Tampa Regional Industrial Park employs virtual reality in marketing

Virtual reality is expected to forever change the way commercial real estate someday.

But for Duke Realty Corp. and commercial real estate brokerage Cushman & Wakefield, the future is now.

As part of a planned broker event on Oct. 24, Cushman & Wakefield recently sent out VR-type devices to show off Duke Realty’s new Tampa Regional Industrial Park (TRIP).

Combined with a mobile smartphone and the Matterport VR app, the device “shows” TRIP’s initial building, a 337,447-square-foot spec industrial building Duke Realty began constructing in mid-2017.

In all, Indianapolis-based Duke Realty is planning to develop three buildings within the 117-acre park, at 6180 Big Bend Road, totaling 1.2 million square feet.

During the event next month at the property, the brokerage firm and the developer also plan to have a virtual reality booth on site to highlight other Duke Realty projects in the Interstate 4 corridor.

And as if the VR spectacle isn’t enough, Cushman & Wakefield as an added enticement has promised that each broker who attends will be given a pair of Costa Del Mar sunglasses, which carry a suggested retail price of $200.