Truss Adds Retail Space To DC Local Database
There has been increased demand for restaurants and salons on the platform, according to co-founder Bobby Goodman.
WASHINGTON, DC–Truss, a Chicago-headquartered brokerage that uses an AI-based platform to help tenants find space, has expanded added 2.5 million square feet of retail space to its local database, as well as office space in Northern Virginia. The company already has 26 million square feet of office space in DC.
“We’ve seen an increased demand for restaurants and salons, and our platform makes it easier to find that space while offering price transparency for the first time,” said Bobby Goodman, co-founder of Truss, in a prepared statement.
Truss is differentiating itself from other tenant brokers with its technology. Its system, which the company has named Vera, has a chatbot on the front end, which queries would-be tenants about their space needs, according to an earlier interview with CTO Jes Sherborne. The system uses artificial technology to dynamically score the possibilities so they best fit the client’s needs, Sherborne told GlobeSt.com.
“It makes intelligent tradeoffs about size and location and expense. Ideally, the selection would be just as though a person had done it after interviewing the client.”
The platform also offers virtual reality tours of the space — this was a feature that Benjamin Sislen, owner of Kingfisher, Shaw Yoga and Crown & Crow found to be helpful when he used the system. “Their virtual reality tours allow me to preview space without actually having to visit spaces that won’t work for my business,” he said.
Truss launched retail offerings in Chicago last month with 7 million square feet of available throughout downtown Chicago. Truss plans to build on its retail expansion into Houston and Dallas next.