JLL leaning on tech to spur its Canadian growth

Blockchain leases, smart-building platforms are just a few of the innovations that the firm is looking it

JLL leaning on tech to spur its Canadian growth

In its bid to expand its Canadian commercial real estate services, Jones Lang LaSalle is counting on tech – including innovations such as blockchain leases – to boost its growth.

“The whole process that used to be done manually, of identifying clients’ needs, coming up with a fit plan, surveying the market, touring the market, making offers – well, that’s got streamlined with all sorts of technology,” JLL Canada CEO Brett Miller told Bloomberg.

“We’ve had a massive ramp-up, and our objective is JLL being No. 1 in the marketplace and the most comprehensive service provider,” he added.

The Toronto-based Canadian arm of JLL stated that it is planning to challenge and surpass the Canadian units of CBRE Group Inc. and Cushman & Wakefield Inc.

Read more: Amazon may give Vancouver yet another boost

The Canadian government has adopted JLL’s smart-building platform, IntelliCommand, and Miller said that the firm is already preparing a service to help landlords run their own co-working operations.

“We’re into the final days of the concept of the long-term commercial lease,” Miller said. That type of agreement “very much suits the landlords, because who wouldn’t want their tenant to be locked in for 10 years? All of our large occupiers are now saying, how can we have an element of flexibility?”