JLL disrupts own industry, launches online commercial real estate platform

HiRise, the passion project of a handful of D.C.-based Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) employees, launched officially Wednesday.
It’s sort of like Zillow for office space.
As we wrote previously, the platform allows prospective renters to rifle through different options, but also review the fine print and seal deals online.
It simplifies the process for tenants, notably for spaces that are smaller than 5,000 square feet.
JLL is launching the platform first in D.C. because of the shifting nature of the local real estate market and the various types of companies established here, from startups to government contractors.
“The D.C. technology community really needs this tool,” Eastern Foundry cofounder Geoff Orazem said in a JLL press release.
Orazem said the incubator’s members have used the platform to search for office spaces: “Our ecosystem at Eastern Foundry is built on breaking down barriers for tech startups and government contractors so that they can spend more time working on their business, and that’s exactly what HiRise will do for them.”