GlobeSt.com: How has the emergence of tech boot camps occurred in the San Diego market?

Bacon: Traditional universities are unable to meet the demand for coders. In the US, there are an estimated two open jobs for every candidate in cybersecurity, and there is an effective unemployment rate of 0%, according to Cybersecurity Ventures. According to Glassdoor, eight out of 25 jobs in 2016 were tech-related, and according to job-market analytics from Burning Glass, programming jobs are growing 12% faster than average, with roughly 24% of all job openings throughout the country taking place within the tech sector.

For San Diego in particular, our robust market of biotech, genomic, cybersecurity and technology companies are creating a remarkable urgency for top talent. These companies are fighting for the same talent, without the prestige of Silicon Valley to draw in a large, elite labor force. Coding boot camps take underemployed personnel, train them at a low cost and market them to relevant companies.

A coding boot camp works twofold—it reduces the cost of education and expands the workforce. These schools are excellent resources for entry- to mid-level coding employees. And the boot camps are small enough that they can keep up with the pace of technology and adjust their curriculum to match San Diego's feedback.

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GlobeSt.com: How is it affecting the real estate market here?

Shean: Technology is disrupting the economy—not only in San Diego, but also on a global scale. The increased popularity of co-working spaces is evident from the success of companies such as WeWork and Regus. On top of that, we are seeing an increased number of employees working from home. In fact, according to Flex Jobs, a website dedicated to recruiting these remote workers, roughly 3.3. million full-time professionals work from their homes.

Coding boot camps and co-working spaces have three things in common. First, they attract young talent. Secondly, they tend to cultivate in hip areas, such as in downtown submarkets and areas near mass transit. Lastly, they allow their students/patrons to work from any number of vibrant cities throughout the US and abroad.

We expect these boot camps will turn out numerous coders and back-end developers, which will increase San Diego's employment demand. Additionally, an influx of new talent and “digital nomads” to the area will naturally attract more jobs which will further expand San Diego's growing innovative economy and, by extension, its real estate market. This means an increased demand for contemporary space as opposed to traditional work spaces.

GlobeSt.com: Which submarkets are seeing the greatest effects of this relatively new industry?

Shean: Currently, a majority of the San Diego boot camps operate in Downtown. The live-work-play culture is especially attractive right now to the entering workforce. San Diego has a lot of tech start-ups and VC-backed younger tech companies (such as Portfolium and MindTouch) that are making their homes in Downtown. These companies look to boot camps as incubators of talent and even provide mentorship/employer partnerships for some of these programs.

We believe a strong presence of boot camps will eventually emerge in the Sorrento Valley and UTC La Jolla markets, where companies that focus on biotech, genomics, cybersecurity and technology tend to reside, particularly as the need for coders and back-end developers increases.

GlobeSt.com: What aspects of these boot camps are unique to San Diego's economy?

Bacon: Boot camps are a relatively new phenomenon in San Diego; however, San Diego is in a unique position to house these EdTech institutes. Our booming biotech, genomics, cybersecurity and tech industry economies are growing and competing at national and international levels. We believe that San Diego's unique mix of culture, lifestyle and innovation make it an ideal spot for these boot camps.

As these boot camps grow in popularity, San Diego's biotech presence will provide a competitive edge. There is an untapped potential for these boot camps to create a more-specialized curriculum for the geography, particularly as the needs of companies like Illumina and Qualcomm increase.

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SAN DIEGO—Coding boot camps and co-working spaces attract young talent and tend to cultivate in hip areas, allowing students and patrons to work from any number of vibrant cities thorough the US and abroad, CBRE executives tell GlobeSt.com. As we previously reported, the emergence of coding-education firms like Coding Dojo and General Assembly is contributing to Orange County's labor pool of skilled engineers and computer scientists, upping its tech-market mojo, JLL VP Scott Wetzel told us.

CBRE reports that tech boot camps are creating a new and innovative way for individuals to obtain education. They attract a range of candidates, from those who are just beginning their careers to those who are looking to change careers to entrepreneurs looking to get their feet off the ground—and they turn out fast talent.

Regarding real estate, this works directly as well as in a “trickle-down” manner. Directly, as these boot camps grow, they will obviously need real estate to house their classes and schools. They tend to boom in areas where young and hip individuals would like to work and study. For San Diego, this means highlighting the Downtown/Park West/central submarkets and growing areas that may be up-and-coming. Indirectly, the production of new talent via these boot camps is beneficial for companies like Illumina, Qualcomm, etc. Coding and developing skills are integral to companies like these so that they can grow and compete in an ever-changing and highly competitive market. The attraction of new talent helps these companies expand (and expansion means an increase in real estate needs) and helps further grow San Diego's innovative economy.

We sat down with CBRE's EdTech team: EVP Bill Bacon, associate Erin Shean and Caitlin Bonacci to talk about the emergence of educational boot camps and their impact on San Diego's innovative economy.

GlobeSt.com: How has the emergence of tech boot camps occurred in the San Diego market?

Bacon: Traditional universities are unable to meet the demand for coders. In the US, there are an estimated two open jobs for every candidate in cybersecurity, and there is an effective unemployment rate of 0%, according to Cybersecurity Ventures. According to Glassdoor, eight out of 25 jobs in 2016 were tech-related, and according to job-market analytics from Burning Glass, programming jobs are growing 12% faster than average, with roughly 24% of all job openings throughout the country taking place within the tech sector.

For San Diego in particular, our robust market of biotech, genomic, cybersecurity and technology companies are creating a remarkable urgency for top talent. These companies are fighting for the same talent, without the prestige of Silicon Valley to draw in a large, elite labor force. Coding boot camps take underemployed personnel, train them at a low cost and market them to relevant companies.

A coding boot camp works twofold—it reduces the cost of education and expands the workforce. These schools are excellent resources for entry- to mid-level coding employees. And the boot camps are small enough that they can keep up with the pace of technology and adjust their curriculum to match San Diego's feedback.