As always, technology keeps moving forward and faster. Whether it's office, industrial, personal storage, or retail, leasing space is what commercial real estate is all about. We look at how some firms are finding success online, leasing space as well as assisting their retail tenants with overseas purchasing. We also look at some tech companies that assist service providers in showcasing their products, finding the best prices and checking the credit of prospective apartment renters.

Getting Serious
It's where thunder crashes and evil lurks. It's where birds sing and the sun shines. It's the newly animated Shurgard Storage Centers web page (www.shurgard.com) where precious items go unharmed in a "seriously secured storage" container.

"We decided to build on the security issue throughout the site," said John Steckler, senior vice president of marketing, Shurgard Storage Centers, Seattle, WA. "That's why we use the animation in the beginning. It also gives us an opportunity to brand." The consumer friendly site lets users order containers, packing products, and more. Its estimator will even tell consumers in what size container they need to store their items.

"Part of the challenge for this site is that when a consumer orders a container, the backend technology actually talks to our inventory. It will tell the user if a unit is available and what the current rent is."

After using their credit card to rent the container, an e-mail is sent to the store site and that container is taken out of circulation.

"The unique design was created for Internet users as opposed to 'Joe Public.' We think that's a much better approach to e-commerce," said Steckler.

Realty Online
Those looking to lease office space might find a fitting match in the 500 million sq. ft. listed on Comro.com, Chicago, IL, an online resource for marketing and leasing properties. And every day owners of over 4,000 properties are taking advantage of the site that offers property reports, floor plans, building photos and site maps of commercial sites.

Great Lakes REIT, Oak Brook, IL, has listed their properties on Comro.com. "We were impressed with the quality of [president Kevin Travers'] web site," said Nancy Kowal, portfolio lease administrator. "He has such a good handle on the business. Callers say they saw our name there, and some of our investors have commented on it." The site began five years ago as a bulletin board service for the Chicago, IL, area. Today, Travers has turned Comro.com into a national online service for owners, tenants, and brokers who are looking for commercial space and products to set-up and run an office.

"For tenants or brokers looking for space, our first order is helping them find that space, he said, "We also recognized that there are other processes of occupying that space, so we evolved from finding the space to include needs and services that logically expand from that: architecture, brokerage, contractor, furniture vendors, office supplies."

Asian Connection
The supply chain just got smaller for Konover Property Trust Inc.'s retailers. The REIT just formed an alliance with Asian-Trader.com, Los Angeles, CA, an international integrated e-commerce platform with a network of high-quality Asian manufacturers. "Our small tenants don't have access to the same kind of buying facility that our larger tenants have," explained Charlotte Ellis, spokeswoman, Konover, Cary, NC. "This is a way to facilitate that for them."

Through the alliance these tenants will have access to suppliers in Hong Kong, Taiwan, China and Malaysia without the cost of layers of middlemen.

"This could be an opportunity for our tenants to have a presence overseas from a buying perspective without having to physically have somebody over there. It's a way to cut the supply chain," Ellis said.

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Constructed for Business
International Design and Construction, Annapolis, MD, was created by Joseph A. Boggs, FAIA, to provide a web-based business-to-business portal for architectural, engineering and construction product and service providers. The site (e-idc.com), will also provide an online community network for users to search for contractors, designers, employees, equipment, materials, manufacturers, education or employment, expand marketing territories and view new development business opportunities.

"A year ago I started analyzing sites to see what we wanted to use as a tool for e-commerce and trade network information," said Boggs, "We didn't see anything on a global basis that was offering anything that was value added. I started looking into creating a site that would be focused on business-to-business transactions in our industry."

At e-idc.com, users can post resumes, order chairs, concrete, online project management software, blueprint storage and transfer, and more.

Bidding Services
Real estate owners in search of brokerage, insurance, environmental, or 1031 exchange services might reduce their cost using the AmeriQuotes.com web site where service providers bid for business. One of its first users, Dikeou Realty, Denver, CO, saved $3800 on title insurance using the site.

"We hope to build a very substantial pipeline of transactions in order to give our investors a never ending source of opportunity," said Martin Gibeau, president of the Denver, CO, firm. "We want to inform them of who's in the market, who the best players are, and then let them make the call. We want to enhance each transaction we touch by one-half points to two points a deal."

The user receives six bids on each service specified within 72 hours. The service providers pay a nominal monthly fee.

"If you're in the top 50 markets in the country it will cost you $99 a month or $1188 a year."

It's In Their Stars
A cluster of real estate companies formed Project Constellation, a technology company that will incubate and sponsor real estate-related Internet, e-commerce and broadband enterprises, as well as acquire interests in existing "best of breed" companies. There are over 200 fragmented technology companies operating in the real estate sector, according to Craig Voight, co-chief executive officer of member Spieker Properties, Menlo Park, CA. By uniting, the group expects to make Project Constellation the single source entity for real estate related technologies. It will be located in the Bay Area of San Francisco, CA.

Other REIT founding members are AMB Property Corporation, Equity Office Properties Trust, Equity Residential Properties Trust, Simon Property Group. Additional members include Kaufman & Broad Home Corporation, CB Richard Ellis Services, Jones Lang LaSalle, Trammel Crow Company, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, and Chase H&Q Capital Partners. All members contributed evenly raising $135 million and the company expects to make its first investment by the end of the year.

"The idea is to grow really great technology businesses," said David Helfand, executive vice president—new business development, Equity Office Properties. Some of the products the company expects to develop are online procurement businesses for construction, leasing and asset sales as well as enterprise software for real estate management, e-tailing, and more.

"We'll incubate our own concepts as well as others brought to us," said Helfand.

Portal to Retail
Kiosks are popping up all over Glimcher Realty Trust's portfolio. By year's end the Columbus, OH, REIT expects to have at least one kiosk, called iPorts, in each of its properties.

"We feel there's a need in all of our shopping centers for an interactive kiosk that would permit our customers to have access to the Internet," said John Haller, senior vice president of property management.

In addition to Internet access, shoppers can access the center's directory by store name, type of store or product, clip online discount coupons, find special bargains, send text and photo e-mail by using the special cameras on the iPort.