This DC-based real estate brokerage firm is using VR for property simulations

Truxton Circle-based real estate brokerage firm Urban District Realty launched a VR tech product for agents to manage property simulations virtually.

Founded in 2017, Urban District Realty works with clients looking to buy, sell or develop luxury properties in the District and Virginia.

The firm’s PROJETO product puts agents and clients in the same virtual environment to view and explore properties under construction together. Ryan Fiero, principal broker and CEO of Urban District Realty, said he had the idea for the tech tool when he was thinking of ways to better serve the company’s clients.

“When we went to sell developments before they were built, we had to use blueprints, plans and renderings. We felt the best way to service our clients was to allow them to walk around a space before it was built,” Fiero said in a statement. “However, the tool we sought didn’t exist, so we developed it ourselves.”

Joel Garcia, Urban District Realty’s in-house virtual reality director, said that PROJETO was not created as a response to the coronavirus pandemic: This tech product has been in the works before the health crisis.

“The introduction of social distancing has actually challenged our paradigm of keeping human connection at the center of the experience,” Garcia said. “And I think it’s a testament to the power of VR that we don’t have to compromise that vision, and that the system can work in a controlled environment.”

Garcia said PROJETO intends to help clients visualize properties past 3D photos, exceeding the limits of the traditional property showing experience.

Real estate developers or anyone interested in using the patent-pending tech product to buy or sell developments can purchase a personalized solution from Urban District Realty by contacting them online or at one of the company’s outdoor pop-up events.