Ellen Britt for CNT #NFT
There has been a lot going on in the world of virtual real estate lately, from celebrities like Snoop Dogg snapping up pricey parcels to real-world real estate firm Propy being the first to sell an NFT associated house in Tampa, Florida. But what’s happening on the virtual commercial side of things?
We recently reported on investment banking giant JP Morgan Chase establishing an office in the metaverse’s Metajuku Mall but now an Austin Texas-based firm, Swivel, is reportedly making the pivot from designing real-world corporate offices to bringing their talents to commercial real estate clients.
Commercial Real Estate Body Blows
Real-world commercial real estate has taken several bad body blows during the pandemic, one of these being the almost complete desertion of some commercial spaces devoted to office workers, as everyone was staying home. After both corporate executives, as well as workers, realized that work could carry on remotely pretty much as usual, many workers and companies are deciding that the burden of upkeep for so much real-world space is just not necessary anymore.
Do The Swivel
Enter Swivel. The Austin-based firm, whose bread and butter up until now has been the creation of digital replicas of real-world offices for the purposes of floor planning and remote touring, has just…well..swiveled!
A Stunning Admission
In an interview with The Real Deal, whose staff reports on commercial real estates deals and news, Swivel CEO Scott Harmon made a stunning admission when he said:
“We think it represents potentially the largest generational shift in the commercial real estate asset category in 50 years.
Basically, we think it’s a new asset class. People might say I’m being hyperbolic, but I really don’t think so.”
To back up this claim, The Real Deal reports that Harmon admitted the company has laid off many of its real-world sales and marketing staff to focus on new hires in metaverse development. And he made it clear that while they will continue to deliver for existing customers, all of Swivel’s new hires and new clients will be on the side of the metaverse.
Are You Listening?
The metaverse is here and it’s only going to get bigger and more integrated into everything you do. As Troy Warren, founder and CEO of City News and Talk, NFT site Mintified, and the up-and-coming metaverse platform Mint City Places is fond of saying, “Now just let that sink in!”
