Spatial services are changing how real estate developers work

Every real estate project is a collaboration

From planners to architects, regulatory bodies to construction companies, aligning the different stakeholders to create a process that’s smooth, functional and efficient can be a challenge. And the bigger the project, the bigger the challenge – and the greater the risks created by any inefficiencies. Spatial services help overcome these challenges.

This is where the property developer comes in. Typically, the developer is the person or company that buys the land or existing property and creates the building program. This includes overseeing the plans and designs, obtaining the necessary planning and community approvals, ensuring the financing is in place and building the property. It can also incorporate the marketing, rental, management and eventually sale of the project.

“Spatial services, digital 3D models and the powerful tools they offer are helping developers overcome traditional challenges to success.”

Clearly, no real estate developer can be an expert in each and every one of these processes. Their role, then, is to bring together, oversee and organize the relevant experts in each field to deliver the most cost and time-effective process possible. In doing so they minimize problems and maximize profits.

This can be a time-consuming and complex challenge fraught with stress, but the advent of Digital Twins, digital 3D models and the powerful tools they offer is helping overcoming the challenges of any real estate development project.

What are the challenges real estate developers face?

Whatever the market conditions, developers should always be risk averse. Mistakes can be expensive to the point of catastrophe and there are some common pitfalls to avoid.

Misreading the market

Pursuing a project based on speculation rather than market demand, or driven by capital in search of a return is a mistake. Projects should be grounded by data-driven decision making. This means knowing there’s a demand for what you’re building, including vacancy rates and what else is coming to market that represents competition to your development. Market analysis will give you rental and sales values and show vacancy rates to establish project feasibility and absorption rates.

Mismanaging the real estate lifecycle

Investing, planning, building or renovating, and managing are the four key stages of the real estate lifecycle. Each needs to be managed efficiently and effectively to ensure the project meets its deadlines and achieves maximum profitability – easier said than done! Increasingly, Digital Twins are leading the way in how to manage this lifecycle thanks to their powerful realization of real-time and historical data. This allows developers to make accurate predictions, get invaluable market insight and streamline processes to create targeted outcomes and deliver effective action.

Poor communication between stakeholders

Communication is key but stakeholders in real estate projects are often siloed. Facilitating a clear communication channel between disparate parties is undoubtedly a huge challenge, but without it projects can slow, stall and even fail completely. If you can’t effectively communicate your concept to investors or regulatory authorities, you may not even get out of the ground. If you can’t agree on design updates or visualize final builds to potential customers, you may build something unrentable or unsaleable. Employing spatial services and photorealistic, interactive 3D models has become a game changer for many developers.

Misunderstanding local sentiment

Many developers underestimate the problems that can come from local opposition to their development. Failure to win the approval of the neighborhood – from residents to local businesses – has the power to stop a project in its tracks. Even with official municipal permissions in place, if your project generates enough animosity and opposition from an organized local community, they may be able to pressure local councils into changing their minds and rejecting your plans. Understanding your project’s potential impact on the neighborhood can prevent problems before it’s too late to solve them.

How can real estate developers overcome these challenges?

Digital Twins and spatial services are rewriting traditional developer workflows. They allow developers to automate processes, give stakeholders a holistic overview of the project from concept to completion, and allow those with a vested interest – municipalities, neighborhoods, communities – to visualize, understand and feedback on what’s being built.

Let’s look at a typical if simplified workflow to kickstart a development project, involving several skill sets and, for all but the biggest development companies, outsourcing of work:

1. Locate your potential development plot using Google Maps, taking screenshots of aerial and street views to help visualize the area. These map images are not always up to date and, depending on the area, are limited in scope and quality.

2. Take (or employ a specialist company to take) high resolution aerial and street level photos to make sure the initial Google Maps reference is accurate.

3. Commission an architectural visualization of your development and surrounding area, preferably in 3D, with the option to create a physical model as well depending on the scale of your development and your budget.

4. Hire a graphic designer to create a series of marketing materials – photo renders, brochures, etc. – to onboard stakeholders and promote early sales.

A simplified workflow with spatial services

Using Digital Twins solutions like Nomoko Platform and spatial services to automate 3D models, we can create a simplified, streamlined, democratized and far more cost-effective workflow:

1. Sign up to Nomoko Platform (it’s free) and use it to find and identify the properties and areas available for development:

• Search and refine with multiple property filters
• Accurate and up to date
• Information rich with current and historical building data
• Data layers including cadastral and zoning, abstract and satellite base maps and points of interest locations – parking, schools, restaurants and shops

2. With your location chosen and development criteria met, use Nomoko spatial services to capture the area on demand as a 3D model and order the custom outputs you need to meet your project demands:

• Integrate your CAD renders directly into the 3D model to visualize in photorealistic accuracy how your development will look
• Order fly-through and point-of-view video and photo renders, orthophotos to showcase your property and inspire stakeholders and customers alike
• Test simulations like seasons and shadows to see how your development will impact its surroundings and the community
• Reuse your model again and again to test different scenarios and refine final designs to ensure the best possible design before building
• Ask Nomoko to create the outputs you want or take ownership of the model and create them yourself
• Share instantly and easily with a simple URL or embed them in your website to showcase your vision to the world

With Digital Twin technology and Nomoko spatial services, we can see how traditional developer workflows and processes are being revolutionized, vastly reducing the number of disparate participants needed to deliver an effective development.

Want to find out how spatial services can reshape your processes to work smarter and build better?