New online marketplace connects US cities with property investors

A new online marketplace seeks to revolutionise communications between US cities and property developers to help unlock the value of underutilised property in America.

OppSites, short for Opportunity Sites, provides US city officials with a platform to highlight underused districts and sites, and collaborate with real estate developers on what they want to see built for economic and social purposes.

Cities and economic development organisations can post development opportunities on OppSites, regardless of whether the location in question is public or privately owned or whether it is presently on sale. Those sites can be found on OppSites by real estate investors and developers.

Ian Ross, the CEO and co-founder of OppSites, said over 180 cities of all sizes–including San Francisco, Denver, Oakland, and San Diego–have added sites to the platform since its launch in September of 2014.

Ross said the site can work like a matchmaking service for cities and real estate developers. He told Cities Today: “Cities and communities spend a great deal of time and effort planning for the future. They often have an idea of what types of new development would support their vision, and where new development would be supported but they don’t have the tools necessary to implement their plans.

“For example, a city might possess knowledge about where new real estate investment is prioritised, and even what types of incentives are available to streamline the process. But often as a government agency they’re siloed and they don’t efficiently communicate their knowledge with the private sector.”

Ross said OppSites solves this problem by creating an economic development marketplace that drives capital to underutilised properties whose redevelopment will help advance local priorities: “Cities simply click on our map to identify properties that they want developers to know about, and those properties can be found on OppSites by real estate professionals.”

“Cities are used to spending plenty of money to host a breakfast with local brokers or have been known to hire a bus to drive developers around town. The return on these investments is quite limited. By creating transparency and simplifying communication, OppSites brings a 21st century solution to economic development and helps cities gain access to thousands of developers who they may not otherwise know.”

OppSites’ basic services are free for cities who wish to add sites. Premier OppSites cities send targeted marketing campaigns to investors and developers whose investment preferences are aligned with the city’s goals. Ross added that over 2,000 real estate developers visited OppSites in the month of May in search of under-exposed development opportunities.

OppSites recently entered into a partnership agreement with the International Council of Shopping Centers, the nation’s leading organisation of retail shopping centre owners, providing discounted access to OppSites’ services to ICSC’s 4,000 public agency members and over 70,000 real estate professionals.

Ross, who spent 15 years as an urban design consultant to cities, said OppSites is initially operating within the USA but he could forsee a time when it expands internationally. He said: “OppSites interface is built on top of Google maps, so we’re set up to scale globally. The greatest short-term goal we have is to help cities actually achieve their goals for growth. The greatest long-term goal relates to helping our society maximise the efficient use of our land and create more livable communities.”