RealCentric Moves into Austin, Plans for Valley

Silicon Valley-based online leasing site RealCentric.com is expanding into Austin, Tex., and planning for a Silicon Valley push by year’s end.

RealCentric, which connects space-seeking business owners with property owners and related rental services, this week announced that it has signed on a slate of Austin’s top commercial property owners and brokerage firms. Per the agreement, the companies will list vacancies with RealCentric.

RealCentric CEO Jim Stuart estimated that his company has 75 percent of the Austin market. And, Stuart said, that offering benefits space-seekers beyond the Lone Star State.

“(RealCentric) users in Silicon Valley who often take space in Austin … can from their desktop not only assess the market, but they can negotiate for a space that meets their needs before they ever get on a plane to go anywhere,” Stuart said.

The site was launched a year ago and is funded by “high net-worth individuals” who Stuart declined to name. “But their wealth was created in the real-estate industry as opposed created to being created in the technology industry, so they have an in-depth understanding of the real estate process,” he said.

The investors contributed $15.5 million during RealCentric’s first round of funding, Stuart said. The company is now seeking a second round of funds. Stuart did not specify revenue to date, but said the company collects a transaction fee from its vendors, product companies and affiliated real-estate firms.

RealCentric plans to begin serving the Silicon Valley market by year’s end and has already signed on space providers including Hallmark Construction, McLarney Construction, DPR Construction and CAS Architects. “We’d like to extend beyond the known borders of San Jose and Santa Clara,” Stuart said. “Even the (San Francisco) peninsula has little to no vacancy available, so we’re exploring extending beyond the normal boundaries, perhaps to Livermore, Pleasanton, and the East Bay.”

RealCentric is also mulling over a “reverse auction” format for landlords to showcase properties to tenants, thereby allowing landlords to screen all possible renters.

The firm requires no exclusivity agreements from any of its affiliates, Stuart said. “As a company and from a intellectual standpoint, I believe it is not in anyone’s best interest to establish exclusivity,” he said. “In order for the real-estate industry to achieve liquidity, information will need to flow freely from organization to organization. It needs to be liberated.”

The company currently serves Chicago, Los Angeles, Orange County and Las Vegas. Year-end expansion plans aside from Silicon Valley include Denver, San Diego, Dallas, Boston, Northern Virginia, Atlanta and Tampa. It plans to ultimately offer listings in 40 markets.