a good, productive, successful industry for everyone.
Krueger adds that it's difficult to foresee how much space active cities like Burbank and Glendale can absorb. Predicting how long some trends will last, such as the current one for building big-box retail, is also nearly impossible. Changes in the channels of distribution for telecommunications could shift where companies choose to locate, a situation Burbank officials are eyeing. Kirk Pelser, a project manager at the Glendale Redevelopment Agency, doesn't believe all the development activity is cause for concern. Our vacancy rates are between 5 and 7 percent.