Users of Mapscape are provided with the steps and the data toperform market planning and strategic development to make morewell-informed real estate decisions. Mapscape can now provide thesalient characteristics such as demographics for a retail propertyor a look at the potential workforce surrounding a commercialproperty.

"Mapscape enables a real estate executive to assess thecharacter of the market he is looking at," says Robert Reading,executive vice president of Tactician. "It tells you what type ofbusinesses are around the area, what the traffic is like, what isthe educational level of the people in the area. When Toys R Us islooking for a location, these are the details they need toknow."

The web-based technology of Mapscape, which has been on-linesince last December, means that users do not have to download orinstall any software. The data is continually updated. Registeredusers can have access to some data free of charge while reportpackages start at $19 a location or at $250 per year.