Hay: I have a background in all facets of the commercial real estate industry, whether finance, brokerage, acquisition or development. Through my own experiences, I realized that the industry lags other industries in terms of efficiency and transparency, and most importantly, there is a need for everything to be cloud based and digital. In the last couple of years, there has been a massive push toward tech. In 2016, there was more than $2.6 billion in venture capital money spent on commercial real estate tech investing. My motivation was seeing that a lot of tenants were dissatisfied both on the landlord side and with their financing. They couldn't accurately predict their sales and growth for three to five years, but were forced to commit to leases that were locking them in for longer periods of time. I have been able to acquire properties where the tenant was underperforming, and I was able to negotiate the early termination of the lease and bring in a tenant that would be more suitable for the property, thus creating value. Value-propositions that I put into place through my own experiences and by bridging the gap between business owners and leaseholds were really the main motivating forces.

GlobeSt.com: Is there a conflict with leaseholders transferring their lease to other users?

Hay: We are offering a marketplace. Ultimately, the leaseholders will need to get approval from the landlord. If the lease rate is so low that the landlord would never agree to it, then maybe it is a situation where the landlord would want to buy out the tenant. If the lease term allows for a transfer by a sublease, the landlord can purchase it or someone else can. What we are doing is creating a transparent system where the leaseholder can value their lease, value their business, and potentially make the most use of their space. Right now, it is highly inefficient for someone to be locked in a lease without a lifeline. It does no good for the landlord. It is both inefficient and inelastic, and it makes no sense.

GlobeSt.com: Are landlords able to use the site as a marketing tool?

Hay: This is meant for current leaseholders to either sublease a portion of the space or assign the lease over to someone else completely. The landlord has only one role to play in this, and that is agreeing to the transfer. The landlord is ultimately going to be getting a tenant that is better suited for their property. This platform is meant for leaseholders.

GlobeSt.com: Why are you launching in L.A., and where is the business headed?

Hay: Los Angeles is a pretty good testing ground for this, because it has a diverse economy. We are going to be going to San Diego and San Francisco next, working our way through California. The plan is going to be to go nationwide in the near future.

LOS ANGELES—Spacegrab is the latest tech company seeking to disrupt the commercial real estate market. Akin to Airbnb, the online platform allows tenants to sublease a portion or all of their space to another user. David Hay, the founder of the company, which launches officially today, says that current leases are inefficient, and sought to create more transparency and efficiency for commercial leases. Currently, the platform is for commercial properties in the Los Angeles area. To find out more about the platform, we sat down with Hay for an exclusive interview.

GlobeSt.com: Tell me about the concept behind Spacegrab?

David Hay: Spacegrab is a secondary marketplace for commercial real estate leases. We are the only online site where leaseholders can exit a portion or all of their lease through a sublease or assignment. There is no other service that allows leaseholders to exit through these two options. We are really allowing for a user-friendly and easy-to-use listing service so that users can get a listing in two to three minutes. Those users can then get in touch with the listing tenant directly. We have partnered with BizEquity, which is a company that does evaluation services, and Sharplaunch, which is a marketing company that provides marketing packages for people looking to market their space. We are really the one-stop-shop if someone wants to come in and understand what their business is worth, what their lease is worth and get brokerage services, if needed. We are really looking to provide opportunities that no one else has.

GlobeSt.com: What was the impetus to launch this platform?

Hay: I have a background in all facets of the commercial real estate industry, whether finance, brokerage, acquisition or development. Through my own experiences, I realized that the industry lags other industries in terms of efficiency and transparency, and most importantly, there is a need for everything to be cloud based and digital. In the last couple of years, there has been a massive push toward tech. In 2016, there was more than $2.6 billion in venture capital money spent on commercial real estate tech investing. My motivation was seeing that a lot of tenants were dissatisfied both on the landlord side and with their financing. They couldn't accurately predict their sales and growth for three to five years, but were forced to commit to leases that were locking them in for longer periods of time. I have been able to acquire properties where the tenant was underperforming, and I was able to negotiate the early termination of the lease and bring in a tenant that would be more suitable for the property, thus creating value. Value-propositions that I put into place through my own experiences and by bridging the gap between business owners and leaseholds were really the main motivating forces.

GlobeSt.com: Is there a conflict with leaseholders transferring their lease to other users?

Hay: We are offering a marketplace. Ultimately, the leaseholders will need to get approval from the landlord. If the lease rate is so low that the landlord would never agree to it, then maybe it is a situation where the landlord would want to buy out the tenant. If the lease term allows for a transfer by a sublease, the landlord can purchase it or someone else can. What we are doing is creating a transparent system where the leaseholder can value their lease, value their business, and potentially make the most use of their space. Right now, it is highly inefficient for someone to be locked in a lease without a lifeline. It does no good for the landlord. It is both inefficient and inelastic, and it makes no sense.

GlobeSt.com: Are landlords able to use the site as a marketing tool?

Hay: This is meant for current leaseholders to either sublease a portion of the space or assign the lease over to someone else completely. The landlord has only one role to play in this, and that is agreeing to the transfer. The landlord is ultimately going to be getting a tenant that is better suited for their property. This platform is meant for leaseholders.

GlobeSt.com: Why are you launching in L.A., and where is the business headed?

Hay: Los Angeles is a pretty good testing ground for this, because it has a diverse economy. We are going to be going to San Diego and San Francisco next, working our way through California. The plan is going to be to go nationwide in the near future.