Location drives the commercial real estate industry. It's not just about finding any site, but finding the best site. Real estate companies are relying more and more on geographic information system (GIS) software and technology to deliver this information. By analyzing data around locations—demographics, aerial photographs, traffic counts, shopping center usage, merchandise potential data, and competitive influences—businesses can find ideal locations for their properties.
The Certified Commercial Investment Members (CCIM) Institute, the governing body of the world's largest commercial real estate network, brings the power of GIS to the real estate industry in the Site To Do Business online service (STDBonline). STDBonline uses Esri's Business Analyst Online on-demand reporting and mapping application to power its commercial business portal, www.stdbonline.com. Using GIS, the STDBonline site now offers an integrated market analysis system for use in commercial real estate investment, appraisal, and consulting applications. The service provides a one-stop shop to access demographic information, mapping technology, and reporting tools for any type of real estate company. The Web site also includes market analysis templates for office, retail, industrial, and multifamily properties.
The STDBonline site will be featured in a presentation at the 2007 Esri Business GeoInfo Summit from April 23–25, 2007, in Dallas, Texas. The conference is designed for anyone who wants to learn how to use GIS technology in business. Attendees will find out how to deploy GIS for retail planning, including using Business Analyst Online and ArcWeb Explorer to analyze potential commercial business sites. They also will learn about the new Business Analyst Online extensions and data available from Esri and STDBonline, GIS applications for authoring and publishing maps and information, and mobile resource planning.
More than 17,000 CCIM members use STDBonline. They find the resource to be valuable, providing them with the information to more profitably analyze market potential and trends, reduce due diligence times and costs, and improve the quality and accountability of their decision making.
Several years ago, STDBonline implemented a mapping interface to its Web site to provide better service to its members. The first system was an open-source product that didn't restrict free usage and distribution. That meant the information on the site could be altered by any user. This led to concerns about the limitations on future enhancements and support of the system. Because STDBonline is committed to maintaining the best and most current solutions on its Web site, continuing to use this open-source system was considered too risky.
As STDBonline searched for a new online mapping solution, the company realized it needed a more map-centric platform with easy-to-use tools. The existing system used text boxes and an interface that was not intuitive and involved multiple steps. Users sometimes received the wrong results and became frustrated with the process. Use of the site also required training and extensive support, which created a long-term problem for the company.
STDBonline Inc. was concerned that developing and integrating a mapping program would be expensive and time consuming. It was also not at the core of the company's business. So STDBonline Inc. looked for an intuitive, map-centric solution that could be tailored to the workflow and needs of the commercial real estate community. It needed to find a solution that provided faster access to critical information that CCIM members wanted and needed.
The company decided to work with Esri, replacing its open-source product with Business Analyst Online, a solution that combines GIS technology and direct access to data and content derived from dozens of commercial providers for demographic, consumer, and business data. The data can be used in more than 50 reports. Maps also can be accessed over the Internet. The data is updated annually so STDBonline has access to the most current and accurate information. Esri hosts and manages the system, maintains terabytes of geographic content, and reserves capacity and access via redundant colocation facilities across the United States.
STDBonline users have found that the extensive backdrop data, aerial photographs, and flood maps, along with the demographic, consumer, and business information, especially helpful. The company also relies on market analysis templates for multifamily, retail, office, and industrial properties for the portal.
"After seven years of providing great services to commercial real estate professionals, we chose Esri for our next generation of STDBonline because of its advanced technologies and commitment to enhancing its GIS products, platforms, and data," said Jay R. Lucas, president and CEO of STDBonline Inc. and the Chicago, Illinois,-based CCIM.
These services would have been cost prohibitive for CCIM to build and maintain on STDBonline. Esri, however, had the infrastructure in place to provide these comprehensive services, freeing CCIM to focus on its core competencies. Esri also built and launched the service without having to install or maintain additional mapping software, data, or hardware on STDBonline.
STDBonline gives users instant access to the information they need to analyze market potential and perform site selection. CCIM Institute members can access maps by looking up a particular address or selecting an individual site using interactive navigation tools. Once an area of interest has been selected, users can develop a property profile for a particular project, compare the characteristics of several potential development sites, or learn more about the market specifics. Users can access more than 150 additional reports and dedicated services that are designed to help them successfully develop their commercial projects.
The new site analysis functions on STDBonline include several methods for defining and analyzing market areas around a particular site. Users may select a state, county, or ZIP Code; define multiple rings of influence around a certain point or address; calculate travel times based on the road network; or interactively draw a custom area directly on the on-screen map. Users can fine-tune and preview their selection at any time. The system allows users to generate detailed reports that ensure they have optimized their selection and will gain the greatest insight into the potential of their commercial development.
STDBonline users may also create a customized package of reports, maps, and charts or opt to use an express package of the most popular demographic reports, maps, and market analysis for their selected site. Reports can be sent to a predefined e-mail address, delivered to a user's desktop, or stored on the server for subsequent download. Multiple reports can be stored for each project, and because users have full control of how projects are created and the reports they contain, STDBonline can be quickly configured to reflect a CCIM member's specific workload and activities.
The new STDBonline was created quickly; just 60 days from the initial contract signing, the site was launched.
By choosing to use a system from the world's largest commercial GIS vendor, CCIM is confident that its members will stay current with online mapping developments through regular updates and ongoing enhancements to the portal without the cost, management overhead, or risks of maintaining the systems in-house.
"I love the ability [that the new STDBonline gives me] to obtain better and more current data,? says Donald S. Huddleston, a CCIM member from Village Square Realty in Spokane, Washington. "And it is packaged in a much easier and more efficient fashion using state-of-the-art mapcentric methods.?
The new STDBonline site is helping CCIM members grow their businesses, profit, and succeed with the most powerful tools available to them by providing instant access to the information they need to better analyze market potential and trends.
"Working with a mapping environment makes it easy for me to understand how to accomplish things quickly and easily," says Karl Landreneau, a CCIM member and associate with RE/MAX First Commercial in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. "With only moderate computer skills, I can get quick results I can rely on. It's like having an entire research department in my office without costing me [money]."
