Cresa & GIS
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are providing invaluable data that can be used to help you make decisions about your office and commercial real estate strategies. Here’s a recent Cresa Insights article that talks about how Cresa uses GIS to help companies. It will cover:
· What is GIS?
· GIS through history
· What can it do?
· GIS and Real Estate (5 key practices)
If we can help you learn more about GIS and how Cresa utilizes this technology, please call 301-841-6542 or visit my website at www.tenant-broker.com.
Miles Van Denburg
GIS Analyst, Boston
10/21/21
During the COVID pandemic, in-person site visits and local tours became much less common. But on a larger scale, the pandemic created extensive changes to how and where we work.
As a result, many companies are taking a closer look at their real estate needs, while also evaluating where and how their employees work. The use of data points to help make informed business and real estate decisions has skyrocketed, with more weight placed on digital content and deliverables that help companies envision their future.
One way companies have come to organize and address their data needs is through the adoption of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Rooted in the science of geography, or “the science of where,” GIS are frameworks for gathering, manipulating, analyzing, and visualizing data. In the real estate world, GIS are tremendous tools for providing insightful data that can push the industry forward.
What is GIS?
At their core, GIS combine geographical features with non-geographical tabular data and transform this information into visualizations that map and assess real-world problems. GIS allow users to see business data like sales and locations on a map juxtaposed against demographic information, hydrography, parcel data and more. In the current climate, they have seen a significant boost in popularity. Governments like Massachusetts jumped on GIS early to amass an impressive collection of data in formats like the Massachusetts Interactive Property Map and MassOliver. During the pandemic, Johns Hopkins University used GIS to give an intuitive understanding of data that excel sheets would otherwise hide.
GIS Through History
Going back to the 1854 Cholera epidemic in London, it was through the use of spatial distribution mapping that physician John Snow was able to highlight a root of disease transmission. He identified a cluster of deaths around Soho’s Broad Street Pump and commissioned a map of “Rooted in the science of geography, or ‘the science of where,’ GIS are frameworks for gathering, manipulating, analyzing, and visualizing data.” the data from Charles Cheffin to support his hypothesis that disease transmission was waterborne (check out a 21st century interactive version of the map here). This paved the way for GIS to be considered a key tool for companies to identify and address the unique needs of customer groups around the world.
What Can it Do?
GIS can be used to identify problems, monitor land changes, forecast patterns, and much more. It can highlight problems driven by geography, such as increased crime in areas where mental health care facilities have closed, or in mapping the opioid epidemic. They can also be used to monitor land changes, in the case of companies like Clark Labs, which developed GIS software to help evaluate the environment’s sensitivity to human-influenced change. Companies ranging from Amazon to Walmart leverage GIS successfully to optimize their business operations.
There are five key real estate practices for which GIS have proven to be a game changer
1: Site Selection
It’s no secret that real estate is all about location and GIS are essential for locating properties in a fast and uncomplicated manner. Advisors and account teams can find and visualize up-todate information on available market opportunities fitting the suitability of clients’ needs, searching by various criteria such as pricepoints, vacancy, or proximity to necessary resources.
2: Commute Impact and Labor Studies
An organization’s most important asset is its people. Understanding the labor strategy, growth projections, and how site selection and design will impact existing and future talent is critical to the success of any real estate transaction. GIS spatial analysis tools provide the ability to perform network and suitability analyses, providing in-depth site profiling of employee accessibility and the area’s utility to business operations.
3: Land Sale Data
GIS have been used by various governments to publish land parcel information and county assessor data for years now. This allows for easier searching based on specifics that are outside traditional search terms. For instance, LandVision aggregates this data into a tool for advisors to identify a given parcel of land’s property value, acreage, sale date, owner information, and more.
Sometimes it’s most important to see something to really comprehend it. Through the use of maps that visualize data like costs related to travel and employee location, GIS improve communications for real estate advisors, their clients, internal stakeholders and team members. Insights that may have been hidden deep in spreadsheets can become clear when presented visually, and mapping is an impactful way to show critical data and takeaways.
5: Information Accessibility
Finally, mobile-enabled web map applications and virtual tours allow for quick surveys of areas when clients are unable to see a location in-person. This has been a significant tool during the pandemic, as people were less able to travel to location at a moment’s notice. GIS also allow for the layering of data, such as demographic information and crime statistics, providing all the information that is needed for decision-makers in a format that allows easy comparison and contrast. Having this information at your fingertips has proven to be an essential asset for those in the real estate industry who are constantly on the go, and need solid, trustworthy information quickly.
If you’re interested in seeing how data can improve solutions for your organization, don’t hesitate to reach out to Cresa’s seasoned team of analysts. We have the expertise to utilize the latest technology and platforms to find vital insights and solutions that can help your company make informed business and real estate decisions.
End of Article
If you have significant questions about your current real estate strategy, it may be time for a discussion. Once we have started our conversation, we can create a strategy to look at your business operations and current space and then craft up a plan to find something that is a great fit in the area. With the current vacancies and inventory, we will work with you to get the best deal. We represent tenants ONLY, so you can feel comfortable that we are working for your business 100%. If we can help you by being your tenant broker in the DC, Maryland, or Northern Virginia area, visit my website or call me at 301-841-6542. Make sure to follow all my social efforts by clicking on the links below.
I specialize in providing comprehensive real estate services,
exclusively representing corporate tenants on all commercial real estate needs.
Commercial Tenant Broker
2 Bethesda Metro Center, Suite 900
Bethesda, MD 20814
301-842-6542
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