Truss, a commercial real estate platform, has expanded to South Florida.
The Chicago-based online listings startup is launching its Miami site with more than 8.5 million square feet of office listings in the tri-county region, co-founder Andy Bokor said. The company, which incorporates artificial intelligence and virtual reality tours of properties, was founded in 2016 and has raised $9 million in Series A funding.
Truss hires a broker in each of its markets, which currently includes Chicago, Dallas, Austin, Houston, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco. Bokor said the company will be launching in Boston, Philadelphia and in more California markets.
In South Florida, it brought on Ken Silberling, who has worked for Capital Business Solutions, Brenner Real Estate Group, Danburg Management and other firms. The South Florida website now includes 1,500 office listings and 50 co-working locations. “It took us about four months to get the inventory,” Bokor said. “We won’t consider opening a market until we have a minimum of 80 percent of the available market.”
Truss is geared toward smaller tenants looking for under 10,000 square feet. “Traditionally, those tenants have not gotten a lot of attention by the brokerage community. This puts a lot of the power back into the tenant’s hands,” he added.
Truss doesn’t charge landlords to list their properties, but it takes the commission earned on the tenant side and shares 30 percent of that with the tenant, which can be used on furniture, moving, or other costs.
In Miami, the standard commission typically ranges from 3 percent to 4 percent of the deal, which includes operating expenses, a spokesperson for Truss said. In Broward and Palm Beach counties, it’s typically 4 percent to 5 percent of the net deal, excluding operating expenses.