Downtown Arena Drives Office Rents Up

The first Sacramento Kings game downtown won't tip off until fall of next year - but that's not stopping the office market from getting a lot more competitive. Commercial real estate firm JLL says downtown rents during the first three months of this year were up nearly seven percent over the same three months last year.

JLL's Greg Levi says lobbyists, lawyers and bankers have long had downtown Sacramento office buildings to themselves. “But now, we’re finding a whole other excitement with the office market that wants to be around the arena, and a lot of that’s driven by the amenities that the arena’s bringing in.” such as hotels, restaurants and nightclubs.

Levi says the future arena and retail growth are now attracting technology firms and even the health care industry. That's helping to drive the largest annual increase in downtown office rents since the market peaked in 2008.