Tom Smith, co-founder of Truss, which provides an automated platform for finding small office and coworking spaces
PHILADELPHIA, PA—Truss, a Chicago-based marketplace for commercial real estate listings, is expanding its platform into the Philadelphia market with information about more than 400 available office spaces and 20 coworking locations in downtown Philadelphia. The expansion follows Truss' latest Series A-2 funding round of $15 million. Truss now has more than 300 million square feet of available office, retail and industrial space available to search, tour and lease on its platform.
“We're excited to continue our expansion on the East Coast,” said Tom Smith, co-founder of Truss. “We've seen increased demand from thriving small-to-medium sized businesses in the area who are looking for the right office space in the heart of the city.”
In an exclusive interview with GlobeSt.com, Smith says the marketplace is free to companies seeking office space because Truss follows the same model as larger tenant representation brokers.
Listen to our complete conversation with Tom Smith of Truss in the audio player below. If you don't see an audio player, click here to listen to the podcast.
“If you're a larger business, you get the attention of the commercial real estate brokerage community and those folks are paid, by and large, for successful leases,” he says. “We've taken that model and brought it downstream, basically democratizing that and allowing people have the same level of access. And we get we get paid by the landlords, just like the big guys do.”
The Truss platform is not just a directory of property listings, Smith points out.
“We're a full transaction platform. We not only help match them through the discovery process, but also provide all of those higher level advisory services that large companies are used to from their from their broker,” he says. “Everything from meeting them for physical tours, if they desire advising on market pricing and negotiation. We help educate them on the market, all the way through lease negotiation and consummation.”
Truss relies on local resources familiar with the market to assist clients, he says. The company's platform also allows tenants to compare the cost of leasing coworking space, an increasingly popular choice, against opportunities for leases on traditional office space available in smaller sizes through Truss.
As the fifth largest city in the United States, Philadelphia has a strong startup and entrepreneur ecosystem. In addition to office space, Truss partnered with 1776, the nation's largest network of incubators to help thriving startups find their next office space. In Philadelphia, small business owners looking for high-end space will find options in Center City near the iconic Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Logan Square. Other areas on Truss' platform include Universal City, Market West and Logan Square. Small business owners will find value in Rittenhouse Square on Walnut Street, and can compare office and coworking spaces.
“We're primarily focused under 10,000 square feet, so that is really the beauty of this, is to be able to compare WeWork right next to a traditional lease, and then be able to see what those cost-per-month comparisons would be, in one view,” Smith says. “No one else has that hundred-percent price transparency.”
Truss plans to launch in Philadelphia's suburbs in the near future and continue its coast-to-coast expansion.
Business owners can search, tour and lease office, retail and industrial space through Truss' platform.
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Steve Lubetkin
Steve Lubetkin is the New Jersey and Philadelphia editor for GlobeSt.com. He is currently filling in covering Chicago and Midwest markets until a new permanent editor is named. He previously filled in covering Atlanta. Steve’s journalism background includes print and broadcast reporting for NJ news organizations. His audio and video work for GlobeSt.com has been honored by the Garden State Journalists Association, and he has also been recognized for video by the New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He has produced audio podcasts on CRE topics for the NAR Commercial Division and the CCIM Institute. Steve has also served (from August 2017 to March 2018) as national broadcast news correspondent for CEOReport.com, a news website focused on practical advice for senior executives in small- and medium-sized companies. Steve also reports on-camera and covers conferences for NJSpotlight.com, a public policy news coverage website focused on New Jersey government and industry; and for clients of StateBroadcastNews.com, a division of The Lubetkin Media Companies LLC. Steve has been the computer columnist for the Jewish Community Voice of Southern New Jersey, since 1996. Steve is co-author, with Toronto-based podcasting pioneer Donna Papacosta, of the book, The Business of Podcasting: How to Take Your Podcasting Passion from the Personal to the Professional. You can email Steve at [email protected].
