Santa Monica Commercial Real Estate Summit
Repositioning the Westside: Investment, Development & Demand Across Santa Monica’s Coastal Neighborhoods
Event Ended On: Thursday July 9 2026
Registration Questions?
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Event Host
Water Garden
Home to some of the world's leading technology, media, entertainment, and gaming companies, Water Garden sits at the center of Silicon Beach and serves as the Westside's most influential business community. Spanning 17 acres just moments from the Santa Monica coastline, the campus offers grand office environments, creative workspaces, expansive outdoor gathering spaces, and a curated collection of amenities designed to inspire connection, creativity, and innovation.
As Santa Monica continues to evolve, Water Garden is helping shape its next chapter. Surrounded by industry leaders including Universal Music Group, Lionsgate, and Riot Games, as well as sought-after destinations such as Erewhon, Tartine, Holy Basil, Santa Monica Brew Works, Bluey's, Cosetta, and much more on the way, including a new concept by Dave Harper and New School, Bower Surf Club, located directly across the street from the Water Garden campus at Colorado Center. The campus is embracing a new vision that blends workplace, hospitality, wellness, dining, and community to create a more dynamic destination.
Hear from CBRE, RSM Design, and Retail Round Robin as they share their vision for transforming Water Garden into a vibrant dining, entertainment, fitness, and community hub. The discussion will explore how thoughtful design, curated retail, and placemaking can elevate an iconic Santa Monica landmark while creating new opportunities for connection, engagement, and experience.
Speakers and Panels
Welcoming Remarks
Retail Reinvented
From Storefronts, To Restaurants, To Social Entertainment-Driven Destinations
The Future of Work
The Flight to Quality, Creative and Flex Space & The Tenant-Driven Market
Hospitality as Lifestyle
Hotels, Lodging, Creating Guest Experiences & Everyday Destinations
Multifamily & Mixed-Use in Motion
Acquiring, Developing & Designing Live, Work & Play Communities
Matt Michalovsky
Jonathan Watts
Why You Won't Want To Miss This Conference:
What You'll Learn:
- Where Santa Monica CRE is outperforming, and where challenges remain
- Which asset classes offer the strongest risk-adjusted returns in 2026
- How global events are influencing hotel, retail and infrastructure planning
- What today’s retail and hospitality tenants require to sign long-term leases
- What adaptive reuse looks like in a high-barrier coastal city
- How city policies and planning initiatives are shaping development timelines
- What residents, workers and visitors expect from Santa Monica spaces
- How capital stacks are evolving to get deals done in today’s market
How You'll Do More Business From Attending This CRE Event: Santa Monica is seeing renewed momentum across hospitality, retail, mixed-use, creative office repositioning and housing. Join leading owners, developers, investors and city stakeholders for an in-depth look at where deals are getting done across Downtown, Ocean Avenue, Main Street, Pico Boulevard, Montana Avenue and Bergamot, how assets are being repositioned for 2026-2030 demand, and what upcoming global events, policy shifts and tenant expectations mean for investment strategy. This event will explore what’s being built, bought, redeveloped and leased today, and what will define Santa Monica CRE over the next 5-10 years.
Why You Should Attend This Session: Bisnow events bring together the biggest power players in the industry to identify opportunities, build your network and expand your business. With the largest audience of commercial real estate professionals in the world, no one knows how to help your business more than us.
Who You'll Network With At This Discussion: Owners, Developers, Investors, Operators, Asset Managers, Architects, Designers, Construction Firms, Brokers, Retailers, Hoteliers, Lenders, Attorneys, City Officials & Economic Development Leaders
Notable Projects, Assets & Deals:
Cypress Equity Investments: CEI currently has four mixed-use assets under construction in Santa Monica, representing approximately 650 multifamily units and 50,000 square feet of commercial space, with deliveries anticipated in 2028 and beyond
Industry Partners: Santa Monica Listings: 225 Santa Monica Blvd ///// 2419 Michigan Ave Ste D ///// 1720 Euclid St ///// 233 Wilshire Blvd ///// Case Studies
California Affordable Lodging Solutions: A 501(c)(3) Nonprofit dedicated to preserving and creating affordable overnight accommodations so everyone can stay by the ocean ///// Reimagining Downtown Santa Monica: charting a path to action ///// Local leaders signal a reset at Downtown revitalization forum
BLANKSPACES: has returned to downtown Santa Monica at 929 Colorado Ave, less than a year after relocating from its 13-year home at 1450 2nd St—the location that helped launch Silicon Beach in 2011. At that time, there were 12 other coworking spaces, incubators, and accelerators – in fact, 36% of LA startups were located in Santa Monica by 2014. After sitting vacant for 3 years, this iconic 25k sf space (where President Obama visited during a national startup tour) was purchased by Dan Negari in a series of acquisitions that also included a $80M 3rd St Promenade portfolio to revitalize downtown Santa Monica. Unlike Cross Campus, which occupied part of the space, BLANKSPACES now uses the full 25k sf. BLANKSPACES Santa Monica boasts two event spaces, 5 meeting rooms, and dozens of offices for 1-20+ desks. BLANKSPACES is piloting 9 privacy pods across 5 locations, with plans to activate dozens of retail spaces offering on-demand and advance reservations to meet the growing remote and flexible-work market.
For questions, recommendations, comments or press inquiries please email our event producer, Samantha D'Angelo at samantha.dangelo@bisnow.com.
Venue
Water Garden - 1620 26th Street, Santa Monica, CA
26th St. Building
5th Floor - Suite 500S
Parking Information:
26th St. Building Zone
Parking is free with validation given on-site at registration
Agenda
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
|
8:00 AM 8:45 AM |
Networking, Coffee & Breakfast
|
|
8:45 AM 9:00 AM |
Welcoming Remarks
Natalya Zernitskaya, City of Santa Monica
Pat McRoskey, Managing Director, CBRE (Host Partner) |
|
9:00 AM 9:45 AM |
Retail Reinvented
From Storefronts, To Restaurants, To Social Entertainment-Driven Destinations
|
|
9:45 AM 10:30 AM |
The Future of Work
The Flight to Quality, Creative and Flex Space & The Tenant-Driven Market
|
|
10:30 AM 11:00 AM |
Networking Break
|
|
11:00 AM 11:45 AM |
Hospitality as Lifestyle
Hotels, Lodging, Creating Guest Experiences & Everyday Destinations
|
|
11:45 AM 12:30 PM |
Multifamily & Mixed-Use in Motion
Acquiring, Developing & Designing Live, Work & Play Communities
|
|
12:30 PM 1:00 PM |
More Networking!
|
Interested in Sponsorship?
Contact avery.warren@bisnow.com to get information on sponsorship, pricing and availability at this event.
Sponsors
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