CBRE announced today that Nerd Street Gamers (NSG), the national esports infrastructure company dedicated to powering competitive opportunities and events for gamers, will open the world’s first esports industry campus called “The Block” at Netrality’s 401 N. Broad Street in Philadelphia.
The space will not only function as Nerd Street Gamers’ new corporate headquarters, but it will also include global broadcast studios, dedicated training centers for professional teams and schools, educational space for community partners, and, subject to zoning approval, a Localhost facility capable of hosting community, scholastic, amateur and pro-level events, and programming.
NSG operates esports training facilities called Localhosts where guests can pay hourly rates and compete in amateur esports tournaments. Other locations include Austin and Denver, with Los Angeles and other locations across the U.S. opening in the near future.
CBRE’s Christian Dyer and Jackie Balin represented Netrality, which owns the 11-story, 1.3 million sq. ft. data center, during the lease negotiations. After acquiring 401 N. Broad Street in 2014, Netralityhas invested more than $50 million in capital improvements, making it one of the most fiber-dense, network-neutral facilities along the East Coast.
“401 North Broad is the ideal location for Nerd Street’s esports campus. The immense internet connectivity options offer gamers near-zero latency ensuring a necessary competitive edge in the world of esports,” said Jerry Marshall, Chief Executive Officer at Netrality Data Centers. “We’re thrilled that Nerd Street selected Netrality as the home of the world’s first esports campus, furthering the growth and opportunities along the North Broad corridor.”
“We couldn’t be more excited to have NSG coming to 401 N. Broad Street,” said Mr. Dyer, First Vice President, CBRE.“This property offersNSG everything they were looking for with a large retail presence, incredible technology with super-low latency, creative space for their corporate offices,and an ideal location in the booming North Broad Street corridor.”
This announcement comes on the heels of NSG’s commitment to open an additional 100 venues across the country in Five Below stores, stadiums and college campuses over the next five years.
Unless circumstances change given the current COVID-19 crisis, NSG is expected to open for business at 401 N. Broad Street this winter.
About CBRE Group, Inc.
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Los Angeles, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2019 revenue). The company has more than 100,000 employees (excluding affiliates) and serves real estate investors and occupiers through more than 530 offices (excluding affiliates) worldwide. CBRE offers a broad range of integrated services, including facilities, transaction and project management; property management; investment management; appraisal and valuation; property leasing; strategic consulting; property sales; mortgage services and development services. Please visit our website at www.cbre.com.
