clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Virtual reality real estate tours continue to take off in D.C.

VR platform Truss is doubling down on the Washington metro area

By Adele Chapin
1800 K Street office space
Truss

The D.C. area’s been good for Truss, a virtual reality platform for commercial real estate that allows businesses to tour and lease office and retail space. The company just announced an expansion in the Washington market, adding office space tours in Northern Virginia.

“NoVa was a natural expansion for us considering our presence in Washington DC proper,” Co-Founder of Truss Bobby Goodman told Curbed. “NoVa gives us the opportunity to broaden our reach to the many government contractors, technology companies, and other small to medium sized businesses that make up 90% of office space users in the metro area.”

The company is also adding 2.5 million square feet of retail space options in D.C., in addition to its existing 26 million square feet of office space in the city.

Here’s how it works in part: Truss’s partner Matterport can shoot spaces in as quickly as 10 minutes, and then those interested in leasing them can take a tour via their smartphone.

Virtual reality’s been poised to take off in real estate for awhile now, but Goodman points out that its biggest value could be as a time-saver. “VR saves people time and money by giving them the full visual impact of an office or storefront before seeing it in person,” Goodman says. “This way, instead of countless hours spent physically touring properties that don’t work, business owners only tour those spaces that have a high probability of meeting their needs.”