L.A. Has Its Own Craft Beer Revolution

San Diego may be the center of the craft beer scene in California—with Seattle competing for the West Coast leader—but Los Angeles is seeing its own craft beer revolution. New tasting rooms are springing up from the Westside to Downtown, adding to the growing national trend. The niche market is helping to drive restaurant activity in the retail sector and some demand for industrial space where theses mom-and-pop owners can produce their boutique beer.

“Breweries have always been a popular destination, but I think they have reinvented themselves over the last few years. I think that it is taking place throughout Southern California,” Matt Fainchtein, a senior director of retail brokerage at Cushman & Wakefield, tells GlobeSt.com. “I am working on a new development in Culver City with Regency Properties and part of the project, and we have to have a market hall as one of the anchors. We have been looking throughout California to find unique operators. We went to Torrance to meet with Smog City, a family owned mom-and-pop.”