Meet Blackbird, JLL’s property visualisation platform

JLL has been granted a USA patent for Blackbird, the proprietary visualisation platform used by office and industrial agents to advise clients to make informed site-selection decisions.

Blackbird allows JLL agents to help clients explore property options across the US, to gain a more complete sense of a property’s attributes without needing to spend the time and money on an onsite physical inspection.

Users can evaluate potential markets using real-time data such as demographics, tax incentives and access to transit.

Once a market is identified, Blackbird renders a 3D visualisation of the property and stackable floor plans. It can even reveal neighbourhood 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 US Patent & Trademark Office awarded JLL US Patent No. 9,892,474 titled: “Computerised System and Method for Visualising integrated Real Estate Data.”

Michael Startin, Vice President and Director of Geographic Information Systems at JLL said: “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. 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 was created by members of JLL’s Research & Strategy group.

It was a 2013 winner of the firm’s Da Vinci awards, as part of its Innovation & Product Development platform, which facilitates continuous innovation to develop new solutions for JLL clients.