OpenSpace Whitepaper

Introduction

The world of property development and ownership has never been more complex and challenging. Over the last year, firms had to quickly adapt to the challenges presented by the pandemic and resulting lockdowns, not to mention the economic uncertainty that came along with it. 

Top property investors have pivoted quickly to update their models, protect their cash flows, and spot new opportunities in 2020 and 2021. At the same time, technology has been evolving rapidly to serve this industry. The best developers and owners are acting quickly to use new technology platforms and products to get a leg up on the competition. 

As the world returns to normal, developers and owners will be pressed to deliver the offices, residences, and commercial spaces that are needed. As always, they will rise to the challenge and meet this moment. 

Here at OpenSpace, we spoke with a few of our top customers to learn more about the challenges and opportunities for property developers and owners to discover how 360 reality capture is helping them succeed at every stage of the process, from acquisitions to operation. 

Project Stage: Acquisition and Pre-Construction

See Properties Clearly to Make Smart Acquisitions 

The first person on the team who sees the property is usually the Acquisitions Manager. One of the unique challenges that Acquisitions Managers face is that they need to see a lot of different properties in many different locations, evaluate all of them in as much detail as possible, and make decisions quickly with the information that’s available. 

Obtaining good information, processing it quickly, and communicating to the rest of the team is key to this role. 

For many Acquisitions Managers, that means traveling to many different cities (ex: Chicago to Nashville to Atlanta in one week) and compiling huge amounts of data about each property as they travel. 

That information must be shared with their entire team and the team must work together to answer crucial questions about each property, including: 

• What condition is it in? 

• What kind of revenue can it generate?  

• How much would it cost to renovate it? 

• What should we offer (if anything) to purchase it? 

The trick is quickly identifying those properties that have the potential to generate a lot of revenue compared to the purchase price and cost of renovations and remodels necessary to make the space inhabitable by a tenant. 

However, there are a lot of problems that can come up when evaluating a property. For example, the plans and photos of the property might not be comprehensive and might not show crucial details. The drawings you get might be from 30 years ago and don’t provide enough information. 

This is where reality capture technology like OpenSpace provides a whole lot of value. Instead of sharing a folder full of photos with the team, you can do a virtual walkthrough of the entire property with OpenSpace and share a complete, interactive digital replica of the site. Once the job site has been captured in OpenSpace, it can be viewed remotely by teams in other cities across the country within 1-2 hours. That means decisions can be made faster, allowing teams to move forward and meet deadlines.

With OpenSpace, team members in different cities can do a Google Street View style of the property and spot issues as if they were standing right there. Now you’re looking at an asset in detail instead of just trying to describe issues over the phone or looking at photos that are incomplete. 

“With OpenSpace, I can get a complete picture of a property for sale and share it with my team in New York remotely. We can evaluate and prioritize every deal without having to rely on memory or still images.”  -- Acquisitions Manager, TBD 

Project Stage: Design and Build 

Communicate Easily to Make Renovations Efficient

After purchasing a property, the Project Manager becomes the most important person involved. Their job is to ensure the successful renovation or remodel of the property so that it’s ready to welcome new tenants (and to start generating revenue) by a certain date. 

This is a dynamic and difficult role, because it requires communicating with key stakeholders and specialists in locations around the world. 

The Project Manager works closely with the general contractor and specialty contractors on a daily basis to guide the work being done on the jobsite. To do their job effectively, they must know the answer to questions like this: 

• Are we fixing all the major issues? 

• Are we building to code?

• Are we adhering to the drawings & plans? 

• Are we on track to finish under budget? 

• Are we on track to finish on time? 

Many small decisions must be made on a daily basis to get a project across the finish line. Sometimes this could be as simple as changing a laminate countertop to a granite countertop. Not only must the Project Manager oversee what’s happening on the jobsite, they also must be in constant contact with the Architect, Chief Engineer, and others on their team, who may each be across town or even in a different city at any given moment. 

Having a 360 visual twin can be extremely helpful for the Project Manager because it allows them to easily share issues with contractors or show progress updates to other people on the team. 

In this role, the quality of your information is paramount. A platform like OpenSpace gives you the highest quality of information so you can make the right decisions to finish the project on time and have it ready to welcome tenants as soon as possible. For residential projects, OpenSpace can even ensure that units are leased (and generating revenue) quicker by speeding up communication.  

“When the construction team uses OpenSpace to capture the project, it gives me perfect visibility into the progress being made each day. I can find and fix issues quickly. I can also give accurate time estimates to my team so they know when to expect the project to be completed.” -- Project Manager, TBD 

Project Stage: Acquisition through Operation 

Optimize Cash Flow and Reduce Risk 

Most property developers and owners are managing several renovations and revenue- generating assets at a time. The Asset Manager is tasked with allocating funds to the various projects to efficiently complete projects and get them operating as quickly as possible. 

The Asset Manager must consider factors such as: 

• Are there unexpected repairs on a project that will impact our cash reserves?

• Do I need to update our current financial models based on new information?

• Am I staying updated on new issues as they arise? 

• Are there any property issues that will impact our cash flow?  

• Do I have a conditional plan for different outcomes? 

While the Asset Manager spends more time in an office than on a jobsite, they must be intimately familiar with the decisions that are being made by crews on the ground and their timelines for finishing a project. The Asset Manager typically relies on sophisticated financial models that indicate whether projects will be profitable. The most important variables in these models are completion date of each project and the total cost of each project. 

This is where 360 capture platforms like OpenSpace can be extremely useful. At any time, from anywhere in the world, Asset Managers can now monitor the precise day-to-day progress on each jobsite. They can also see issues as soon as they arise, rather than being surprised weeks or months later. By recording the full history of the project, which lives with the asset forever, it makes the asset more valuable in the event of a sale and easier to operate if ownership changes. The documentation lives with the building, providing ongoing value.  

“OpenSpace can tell me the exact status of a project so I know whether I can move money to another project or not. OpenSpace can also help me predict delays and quickly mobilize resources to mitigate the damage.” -- Asset Manager, TBD 

Project Stage: Operation 

Operate at a Profit with Peace of Mind 

Once a property is acquired and renovated, the new tenant moves in and the asset begins generating revenue. At this stage, the Facilities Manager is tasked with keeping the property running smoothly, ensuring that the tenant is satisfied with its condition, and addressing any repairs or maintenance that is needed. 

Here are a few things that Facilities Managers must stay on top of: 

• Is there any scheduled maintenance that must be done this week/month? 

• Are there any unexpected repairs that must be fixed immediately? 

• If crews are currently working on site, are they staying on schedule and on budget? 

• Are the common areas in good shape, clean, and attractive?

There are many different things that can go wrong with a building in the operations stage, including leaks, plumbing issues, cracks in the foundations or walls, mold, etc. That’s why, for most large buildings, there is always some type of work being done to maintain it. 

A 360 capture platform like OpenSpace can give Facilities Managers much greater insight into the condition of the property and ability to respond to issues that arise. For example, if a tenant notifies them that a leak has occurred, with water coming out onto the floor from behind the wall, they can use OpenSpace to “see behind walls” and determine whether there are pipes behind the wall or not. If not, they know the leak must be coming from the ceiling. This saves them the time and money of breaking open the wall. 

“OpenSpace is an incredible resource for me because it has the entire history of the building. It allows me to see behind walls, which makes it easier to know how to resolve issues when they arise. If there is a water leak somewhere, I can easily see where the pipes are installed behind the wall.” -- Facilities Manager, TBD