JLL, LiquidSpace Collaborate on Space Exchange Platform

By Gail Kalinoski, Contributing Editor

John Hampton, of JLL

Jones Lang LaSalle is launching Space Exchange, a new online service matching short- and medium-term corporate real estate needs with on-demand workplaces aimed at serving today’s increasingly mobile workers and managing underutilized office portfolios.

Trademarked by JLL, the service is powered by LiquidSpace’s software-as-a-service (SasS) platform that provides mobile and Web user interfaces along with the asset management platform. It enables workers to securely find and book professional workspace and meeting assets and also provides real-time controls and data analytics for the asset managers.

Both Mark Gilbreath, founder & CEO of LiquidSpace, a two-year-old software technology firm that is a leader in real-time workplace management, and John Hampton, senior vice president of Corporate Solutions Americas for JLL, described the relationship between the two firms as a “very natural partnership.”

Hampton said Space Exchange grew out of a need to find solutions for clients that had excess office space and were trying to right-size their portfolios as well as those who were seeking space for short- and mid-term needs and didn’t want to enter into traditional subleases that might be too long for their purposes.

“We tried this to solve both problems,” he told Commercial Property Executive Tuesday during an exclusive interview to announce the launch of Space Exchange.

Gilbreath and Hampton said the service is the only program to establish a private network of vetted locations within JLL’s global client network portfolio that also provides the control and visibility by the users of the spaces.

Hampton said they are looking for companies among their client base to pilot the program. He noted there are many ways firms could use the Space Exchange service such as clients located in high-priced markets like Paris, London or Tokyo that don’t want to lease extra space and take on additional costs. Another example would be companies that bring outside partners into their offices for increased collaboration. Other uses could be for “touchdown” locations near corporate or client offices, or flexible sales offices in new markets.

Some clients may have unused space set aside for future use that they can now monetize, Hampton added.

Mark Gilbreath, of LiquidSpace

Both men said the service is ideal for the growing number of enterprise workers that may not have a home office or travel a lot.

Gilbreath said the beauty of the platform is that with one app it allows users to book a conference room in their own building, one across town or space in another city.

“It’s opening the door to a new reality for commercial real estate to seamlessly manage and use space in a continuum … and be able to explore new possibilities,” Hampton added.

Commercial real estate executives attending the 2013 Corenet Global Summit in Las Vegas, Oct. 21 to Oct. 23 can test drive Space Exchange by reserving private meeting rooms for one to 12 people in the lounge on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The Corporate Solutions business at JLL helps corporations improve productivity in the cost, efficiency and performance of their national, regional or global real estate portfolios by creating outsourcing partnerships to manage and offering a range of services.