By W.D. Lighthall
staff writer

TORONTO-Though the internet is now part of many people's personal and professional lives, the question of how a business can use the Web to make money remains unanswered.

Toronto-based Real Facilities Inc. - a company that finds, leases and outfits office space for corporate clients - believes it has found a way to use the Internet to deliver project management services.

Founded in November 2000 by company president Stan Krawitz, Real Facilities uses the Internet and the company's own proprietary software to provide clients with a complete package of real estate, design, planning and construction services.

"Corporate users in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) have long been searching for a simple one-stop shopping vehicle to find, lease, outfit and manage their corporate facilities, so they can be work-ready in real time," Krawitz said.

"The search has ended with this new way of conducting a traditional bricks and mortar business."

A former real estate broker, Krawitz started Real Facilities after noticing a gap between the services provided by brokers and the needs of clients when it came to finding and preparing new corporate offices.

Traditionally, after a broker found office space for a client, the business relationship between the two would wind down, Krawitz said.

Clients were left on their own when it came to obtaining all the other project management services necessary for a successful corporate move-a problem compounded by the fact obtaining these services may not be within a company's usual area of expertise.

"So the traditional solution that's been going on for 50 years is too slow, too expensive, too fragmented and clearly it's not the clients' core competency," Krawitz said.

"Our solution at Real Facilities is to Web-enable the entire process, unifying commercial real estate brokerage, design, construction, technology and furniture and becoming the one point of contact for the client from the beginning of the process right through to the end."

On Real Facilities' Web site, companies can start the needs-assessment portion of looking for office space within the GTA.

Prior to becoming clients, companies can use the Website to calculate how much space they need and to generate a report on the number of buildings in a given area with corresponding amounts of space available.

After becoming clients, Real Facilities staff then do the nitty-gritty work of matching clients with the right building.

"Real Facilities provides a lot of advice, properietary information and the experience that's needed to complete the project," Krawitz said.

Real Facilities trademarked FLOW software system allows for much of the project management side of the process to reside on the company's Web site where it can be conducted online.

A system of passwords allows client employees to gain access to and share project management documents, including floor plans and leases.

Schedules can be posted, financial comparisons can be made and the potential exists for bidding by construction contractors-all in a secure online environment.

"So based on security, depending on who you are and what password you've been assigned, you get access to different information," Krawitz said.

An important difference exists between Real Facilities and other companies that offer project management services for finding and outfitting new office space, Krawitz said.

"There is nobody doing exactly what we are doing," he said. "There is nobody unifying brokerage, design, construction, furniture, technology-offering one point of contact and putting it on the Web."