Technology

STDB: The Next Generation

CCIM members benefit from increased functionality.

By Carol Campbell and Ben Wilson |

For more than 15 years, STDB, the Site To Do Business, has been providing CCIM members with access to some of the most advanced technology tools in the commercial real estate industry. Working closely with Esri and Xceligent, STDB has catapulted to the next generation of geographic information systems this year. CCIM members now have access to Esri’s Business Analyst Online, or BAO, a dynamic, web-based site evaluation and market analysis system, as well as ArcGIS, the cloud-based platform for developing and sharing maps and data.

These advanced tools provide increased mobility and functionality for STDB users and allow them to perform in-depth analysis while delivering actionable results. The next phase will include Xceligent’s powerful CommercialSearch tool, which will be integrated into STDB in the near future. The addition of CommercialSearch will give members the ability to market their own listings and search for properties nationwide.

These new features give CCIM members one of the most advanced online toolkits in the commercial real estate industry.

Expanded Mobility and More

As the commercial real estate market continues to improve and transaction volume increases, location and market analysis become a deciding factor in the decision-making process. CCIM members can use STDB’s new capabilities to ascertain the quality of a location, as well as current and future trends that may impact a given analysis area. The new platform combines the efficiencies of quick demographics with the capacities of site analysis. Users can create analysis areas and run reports on the fly from a new streamlined workflow.

Users can easily access all STDB reports from a new menu that is anchored to each study area label displayed on the interactive map. By activating certain map layers, users can click directly on the map to select the appropriate geographies for creating a study area. Once analysis areas are created, users can run reports directly from the map or highlight the different characteristics of a region using any of the thousands of different variables to highlight the geographic differences.

Below are a number of other significant enhancements that will benefit CCIM members.

Go Mobile. Past iterations of STDB were limited to desktop usage. However, with the new version, CCIMs can quickly access current key demographic and market data directly from their smartphones or tablets, including data such as a given market’s key demographics, how these people differ from individuals and families in other locations, what businesses are in the area, and location potential based on the client’s or investor’s specific needs.

With the new mobile application users can:

• Get up-to-date demographic data, such as age, income, education, home ownership, lifestyle, and spending habits.
• Create comparative data to grade sites against varying criteria or against any other U.S. location.
• Use the GPS to analyze an area within one mile of the user’s current location.
• Use Smart Maps to immediately determine if a location fits a given list of criteria.

Share Data. Using Esri’s ArcGIS tool, users can create interactive maps and customized apps and share them with fellow CCIM

members or specific users. Users may add layers to a map and house the information in the cloud. These cloud-based maps can be previously generated annotated or thematic maps or simply maps that contain data about businesses in a defined area.

Define Your Own Variables. Users are no longer limited to predefined variables such as age or income bracket. The new platform allows them to define their own variables, such as households earning more than $50,000 annually or men aged 52 to 75. These custom variables provide a more-targeted analysis and a better understanding of the location of primary customers. Also, the new format provides an advanced workflow that lets users quickly mine the appropriate variables and save them for future access.

Support Site Selection Decisions. The ability to conduct a reverse analysis is something CCIM members have long desired. Smart Maps streamline the decision-making process by allowing users to view up to five variables simultaneously on a single map. The variables range in scope from traditional searches such as median household income to new variables such as market potential, consumer spending, or even crime data. Applying a filter, users can learn which areas match the criteria and, just as importantly, which areas do not. This tool is especially helpful for assisting in the site selection process, creating targeted marketing strategies, and providing a professional visual display for any presentation. A single click allows users to capture all of the information as a high quality pdf file.

Customize Comparison Reports. STDB users know how to compare multiple sites using Site Analysis within the “run comparison reports” tool. This tool has been significantly augmented within BAO. The new comparison reports tool allows users to select the exact variables of interest without any extraneous information. Also, if the user creates a list of variables that will be pertinent in future studies, the list can be saved and easily accessed in the future.

Help Clients Visualize. BAO provides customized tools within the map annotation tool for adding labels, images, and icons. This information can help clients visualize the key attributes of an area, such as supermarkets and schools. It can also help them understand relevant facts pertaining to the analysis, such as land area, frontage, and more. The new measurement tool also allows users to perform geospatial analysis on BAO’s high-quality maps. Finally, maps can be saved and converted to pdfs in either landscape or portrait format, allowing for a higher-resolution capture.

Step-by-Step Support

Over the years commercial real estate practitioners have come to embrace business technology. Still, the learning curve can be time-consuming and costly, especially since time is often a real estate pro’s most valuable asset. The next generation of STDB tools contains step-by-step guided tours explaining how to complete common tasks. In addition, users can take advantage of live support, live and archived webinars, and the STDB Learning Center knowledgebase, which are all designed to help CCIM members benefit from the exciting new STDB tools.

Carol Campbell manages operations and Ben Wilson manages client services and sales for CCIM Technologies in Dallas. Contact them at carol@ccimtech.com and ben@ccimtech.com.