Rofo was selected by the city of San Francisco as a partner to help promote the up and coming Central Market neighborhood. This neighborhood has received a lot of press attention recently with high profile tenants like Twitter, Burning Man, and most recently Zendesk signing significant leases as part of a broader initiative to improvement the district.

The city approached Rofo about collaborating to help promote additional business relocation to Central Market. We were naturally excited to participate as a civic partner. We had also recently launched a customizable listings widget to power any website. The city was able to cut and paste a line of code and easily add available properties to their new neighborhood website.

The city then approached local landlords and brokers with vacant office spaces, warehouse spaces and retail spaces and who were interested in further promotion and exposure of their buildings. The effort seems to be paying off with nearly a dozen inquiries within 30 days of the launch.

We look forward to rolling out and announcing some similar programs with other cities and economic development groups in the weeks ahead.

A couple of weeks ago we wrote a post about nearing 200,000 total office space listings. This morning we hit listing number 207,864 – a retail space for lease in Manistee, Michigan.

Despite the recent slide and uncertainty with the US economy we’re still seeing positive signals from both the supply and demand side of commercial real estate. We’ll focus on some the positive key indicators we’re seeing in a subsequent post.

The countdown to 200,000 listings added to Rofo is officially on. Not really sure what we’ll do when we hit the milestone and we welcome any ideas. As for now, the plan is to pull a Jeter: hug it out for a moment and then get back to work.

We’re particularly proud of this mark because these listings are home grown and naturally fed. We have great partners, customers and users who have decided that Rofo is where they want their listings. Building the number one platform for businesses on the move is our way of saying thanks (as well as the tens of thousands of qualified tenant tours).

Listing 195,260 was added by our new friends Mack Cali – a 167,000 square foot headquarters building in Greenbelt, MD. Welcome to Rofo and we’ll do our best to promote it!

We’re coming up on a year since Rofo launched Real Estate Pro for the LinkedIn platform. We’ve seen tremendous use and adoption of an app that, at the time of launch, was completely new and different. Many sources told us, and I quote, “brokers and agents aren’t engaged with their listings online and they’re not on LinkedIn.”

Fortunately, we’re seeing something quite different – brokers engaged with their data and real estate professionals recognizing the importance of LinkedIn in the development of their business. I’m connected to a few brokers on LinkedIn and, throughout the week, I’ll see listing updates and deal announcements generated through the app. Its an easy way to generate updates and to stay top of mind with your trusted connections.

Suite 110 at 950 South Coast Drive in Costa Mesa is available for lease. This 751 square foot office space features a reception area and two private offices.

This Costa Mesa office space is located in a Class A office building. The Metro Point building offers tenants access to numerous onsite amenities, including: banking, restaurants and shopping. Metro Point also offers convenient access to the 405, 73 and 55 freeways.

To request more information about this space, click here.

A communications firm is looking to sublease two private offices in this class A building. The available Stamford office spaces are great for 1-3 people and range from 100-200 square feet.

Located in downtown Stamford, this office building features: access to internet, WiFi and phone system, free shuttle to the Stamford Transportation Center, designer furniture, 24/7 building access, an on-site gym and much more.

Click here to request more information about the available office spaces at 750 E Main Street in Stamford.

The Jay Suites at Penn Station currently offer 400 and 500 square foot offices for lease. Located at 1370 Broadway, this New York office space borders Manhattan’s Times Square South as well as the Garment District.

The Jay Suites at Penn Station offer tenants:

• Friendly receptionist services, to greet clients, answer phone calls, and do your administrative work.
• First-class, luxuriously furnished offices with desks, chairs and filing space.
• Access to two conference rooms, equipped with ergonomic chairs, frosted glass meeting tables, video and teleconferencing.

Click here to request more information about the available office spaces at 1370 Broadway in New York.

Businesses looking for office, industrial or retail space online often use Rofo.com to begin their search for space. With hundreds of listings to choose from, it’s important that your listing stands out amongst the crowd.

In our experience, we have found that detailed listings receive more inquires from businesses searching for space, than those listings with minimal information. Below are some tips to help you optimize your commercial real estate listing on Rofo and drive more leads.

Optimizing Your Listing

1. Write a catchy listing title
   • Catchy listing titles help draw attention to your listing. Keywords tenants often look for in a listing title include: special pricing (1st Month Free), lease terms (Month to Month), location descriptions (Hwy 101 Access), unique uses (Lab Space with Hood).
2. Include pricing information
   • Tenants make decisions based on their budget; pricing is one of the main qualifiers a tenant uses when reviewing a space.
3. Provide a detailed space description
   • Turn searchers into prospects with detailed property descriptions. Detailed descriptions make it easier for tenant to decide if your space is a good fit for their needs. Here are some suggestions of what to include in your listing description: specific details about the unit (number of private offices, conference room access, dock door availability, yard space), information about the property (24/hour access, security, management onsite, parking, nearby amenities, major freeways).



4. Include photos and video of the space
   • Photos give tenants a quick idea of what the space looks like. Adding internal and external photos to your listing will improve the number and quality of inquiries you receive. Using your digital camera take some quick shots of the available unit and the building.
   • Videos are another great way to market your available space. Videos offer a quick snapshot of the available space and tenants like the idea of a virtual tour. Simply create a short video using your digital camera. Post the video to YouTube and add the link to your listing on Rofo. Your video will automatically appear on the listing detail page. To see examples of listings on Rofo with videos, click here.

Looking for office space in downtown Pleasanton? The charming office building at 739 Main Street in Pleasanton has a 340 square foot office space for lease. For just $833 a month, this downtown Pleasanton office space could be the next location for your business.

The mixed-used property, supports office and retail users. The property has 13 on-site parking spaces and is perfect for small businesses looking for office space. To inquire about this space, click here.

Located on Pecos Road between Harmon Avenue and University Avenue, this class B office building has a just few office spaces available for lease.

The Her Office Building features a full basement for secure parking and storage and is conveniently located near 1-95, the McCarran Airport and the Sunrise Hospital. To learn more about the available Las Vegas office spaces at this property, click here.