Latest in Commercial Real Estate Tech News by CREtech

Meet Bold, The “Zipcar For Small Meetings”

AllWork

10/17/2017

The growth of the flexible workspace industry, particularly in London, isn’t just opening new opportunities for serviced office and coworking operators. It’s also paving the way for niche workspace suppliers to identify, and meet, an ever-evolving catalogue of untapped requirements. One solution that has just hit the scene is Bold, a new brand of meeting spaces in London with a very precise focus. “Bold is a new brand of small meeting venues, it’s like ‘Zipcar for small meetings’”, explained Cal…

Redfin Mortgage expands to Illinois, eyes Virginia

Phoenix Association of Realtors

10/17/2017

Redfin announced today that it is now offering loans to homebuyers in Illinois through its lending arm, Redfin Mortgage. The Seattle-based tech-powered brokerage also plans to expand Redfin Mortgage into Virginia later this year, with more markets to come in 2018. … InmanInman

Chicago makes its official bid for Amazon HQ2

BizJournal – Commercial Real Estate

10/17/2017

By Jim Dallke – Chicago Inno, Chicago is now officially in the running to land Amazon’s second North American headquarters. Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Gov. Bruce Rauner said today in a joint statement that the Chicago area has officially submitted its bid for Amazon’s HQ2. The bid was submitted electronically on Monday, the first day of the four-day window where Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is accepting bids. The announcement lacked specific details on Chicago’s bid, but called the overall economic impac…

Coming soon: Airbnb-branded apartments

Inman News – Features

10/16/2017

After years of butting heads with local zoning officials, landlords and rental property owners, Airbnb may have found a solution to its short-term rental woes: opening up an Airbnb-branded apartment where tenants will be allowed to sublet their spaces up to 180 days per year. Airbnb has partnered with Miami-based Newgard Development Group to build the 324-unit building in Kissimmee, Florida, located right outside of Orlando. The complex, known as Niido Powered by Airbnb, will feature luxury amen…

Zillow expands solar energy scores to 84 million homes

Inman News – Features

10/16/2017

Homebuyers and sellers are becoming more aware of the value of rooftop solar panels– not just for ecological reasons, but for energy savings as well– and now there is a quick and easy way to estimate that value. Zillow has partnered with two startups, Sun Number and Wave Solar, to include Sun Number's proprietary rooftop solar scoring system on 84 million properties on Zillow nationwide as of today. That’s up from 40 million buildings on Zillow that had a Sun Number listed as of last year…

CRE Opinion: Texas Residential Real Estate Is Prime for Disruption

FrontBurner

10/16/2017

Commercial Real Estate CRE Opinion: Texas Residential Real Estate Is Prime for Disruption No area of real estate is more in need of disruption than mortgages, where most lenders are still using archaic practices and technology. By Mark Greco Published in Commercial Real Estate October 16, 2017 2:34 pm SMS Several contributing factors have come together to create the perfect Molotov cocktail for major disruption in the Texas housing market. For one thing, people are moving to the Lone Star State …

Airbnb eyes expansion with affiliate program for sites with 1M+ users, new API

TechCrunch – All Stories

10/16/2017

While Expedia and Priceline roll out ways to encroach on Airbnb’s space with their own private home listings for travellers, the $31 billion venture-backed Airbnb is also looking at new ways to boost its own traffic and bookings. Airbnb is now rolling out a new call for affiliate partners, where high-traffic sites with over 1 million visitors can embed Airbnb property listings and make commissions when they are booked. Alongside this, Airbnb has now turned on an API for app developers to link in…

Here’s where Amazon could put HQ2 in NYC

Crains New York – Everything Real Estate

10/16/2017

Real estate execs and business leaders say they are confident New York will be on Amazon's short list after bids for its second headquarters are submitted this week. After all, the metropolitan area is Amazon's No. 1 sales market, and it's a priority for the company to grow its footprint here. The e-tailer last month leased 360,000 square feet at 5 Manhattan West on top of the 470,000 square feet it already occupies at 7 W. 34th St. In August the company committed to an 855,000-sq…

Urban Tech News Roundup

Dreamit – Blog

10/16/2017

Big StoriesSidewalk Labs is in final negotiations with Toronto to build a smart city from the ground up on a 12-acre site.This is what America's eco-city of the future looks like. The GuardianUber and Lyft lead to more vehicle usage in urban areas, leading some to call for congestion pricing. CurbedWhen big cities thrive, smaller cities are often left behind. NYT Georgetown, Texas, a city where all power comes from renewable sources. Transportation and MobilityHere’s why Tesla will have tro…

Amazon’s tech presence in Austin could help city land $5 billion HQ2

Austin Business Journal – Commercial Real Estate

10/16/2017

Lost among the ribbon cuttings and public announcements heralding Amazon.com Inc.’s fast-growing portfolio of sorting and distribution centers is the company’s quiet expansion in some of the country’s strongest technology hubs. Amazon’s low profile in those cities is not an accident. About 25 percent of Amazon’s corporate workforce of some 382,000 employees is spread throughout a dozen or so research and development locations outside of its home in Seattle, according to sources familiar…

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Meet Bold, The “Zipcar For Small Meetings”

Redfin Mortgage expands to Illinois, eyes Virginia