"I don't think this is doomsday for Marin," Orion Partners Ltd. partner Haden Ongaro told a gathering of 65 local business leaders yesterday. "We're sorry to see Lucas go, but they're not leaving completely, and new job formation can still happen here."

The San Rafael Chamber of Commerce organized the morning event under the moniker, "After Lucas Leaves ... Who's Coming to San Rafael?" Representatives from some of the region's top companies gathered to hear about the prospects for leasing and selling the collection of office and industrial space LucasFilm and its subsidiary, Industrial Light & Magic, will leave starting in July.

The movie-making giant founded by San Anselmo filmmaker George Lucas plans to vacate approximately 362,000 square feet of space, 159,000 of which is office and the rest light industrial. Lucas officials, who have outlined general plans for a move this summer to the Letterman Digital Arts Center in San Francisco's Presidio, could not be reached for comment this week to elaborate on those plans.

The spaces currently occupied by LucasFilm are scattered throughout the Canal Area of San Rafael, and 97,000 square feet are in the Marin Technology Center on Los Gamos Drive. The buildings consist of 14 different properties with seven different owners.

The departure will cause a significant spike in the vacancy rates for both office and industrial space in San Rafael and Marin as a whole. For instance, the vacancy rate for industrial space in San Rafael will jump to 13 percent from 3.7 percent once the Lucas companies leave, while the vacancy rate for office space in San Rafael will climb to 19.4 percent from 14.4 percent after the departure.

Although no deals have been announced, Ongaro said there are several potential suitors for the spaces. Those businesses would likely fall into the categories of home improvement companies, import/export, storage facilities, computer repair outfits and the multimedia industry.

Although no deals have been announced, representatives of at least two local multimedia companies have said they are seeking larger space.

Telltale Games, a video game developer founded by three former LucasArts Entertainment employees, is situated in a makeshift office in a warehouse on Andersen Drive in San Rafael. The firm could outgrow that space within the year.

Another firm, digital animation studio CritterPix, is on Mitchell Boulevard in San Rafael and plans to move to a large space in Marin by mid-summer.

Given the current use of the buildings as a range of offices, effects studios and sound stages, San Rafael Economic Development Director Nancy Mackle said the city would be receptive to zoning change requests.

"The city is willing to work with any property owner," she said.

Some of the property owners could also decide to sell the buildings as commercial condominiums like those that have had great success in the Vineyard, a 50-unit development on the east side of Highway 101 in north San Rafael. As many as 40 units within that project have been sold or are about to be, Ongaro said.

Dennis Fisco, one of the partners of Seagate Properties, which owns four of the buildings that house Industrial Light & Magic, said his company was considering that option.

Ongaro emphasized that the Lucas companies are not abandoning the county entirely. He noted that LucasFilm companies would still occupy all or parts of Skywalker Ranch and Big Rock, in Lucas Valley. He also noted that most of the companies' employees remain Marin residents.

"There is still going to be a major force here," he said.