Retail brokers in New York City gained an invaluable new tool dedicated exclusively to the retail real estate market with the recent beta launch of RetailMLS.com. RetailMLS.com is the first multiple listing service (MLS) for retail professionals which streamlines the process of marketing and searching for retail space into an easy-to-use, standardized and low-cost platform. Unlike other commercial MLS platforms, which are predominantly geared to office listings, RetailMLS offers access to listing information that is retail-specific.
RetailMLS.com is currently available to a select group of the city's most active retail brokers and landlords who have signed on to use the product. These early users will have access to the service at no cost and the opportunity to work with the site's developers to enhance its effectiveness and overall feature set. The public launch for RetailMLS is slated for the fall.
RetailMLS CEO Benjamin Zises founded the company after working as a retail broker. "I realized that the industry needed an MLS of its own to assist retail brokerage and leasing firms in marketing their listings and searching for space on behalf of tenants. RetailMLS seeks to become the homepage that successful brokers use to better service their landlord and tenant clients, providing them with the information they need to get to negotiations and close deals faster."
Laura Pomerantz, Principal and Founder of PBS Real Estate said, "We have built long-term client relationships and have proven our value as site selectors and negotiators, but market conditions change constantly and our job is to stay ahead of the curve. RetailMLS is a powerful tool that will add to our ability to do that."
RetailMLS has a user-friendly interface that includes over 75 retail-specific search and listing fields.
For example, users can search by criteria such as frontage, ceiling height, distance from public transportation, location on street, indoor/outdoor seating requirements and whether the space is vented or has a built-in kitchen for a restaurant tenant.
"Our industry was craving a service like this," said Brandon Singer, director of retail services at Cushman & Wakefield, who is among those test-driving RetailMLS in the beta phase. "Along with everything in real estate, retail has become more specialized and the process of closing deals has become more complex. We needed a service that was both retail specific and one which allowed brokers to list and search on a more granular level of detail."
Brokers who subscribe to RetailMLS as "RetailPRO" users are able to access enhanced site features including saving searches, which allows for automatic email updates when new listings are added to a specific neighborhood, or tracking listings to receive notices if the asking rent drops for a space. Additional features are already in the works and Zises is confident his service will provide retail professionals with valuable information and time saving tools.
He said, "No website could ever match the savvy and knowledge of an NYC retail expert, but our goal is to ensure that retail professionals can close deals faster by having all the information they need at their fingertips."
RetailMLS has also assembled an advisory board of top industry executives including the former CEO and founder of PropertyShark, Ryan Slack, who said, "RetailMLS is going to revolutionize the retail leasing market."

RetailMLS.com is the first multiple listing service (MLS) dedicated exclusively to the retail real estate market. RetailMLS has streamlined the process of marketing and searching for retail space by aggregating listings into an easy-to-use, standardized and low cost platform. RetailMLS provides retail professionals immediate access to the information needed to get to negotiations and close deals faster. Follow us on Twitter @RetailMLS. Find us on Facebook at Facebook.com/RetailMLS. Tags: