So how did the Hollywood office market turn in the best performance of the quarter, dropping its vacancy rate more than four points? Consider the biggest lease of the period: 35,000 square feet taken up by WeWork at 7083 Hollywood Blvd.

The New York company leases executive suites to small firms, such as music labels, startups and technical outfits looking for cheap rent. There is such demand for space that WeWork grabbed nearly half of the Stephen Cannell Building.

“This is important because these smaller users associated with film production or music need move-in-ready space,” said Brian Niehaus, vice president at the Century City office of Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. “The traditional five-year lease includes money for tenant improvements, but if you only need 1,500 square feet fast, you can’t wait and you don’t have the money for those improvements.”

Since the start of the year, the activity helped Hollywood absorb nearly 70,000 square feet of space and lower vacancies to 21.8 percent, according to Jones Lang LaSalle.

Marty Shelton, vice president of investment sales at NAI Capital, said he expects the trend to continue, with creative executive suites gaining over the next few years. For example, the Metropolitan at 5825 Sunset Blvd. is an adaptive reuse of a former hotel. The redevelopment includes 46,000 square feet of office space available in units as small as 900 square feet.

“They are targeting small entertainment businesses and even tech companies from the Westside,” Shelton said.

Driving all this is a young, hip social milieu – and cheap lease rates. Class A asking rents for the quarter averaged $2.88 a square foot, up 4 cents compared with the previous quarter, but still cheaper than other mediacentric markets, including even Burbank.

Indeed, with a vacancy rate above 20 percent, landlords can’t afford to get too aggressive on rents. But one advantage for building owners is that leases with smaller tenants are shorter, usually six to 12 months, so rents can be raised quickly if conditions permit.

“For now it’s still a tenant’s market,” Niehaus said. “The positive news is gradually we are dropping the vacancy rate and that’s why you see the 4 cent uptick in rent.”

MAIN EVENTS

• WeWork, a New York company that provides executive suites to startups and small entrepreneurs, has leased 35,861 square feet in the Stephen Cannell Building, 7083 Hollywood Blvd. The lease, slightly longer than 10 years, has an estimated value of $15 million. The 82,000-square-foot building is owned by CIM Group Inc.

• The Taft Building, 1680 Vine St., was sold to DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners for $28 million. The new owner plans extensive upgrades on the 12-story building, constructed in 1923. Its 117,000 square feet of space is subdivided into offices between 300 and 5,000 square feet in size.

• Emerson College broke ground on its Hollywood campus. The $110 million project includes housing for 220 students in two 10-story towers, in addition to administrative offices and stores. The Boston communications school will relocate its West Coast outpost from Burbank when the building is ready for occupancy in early 2014.

• Real estate firm Cassil Management sold an office building at 1542 Cassil Place for $1.3 million. The buyer was 1542 Cassil LLC, a postproduction and equipment rental company. The two-story building has 4,000 square feet of Class A space.

• Champion Real Estate Co. of Los Angeles purchased a 1.1-acre parking lot behind Musso & Frank Grill for a mixed-use apartment and retail project. The price was not disclosed. The company already owns a lot at the corner of Highland and Selma avenues that it bought last year for $20 million with similar plans in mind.