Case Studies: Comient
Challenge
With the constant stream of news detailing the collapse and uncertain recovery of the home real estate market, another lingering real estate crisis has gone virtually unnoticed by the press and the public. In the Seattle area, vacancy rates for commercial real estate have hovered at an unprecedented 18% to 20% during the first half of this year.
And, according to the National Association of Realtors, the increasingly familiar sight of darkened windows throughout commercial districts will persist – and vacancy rates will continue to rise – in the office, industrial, and retail commercial sectors at least through 2011.
Solution
Still, one Seattle entrepreneur saw a both a business opportunity and a call to action in these grim signs and statistics. David Milesi, a former genetics scientist turned real estate investor, recently launched Comient, a set of next-generation web and mobile services, which he humbly describes as “the simplest possible tools for connecting businesses with the right real estate space.”
After the financial collapse of 2008, Milesi founded Comient “to help small to mid-sized businesses and entrepreneurs connect with their ideal working environments.” Comient provides listing services through a very simple, easy-to-use set of web and mobile applications, for which I designed all branding, UI and UX while consulting for Conceivian, a local innovations lab specializing in new product prototyping and v1 web ventures.
Janet Backus, Vice President of the Retail Group at Grubb & Ellis, is one early adopter and fan of Comient’s services. “Finally, there’s an easy-to-use search tool for commercial real estate, and a great way to market commercial lease space,” Backus said. “And the iPhone app is cutting edge and incredibly useful."
Marlene Harvey, Marketing Manager at JSH Properties, agrees that Comient has arrived at a perfect time both to capitalize on these trends and to serve as a catalyst in the marketplace. “Comient is as simple as Craigslist and is a great regional marketing tool for our lease properties,” she said. “And the iPhone app is perfect for our brokers in the field.” |
