Pandemic boosts digital solutions to office leasing

Will Hamilton, head of office leasing NSW at JLL, says tech is even allowing the floor space to find the tenant.

“Ten years ago, office tenants were finding an advert in the paper or spotting a ‘for lease’ sign on a building and simply calling the agent’s number. Then five years ago, they started calling from an online listing site like commercialrealestate.com.au.

“Now, with digital marketing, leasing agents can be more focussed. For example, social media marketing allows us to target specific businesses to get our property in front of the right prospective tenants.”

One of the most obvious examples of pandemic-fuelled advancement is in the inspection process. Hamilton says much of the progress in inspections has been through upgrades to existing technology rather than new platforms.

“The continued improvement in the quality, speed and user interface of what we have has come leaps and bounds from where it was five years ago.

“We now have virtual tours and 3D fly-throughs for most projects. If you’re overseas or locked down at home, you can still do a desktop review of your options just by using that technology before seeing the building in person.

“This existed before the pandemic but wasn’t widely used – that’s changed now.

“The speed at which we can make amendments is great too, particularly with new development leasing where people can’t ‘feel’ the space. Fly throughs help overcome those challenges, so you don’t have as many of those unknowns as a tenant.”

Platforms like DocuSign have also revolutionised the formalities of agreement and documentation.

“It’s frictionless and creates fewer barriers. You don’t have to send a physical document around the world to get signatures, which might take weeks to do. Also, if you need a certain party to approve the transaction, and they can get a fly-through of the documentation on their screen, it’s just so much easier.”

Several platforms in use now and under development will further enhance the leasing process, such as JLL’s virtual leasing map.

“The virtual leasing map uses GIS mapping and our market databases to plot key landmarks and other services, facilities and infrastructure along with available space onto a 3D map. That way, a potential tenant can navigate their way around a city from their computer and click on the floors available in a building. They can see what the view is like and see details of the floor space, and it’s all in one platform,” Hamilton says.

There are several new platforms Australian stakeholders can look forward to in the future. One is Azara, which uses artificial intelligence to gather leasing data across global locations. According to JLL, it will enable users to isolate any specific part of the market and extract lease and asset information. It helps forecast future vacancy, pinpoint specific occupiers, and monitor tenants’ growth and retraction. It helps identify stock that can be pitched to new tenants as leases end, for example.

Another interesting platform backed by the JLL Spark program is OpenSpace which will provide 360-degree construction photo documentation and analytics. It captures images of buildings under construction in real-time, allowing owners and tenants to monitor a project and its floor spaces as they are erected.

Palmer said that tech was ever advancing and the most substantial changes in the future were likely to be around the buildings themselves. A prime example is global technology giant Amazon’s commitment to Charter Hall’s flagship development, 555 Collins Street.

“They were drawn to 555’s technology and saw it as an exact fit for their business.

“Artificial intelligence continues to be exciting, and we’ll see the development of things like apps which allow tenants to access their building, respond to surveys, change temperatures in rooms, book amenities and even order a coffee before arriving at work. Having tech like that as part of your offering certainly attracts tenants and becomes a big part of their decision-making process.