1. NEW AND NOTABLE. Pensions & Investments provides individual fund and industry historical performance data for commingled real estate funds. SIOR, the Society of Industrial and Office Brokers, has launched its attactively re-designed web site--with chat rooms and listings yet to come. Tidal Abstract Company provides title services in Maryland and features a helpful Realty Transfer Tax Calculator. The Georgia State Department of Real Estate, which focuses on the use of limited land resources in urban areas, is online.

Re/Max Real Estate Services in Vancouver specializes in apartment sales on the lower British Columbia mainland. Thomas & Thomas California Real Estate Law offers forms for real estate transactions. Chelsea GCA is a REIT specializing in premium outlet shopping centers nationwide. The Farrington Design Group provides architectural services from Atlanta. Whitney & Company offers industrial, commercial and investment brokerage services in Waterloo (Toronto), Canada.

2.CYBERMEDIARIES. . "Call them the cybermediaries: the intermediaries of tomorrow. They are the Internet participants who leverage today's Net technologies…Forrester Research calls them Internet Transaction Brokers (ITBs) and, in its opinion, the Internet cries for their participation. In fact, large-scale commerce will not happen without ITBs." Internet World, March 1997.

3. WEB SUCCESS. Ted Kraus, who publishes the Dealmakers newsletter and web site and manages multiple real estate forums, recommends that all retail professionals have "at a minimum" a computer, modem, CD-ROM drive, National Yellow Pages on CD, scanner, Internet provider, either the "Directory of Major Malls" or the "Shopping Center Directory" (preferably on CD) and either "Tenant Search," Retail Lease Track or the Directory of Major Retail Chains (preferably on floppy disk).

4. NEW TOOLKITS. . I have prepared Market Toolkits for both Los Angeles and Orange County. It seems that market research is more limited here than in many other major metropolitan markets around the U.S. This creates an opportunity for a firm to position itself as a market leader by providing good value to corporate real estate departments and institutional investors using the web to find information on the leasing market.

5. PIKENET TRAFFIC. In January, PikeNet had over 8,000 user sessions (defined as accesses from a unique IP address during a 30-minute time period). This reflects a growth rate of 24.8% a month for the past six months. Thank you!

6. RE-RATINGS. I have begun a process of "re-norming" PikeNet ratings. My 3-star rating is what I call a "standard" site. Over the past year (PikeNet was launched March 21, 1996) there has been a substantial improvement in the quality of the average commercial real estate site. As a result, some sites that have not grown with the industry may be re-rated. For more on ratings click About PikeNet on the home page, then click FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions).

7. HYPERLINKS. All sites mentioned in this Dispatch are hyperlinked at PikeNet. Paste the following address into your browser's address box, hit the "Enter" key and you'll go directly to this Dispatch at PikeNet.

http://www.pikenet.com/pike?func=showPublicPage&page=dispatch/ dispatch97/dispatch=050

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--Peter Pike