JLL and Risk Integrated launch new proptech, Office Blocks

Singapore, October 15, 2020 – Leading global real estate consultancy, JLL (NYSE: JLL), and risk management company, Risk Integrated, today unveiled OfficeBlocks, an industry-first property technology – or proptech – suite of tools set to transform commercial real estate leasing and investment.

OfficeBlocks gives investors, occupiers and commercial real estate (CRE) brokers rapid data access, insights and analytics for commercial real estate decision making. This innovative and intuitive suite of tools combines artificial intelligence (AI), big data and mobile communications, to provide immediate insights and analysis into commercial real estate across major cities in Asia Pacific.

To date, investors, occupiers and CRE brokers have often lacked real-time and actionable insights into commercial properties and decision making. They have instead been reliant on manual, time-consuming methods of information gathering - from physical visits of properties to analysis of complex data-filled reports. OfficeBlocks is set to transform real estate decision-making by taking millions of data points and processing market intelligence in a meaningful manner to uncover actionable insights - from rental performance to property availability and portfolio analytics. 

By combining JLL’s comprehensive 25-year industry data set with the cutting-edge AI of Risk Integrated, OfficeBlocks provides unrivalled commercial real estate insights and analytical tools including:

• AI estimated rent and floorspace for office properties across Asia Pacific.
• Comparison and benchmarking of property assets.
• Predicted income and revenue analysis.
• Property availability and comparable alternatives.
• Risk and return profiling of property portfolios.

Roddy Allan, Chief Research Officer, Asia Pacific, JLL and Director of OfficeBlocks, says: “There is an urgent need to bring greater transparency to commercial real estate decision making and to enable more effective leasing and investment decisions. JLL and Risk Integrated are delivering what others have long spoken about but not yet accomplished; we are tapping into extensive data resources, and overlaying this with AI and machine learning, to give users access to fast AI estimates they didn’t have previously. OfficeBlocks has developed sophisticated analytical tools to empower users to make smarter business decisions - reducing risk and maximising return on investment.”

“Technology is shaping the future of real estate and tech-enabled companies will capture market share over the next 10 years. We operate in a highly competitive and dynamic market and JLL has always taken an agile approach to technology, which allows us to meet the needs of our clients today and anticipate the opportunities of tomorrow. OfficeBlocks is a continued demonstration of this commitment to deliver the best technology to the industry and put it into the hands of users,” says Anthony Couse, CEO, Asia Pacific, JLL.

Dr. Yusuf Jafry, Managing Director, Risk Integrated and Director of OfficeBlocks, says: “Artificial intelligence and machine learning are transforming all industries. By leveraging the latest algorithms, combined with extensive data and domain expertise from JLL, OfficeBlocks aims to reshape the commercial property landscape with its suite of smart tools for investors, landlords, occupiers, and lenders. With the power of AI coupled with cloud computing and automation, our models are extremely agile, constantly learning and improving as new data becomes available on a daily basis. Moreover, our technology development approach enables us to listen to our clients’ needs, and rapidly fine-tune our products to their explicit requirements.”

OfficeBlocks consists of advanced enterprise tools, available on mobile and desktop. The OfficeBlocks suite of enterprise tools is available to access globally and data covers key cities in Asia Pacific, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai, Seoul and Bangkok.

Read more at https://www.officeblocks.com/

Risk Integrated is a leader in delivering advanced analytics to leading financial institutions active in investing in real assets such as commercial real estate and infrastructure finance. Risk Integrated provides detailed, tailored financial risk models and makes them available to all users by implementing them in a full enterprise-level system. Clients use Risk Integrated’s services to make investment decisions, understand their business, and ensure regulatory compliance. For more information, visit: www.riskintegrated.com

OfficeBlocks is a Singapore-based company applying artificial intelligence to commercial real estate data. The AI and machine learning algorithms have been developed by Risk Integrated and are applied to JLL’s industry-leading Real Estate Intelligence Service data.