JLL's Blackbird proptech application secures US patent

CHICAGO, May 3, 2018 — The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted JLL (NYSE: JLL) a patent for Blackbird, the proprietary visualization platform used by office and industrial brokers to advise clients to make confident site-selection decisions. Blackbird enables users to take virtual tours of commercial real estate within or across markets, based on data points that matter to them.

"We're proud to receive this patent for Blackbird, a tool that goes beyond traditional site selection to provide insightful real estate information in a 3-D virtual space," said Michael Startin, Vice President and Director of Geographic Information Systems. "JLL is continuously innovating and bringing new technology to the industry, and Blackbird is one powerful example of how we're leading in that effort for our clients."

Blackbird enables JLL brokers to help clients explore property options across the country to gain a more complete sense of a property's attributes without the time and cost of an onsite physical inspection. Users can assess potential markets based on real-time market data like demographics, tax incentives and access to transit.

Using 3-D visualization, Blackbird goes beyond traditional site selection to provide virtual tours of commercial real estate across dozens of markets.

Once a market is identified, Blackbird renders a 3-D visualization of the property and stackable floor plans. It can even reveal neighborhood amenities such as coffee shops or identify walk times from subway stations. Key data points such as availability, rental rates and building class are available through Blackbird, and users can also see planned sites and buildings before construction even begins.

Specifically, the USPTO awarded JLL U.S. Patent No. 9,892,474 titled: "Computerized System and Method for Visualizing integrated Real Estate Data."

Blackbird was created by members of JLL's Research & Strategy group and was a 2013 winner of the firm's Da Vinci awards. The awards are part of JLL's Innovation & Product Development platform, which facilitates continuous innovation to develop new solutions for JLL clients and share best practices to drive productivity and delivery excellence. Other JLL innovation initiatives include our JLL Spark division, partnerships with academic institutions and innovative client relationships.

JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a leading professional services firm that specializes in real estate and investment management. A Fortune 500 company, JLL helps real estate owners, occupiers and investors achieve their business ambitions. In 2017, JLL had revenue of $7.9 billion; managed 4.6 billion square feet, or 423 million square meters; and completed investment sales, acquisitions and finance transactions of approximately $170 billion. At the end of 2017, JLL had nearly 300 corporate offices, operations in over 80 countries and a global workforce of 82,000. As of December 31, 2017, LaSalle had $58.1 billion of real estate assets under management. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated.