Online Transaction Management Comes to Commercial Real Estate by Lesley Hensell While virtually every real estate firm in the country rushes to create a Web strategy, the industry still is woefully behind when it comes to automation of internal processes. A newly funded Internet venture is aiming to change that with VirtualPremise, a Web-based commercial real estate information management system. CrowdControl Interactive (CCI), a web-based business application provider for the commercial real estate industry, this week scored $2 million in venture capital funding from an investment group led by Gallagher Corporation and RMC Capital, LLC. With this first-round cash infusion, CCI plans to promote VirtualPremise and build its technical and management infrastructure. The VirtualPremise system is already in use by commercial real estate clients throughout the United States. “We want to position VirtualPremise as an indispensable tool for the commercial real estate industry,” said Adrian Schmidt, co-founder, president and CEO of CCI. Real estate folks can use the tool to view and manage their complete real estate portfolios. By placing their portfolios on the Web, real estate companies give all employees equal access to information that is continually up-to-date. Meanwhile, on the retail front, leading private developer Edens & Avant is showing off the power of creating a brand name. E&A last week acquired four shopping centers in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. With these acquisitions, the company’s total gross leaseable area of its grocery-anchored “Necessity Retail” shopping centers has topped 600,000 square feet. The company definitely is on a buying spree, with more than 20 acquisitions completed in the past six months. “The acquisition of these centers continues the company’s strategic expansion objectives within high-growth regions of the Eastern United States,” said Joe Edens, chairman and CEO of Edens & Avant. “Outstanding retailers with strong market penetration and national presence anchor each of these centers, and we are pleased to add these superior properties to our portfolio.” In addition, the company has several similar properties under contract for acquisition. But what faster way to give yourself credibility – especially as a privately held company – than to brand even the simplest of real estate products? In this case, Necessity Retail represents centers with tenants like CVS, Lowe’s, OfficeMax and Fresh Fields Foods. | 
