By Town Crier Staff Report

What a difference a year makes. Last year office space was at a premium in the Los Altos area. This year it is available and the price of a square foot of commercial office space has dropped between 30 percent and 40 percent.

Space Station Los Altos, published by the City of Los Altos each quarter, lists triple the number of entries for the current third quarter.

Cornish and Carey Commercial has 201 listings on the South Peninsula as of July 20 compared to 15-20 listings one year ago.

“The demand for large office space is extremely low since many dot-coms have disappeared,” said Ron Labetich, Los Altos commercial real estate broker.

“However, we could lease the typical bread-and-butter office space (1,000 square feet) if we had it,” Labetich said.

Standard-size office space is still scarce in Los Altos primarily because the Packard Foundation purchased many of the office buildings along First Street and San Antonio Road. Dislodged business owners are shuffling into adjoining cities to find space.

The former Mac’s Tea Room restaurant space at 325 Main St. is still available. There is a rumor a Mediterranean type restaurant will go into one side of the space and a retail tenant in the other, but no arrangements have been made at this time for either.

Draeger’s purchased the dry cleaners’ building next to them on the south side and will expand the supermarket. Plans are now in city hall for review.

The city has approved the Loyola Plaza project designed to include a two-story 6,000-square-foot office building with underground parking.

Eight very-low-income residential housing units, scheduled for completion by next summer, are also in the plans.

Emmett A. Larkin, investment services, at 176 Second St., and Uniglobe Travel Consultants at 357 Main St. have vacated their office spaces.