Does downtown office property perform better in live work play centers?
Live work play (LWP) centers in US metro markets are attracting young workers and employers, and downtowns are the locations often providing LWP. These centers are compact, diverse, mixed use, and walkable places that improve economic, environmental, fiscal, public health, and social outcomes. This empirical analysis examines the dimensions and features of LWP centers, considers alternative LWP measures, and determines whether real estate performance increases when LWP centers improve. We find that downtown office rents are higher and capitalization rates are lower in better LWP centers ceteris paribus. However, the expected cap rate relationship is not statistically significant.