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Problem: Commercial real estate property managers/brokers defined all the information and activities necessary to sell a property without the cost or involvement of brokers. This meant converting their business processes into a website. The website would represent the properties, allow potential buyers to query for detailed information, allow them to communicate with the owners and submit bids for purchase. The site had to provide for multiple levels of access, based on the credentials of the buyer. Security and confidentiality of users was paramount.

In addition, users with minimal skill levels had to be able to easily and quickly construct electronic books (e-books) describing the properties. Interfaces to industry products such as ARGUS were built to ease the cost and complexity of e-book construction by extracting information from existing real estate management databases.

Action: Digital Arts partnered with the entrepreneurs to develop a website allowing users to create an online "marketplace" for office buildings. We defined the listing/transaction process, the look and feel of the website, the backend database, and implemented the site. A demonstration version of this site, without the backend database, may be viewed here.

Result: Although there was much interest in the site, the entrepreneurs were unlucky in that the Internet bubble was bursting and that the under-computerized commercial real estate firms were not willing to embrace this new technology.