Active Gaming Market Opens New Real Estate Niche

Digital gaming and e-sports is heating up in the Los Angeles market, and it is creating opportunities in commercial real estate. According to new research from JLL, there are 223 gaming companies in the L.A. area, an increase of 150% in 2017. It is expected to grow another 5% by 2020. The growth in that industry has had a major impact on the commercial real estate market and has created a robust new tenant niche. To find out more about this growing sector, we sat down with Kevin Carroll, a research analyst at JLL, for an exclusive interview.

GlobeSt.com: How is the growth of the gaming industry impacting commercial real estate in L.A.?

Kevin Carroll: L.A. has more than 200 digital gaming developers. Demand for gaming is going through the roof. There are more than 2.5 billion gamers worldwide, and the industry is projected to have revenue north of $90 billion by 2020. The market is enormous and demand is driving creative people to produce new, stronger content. Given L.A.’s existing cluster of gaming companies, commercial real estate will certainly feel the effects of the expanding industry.