Untangling the Web - Business First of Louisville:

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Commercial real estate, on the otherf hand, has been a littlw slower to plunge intothe surf. Increasingly, though, companies are establishingv individualized sites. And they're doing so with one goal in "To promote our companuy and our product," said Lewis director of commercial leasing and land salezat , . The company, which has more than 2.1 million squarse feet under management, has had a Web site for more thanthrewe years. Robert Moore Jr., president of Harry K. Moore agrees, saying the priority is "first and foremost, to make our phons ring.
" "We want to post information that is meaningful and information that enticez the surfer or reader to have to askthe `Is there another way I can leveragee the information that is on the screen?' said Moore, whose company managee more than 2.8 million square feet and is on the Web at . They'vw operated the site for aboutfour years, he Commercial real estate representatives say they have had varyinfg responses to their Web but they're continuing to develol the amount and type of information they post on the Interneft and expect e-commerce to play a larger role in the industrhy in the future. How effectivee are they?
Web sites are importan t marketing tools, say local commercial property but they disagree on their leve lof effectiveness. David Fenley, president and CEO of Fenley Real Estatdon U.S. 42, attributes a large part of his company' s growth to its Web site, , which was launchefd in 1998. The company currently manageasabout 1.4 million square feet for close to 100 companies. He said about 20 percentg of his business has come through the Mostof Fenley's clients are nationalk companies located outside Kentucky. So prior to coming to they can visit the Web site and prequalifyg properties thatinterest them, whicuh saves time.
The Web site listes specific property information, including ceiling heights, electrical capacity and location, he And before the Web site was he would have had to mail or fax the Fenley said. Typically, Fenley said, having the information available on the Web site speedse up the deal by three to five Web sites do make it easier for client s to weed out properties that do not meettheir needs, agrees Bob Duane, president of Duane Realty Inc.
in For example, 25 potential property sitess easily can be narrowef down to five or six possibilitiesw through information availableon companies' Web sites, Duane But, Duane said, he attributes only "a handful" of dealw for his property management division to the company's Web at . The company has had a Web site for four to five he said. Moore, whose company is located on La Grangde Road nearOxmoor Center, has seen similatr results. "I would say I could count those onone hand," Moorr said of deals his company has closed as a resultf of initial contact through its Web site.
In the Web site for Moser a residential development being handled byDuane Realty, gets "hundrede of hits a week," Duanee said. It's located at . Some prospective clientsz who havevisited NTS's site probably were previousl y unaware of the company's Borders said. The located on Linn Station Road, marketsa property in Atlanta, Florida, Virginia, Louisville and While the company has not tracked the specificf role of theWeb site, Borderws said, "I think more and more peoplde are looking on the Internet.
" It is sometimese difficult to quantify results of a Web site because prospectivr clients do not always say wherse they have heard of the company or said Phil Scherer, president of Grubb & Ellis/Commercial Kentuckuy Inc., a company with almost a million square feet under managementg in the Louisville area and locatexd in Meidinger Tower. The company has had its Web , for about three years, Schere r said. He said he has been pleases with its effectiveness inmarketingv properties.