Olympic Retail Users Taking Early Look At LA
Bisnow · 26 August 2026
TL;DR
With the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics less than two years away, global brands, national sponsors and international delegations are already scouting retail space across the city. CBRE reports that consumer brands — particularly in soft goods — are seeking roughly 465 square metres (5,000 SF) for three-year leases, while country delegations are targeting 1,850–2,800 square metres (20,000–30,000 SF) for short three-month pop-ups. Retail rents in LA hit $2.93 per square foot in Q2 2026 and are expected to keep rising. Hot spots include Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and Venice's Abbot Kinney neighbourhood. One undisclosed country is already in negotiations for a 1,400 square metre hospitality house at Third Street Promenade, with plans to convert it to coworking and cultural space after the Games.
Our take
This story is set in Los Angeles, but it carries a useful lesson for South African property stakeholders watching how major sporting events reshape retail demand — and SA has plenty of experience here, from the 2010 FIFA World Cup to the recent surge in sports tourism. For SA landlords and retail property investors, the LA dynamic illustrates a pattern worth noting: anchor events create a two-phase opportunity. First, short-term pop-up demand from brands and delegations willing to pay premium rents for high-visibility locations. Second, longer-term tenants who use the event as a launch pad but stay well beyond it. The "Olympics are the catalyst, not the entire business plan" framing is a sound one. For SA commercial property owners near major stadiums or tourist precincts — think Cape Town's V&A Waterfront, Sandton, or Durban's beachfront — the takeaway is to identify which international events are on the horizon and begin tenant conversations early, before rents and competition spike. For SA retail tenants and agents, the LA case also reinforces that waiting for the buzz to arrive before securing space is a losing strategy. Early movers lock in today's economics; latecomers pay the premium. Worth keeping in mind as SA bids for more global sporting events.