Garden Grove, CA Economic Overview
Located just 25 miles southeast of Downtown Los Angeles, Garden Grove is a spirited and vibrant city in central Orange County, Calif. It is the fifth-largest city in the county, and the 26th-largest in the State of California, sprawling 17.8 square miles. The city has gone through several stages of development, including the redevelopment following the 1933 Long Beach earthquake, in which much of the town’s central business district was destroyed. The post-World War II boom also led to rapid development, with Garden Grove later incorporated as a city in 1956, home to 44,000 residents. Garden Grove has since grown to over 177,000 residents and hosts numerous festivals in the area, including the Garden Grove Strawberry Festival during Memorial Day weekend, which attracts over 250,000 visitors each year. Garden Grove is conveniently located less than one mile from Disneyland, seven miles from Knott’s Berry Farm, nine miles from local beaches, and ten miles from John Wayne Airport. Economically, the City continues to grow and expand, offering visitors, residents, and businesses unique employment and development opportunities throughout the area. The City has innovative programs for both small and large companies wishing to remain, expand, or relocate to the area, as well as a strategic location for Garden Grove commercial real estate to propser, adjacent to six major freeways.
Orange County’s economy continues to make strong gains in terms of growth, job creation, and lower unemployment rate. Improvements in the housing market throughout the County and Garden Grove have pointed to stronger consumer spending in both 2015 and 2016. Garden Grove continues to attract a large number of visitors and tourists each year, and sales tax revenue is expected to increase. With the city's proximity to major universities, community colleges, and technical schools, there is a substantial supply of well trained professional and technical employees that work in a variety of sectors, primarily in aerospace, retail, manufacturing, and tourism. The City’s largest employers include Air Industries Corp., American Apparel Knit & Dye, Prime Healthcare Services, and Walmart. The median household income is approximately $59,000, which is above the national average of $54,000.
Garden Grove, CA Commercial Real Estate Market
Local commercial real estate continues to improve throughout Garden Grove, with vacancy rates expected to continue their decline. The city’s current economic development projects include the Brookhurst Triangle, with about 700 residential units and up to 200,000 square feet of retail and other commercial space, as well as major projects along Harbor Boulevard.
Compared to the rest of the Metropolitan Los Angeles market, the Garden Grove office market has lower rates and spaces are leased fairly quickly. The average size for office space is around 1,340 square feet, and most buildings are around two stories tall.
West Garden Grove is a prominent and affluent neighborhood in Garden Grove, connected to the rest of the City by a narrow strip along Garden Grove Boulevard. With its western border located just 4.5 miles from the Pacific Ocean and with relatively lower rates, the West Garden Grove office market can’t be beat for commercial space in the Garden Grove area.
Garden Grove, CA Office Sales Volume
Data provided by Yardi Matrix, for properties larger than 50K SF, which sold at over $5M.
Garden Grove, CA Office Transactions
Data provided by Yardi Matrix, for properties larger than 50K SF, which sold at over $5M.
Garden Grove, CA Commercial Inventory Breakdown
Office Spaces
Total: 698,330 SF
By square footage range:
- 50k to 100k SF: 336,999 SF / 48.26% of total office
- 100k to 500k SF: 361,331 SF / 51.74% of total office
By class:
- Class B: 550,116 SF / 78.78% of total office
- Class C: 148,214 SF / 21.22% of total office
Industrial
Total: 7,505,389 SF
By square footage range:
- 50k to 100k SF: 2,243,054 SF / 29.89% of total industrial
- 100k to 500k SF: 4,749,747 SF / 63.28% of total industrial
- 500k to 1M SF: 512,588 SF / 6.83% of total industrial
By class:
- Class A: 1,506,702 SF / 20.07% of total industrial
- Class B: 5,998,687 SF / 79.93% of total industrial
Office Spaces with Retail
Total: 3,108,833 SF
By square footage range:
- 50k to 100k SF: 945,148 SF / 30.4% of total office with retail
- 100k to 500k SF: 2,163,685 SF / 69.6% of total office with retail
Employment in Garden Grove, CA
The total number of jobs in the City of Garden Grove have steadily increased since 2010 at an average of 4.9%. Garden Grove’s unemployment has hovered around 6% for the past year, comparable to the average Los Angeles-Long Beach Metropolitan area rate. Garden Grove slightly underperforms compared to average rate in Orange County at 3.8%, below the 2016 estimate of 4.3%, and the average rate of 4.9% for the rest of California. A total of 6,000 new jobs were created in the county, with most growth occurring in the Professional and Business Services industry. In 2015, the employment sector providing the highest salary per job was Agriculture, followed by Public Administration and Construction.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the industries in the Orange County (Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine), Calif. area with the highest employment numbers include:
- Professional and Business Services—currently employs 300,900, growing at 2.8%/year
- Trade, Transport, and Utilities—currently employs 258,500, growing at 0.4%/year
- Leisure and Hospitality– currently employs 218,600, growing at 1.5%/year
Education in Garden Grove, CA
Schools in the Garden Grove Unified School District have been recognized as some of the best both academically and in sports. With 45 elementary schools, nine junior high schools, eight high schools, and five community colleges, Garden Grove is well equipped to meet its City’s educational needs.
For higher education, there is no shortage of options, as 117 colleges are located within 40 miles of Garden Grove. The closest of these include Argosy University Orange County, Bethesda University of California in Anaheim, Cypress College, Everest College Anaheim, and Golden West College in Huntington Beach.
Commuting Time in Garden Grove, CA
The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) is the public-sector transportation planning body and mass transit service provider for Orange County. The Authority's administrative offices are located in the city of Orange, and it maintains bus operations bases in the cities of Garden Grove and Santa Ana. The Orange Transportation Center maintains daily bus, limited stop routes to the Garden Grove area via Route 454 through Chapman Ave/Metropolitan Drive.
As of 2016, OCTA is collaborating with the cities of Santa Ana and Garden Grove to build the OC Streetcar, a 4.15-mile (6.68 km), 12-station light rail line along Santa Ana Boulevard and 4th Street in the two cities, using portions of the West Santa Ana Branch of the old Pacific Electric right-of-way. In June 2010, OCTA broke ground on the West County Connectors project. The $328 million project is Orange County's largest stimulus project and one of the biggest construction jobs in nearly a decade. It will add a 6-mile carpool lane and directly connect the carpool lanes to the San Diego Freeway (I-405) with the San Gabriel Freeway (I-605) and the Garden Grove Freeway (State Route 22).
Employees in Garden Grove have longer average commute times of 25.7 minutes, compared to the national average of 24.8 minutes. The largest share of workers drives alone to work, followed by those who carpooled and use public transit.
Garden Grove Demographics
Population
- Total Population173,258
- Male Population(49.8 %) 86,280
- Female Population(50.2 %) 86,978
- Median Age38.50
Income/Financial
- Average Household Income$87,264
- Median Household Income$69,278
- Median Income Under 25$59,444
- Median Income 25-44$71,819
- Median Income 45-64$80,849
- Median Income Over 65$47,714
News
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