Merritt Properties, one of the Mid-Atlantic region's leading commercial real estate developers, announced the launch of its commercial real estate application for the iPhone Monday. The app is the first to be released by a commercial real estate developer and is available immediately as a free download from the iTunes App Store.
"We have been looking at ways that we could utilize new technologies to talk to our customers as well as brokers. And we'd already been utilizing Facebook and Twitter and LinkedIn. So this is sort of a natural evolution of that process. We saw the iPhone app as a way to make our information more readily accessible. It's the digital age and people want access to information on a more mobile platform for when they aren't sitting at their desk," says Melissa Teague, Merritt Properties spokesperson.
"Increasingly people are in their cars or in meetings and they need information. This is another way to provide that information. What's unique about it, especially for our brokers is that this provides real-time information that they couldn't get using Costar.
The commercial property search application can also be used on Apple's iPod touch, making Merritt's portfolio of 16 million square feet of commercial real estate easily accessible to brokers and prospective and current customers on a mobile platform. Download the app from the landing page on Merritt's website.
Merritt Properties iPhone App Features:
· Customized Commercial Property Search: Results can be sorted by property type (industrial/warehouse, flex/warehouse, office and retail), square footage (minimum and maximum), city (throughout Central Maryland and Northern Virginia), radius and space availability.
· Commercial Property Profiles: Search results include the property address, building type, a photo or rendering, overview of building specs, available space details, floorplans and Merritt contacts.
· Map & Driving Directions: Google Maps show location details and driving directions from any location.
· Forwarding: Listings can be forwarded to another phone or email address.
· Automatic Updates: Automatic updates reflect real-time data as properties are leased, completed or become available.
· News Updates: The latest news from Merritt Properties can be viewed and shared.
The company chose to initially develop the application for the iPhone because it has the largest share of the smart phone market, but build-outs are planned for both the Blackberry and Google Android operating systems. In the meantime, Blackberry and Android users can access the commercial property search function via Merritt's mobile website.
To make the company fully accessible to clients, however they choose to communicate, Merritt is also using a texting application that sends property-specific details to any mobile phone and has established a Twitter channel, Facebook fan page and LinkedIn group.
Source: Melissa Teague, Merritt Properties
Writer: Walaika Haskins