LoopNet

LoopNet is the most heavily trafficked online commercial real estate marketplace. LoopNet offers detailed information about for-lease and for-sale commercial property listings, as well as businesses-for-sale listings in the United States and Canada. As of July 2020, CoStar Group's affiliated sites including most prominently, LoopNet, had more than 11 million unique monthly visitors.[1][2]

LoopNet, Inc.
Type of site
Subsidiary of CoStar Group
Founded1995 (1995)
Headquarters
Washington, D.C.
IndustryCommercial property
URLwww.loopnet.com

Listings on LoopNet receive unprecedented access to the professional commercial real estate community and unmatched exposure to the largest actively searching tenant and investor audience.[3] LoopNet is designed to support connections and tours in a completely virtual environment, offering professional architectural photography, high-definition video, group touring capabilities and other tools to help advertisers achieve exposure and connect to qualified tenants and buyers.

LoopNet is owned by CoStar Group, which owns and operates information and marketplace websites that attracted an average of approximately 55 million unique monthly visitors in aggregate in the first quarter of 2020.

History

LoopNet was founded in 1995 by Dennis DeAndre. Working alongside engineer Steve Midgley, the two built LoopNet into the internet's largest commercial real estate listing service. LoopNet underwent three rounds of private venture capital financing in 1997 (Indo Suez), 1998 (Trinity Capital & Partners)[4] and $20 million in 1999 from 4 real estate brokers.[5]

In 2001, the company merged with PropertyFirst.com.[6]

In June 2006, the company became a public company via an initial public offering.[7] At that time, the company had 360,000 commercial properties for sale or lease.[8]

LoopNet acquired BizBuySell (2004),[9] CityFeet (2007),[10] REApps (2008),[11] Land & Farm/Lands of America (2008) and Bizquest (2010).[12]

In April 2012, CoStar Group acquired LoopNet for approximately $860 million in cash and stock.[13][14]

In 2014, the company settled a trademark infringement lawsuit that it brought against Dotloop.[15]

In 2020, to address rapid changes occurring in the COVID-19 commercial real estate market, the company added significant virtual tour capabilities.[16]

In CoStar Group, Inc. v. LoopNet, Inc. (2006), in which Loopnet prevailed, it was determined that Loopnet, as an operator of a website, was no different from Netcom, then an internet service provider, and was not responsible for copyright infringements by its users. This ruling established precedent for copyright liability protection for many websites. It followed the Religious Technology Center v. Netcom case (better known as Scientology vs. the Internet). LoopNet demonstrated that it policed any user violations after the fact. The court did not require the company to stop future violations before they occur. Such a ruling could have effectively shut down LoopNet's website as well as those of many application service providers. CoStar unsuccessfully argued that LoopNet was an active party to the violations and thereby guilty of copyright infringement.

References
  1. "CoStar Group News". www.costargroup.com. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  2. "As Tenants Start Searches Online, Property Marketers Need More Digital Horsepower". Bisnow. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  3. "LoopNet & Beyond - Finding The Right Property". Van Vlissingen and Co. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  4. "Startup muse". Forbes. 17 August 1999.
  5. Robson, Douglas; Feuerstein, Adam (12 December 1999). "Real estate giants bankroll LoopNet". American City Business Journals.
  6. Reagin, Misty (18 July 2001). "LoopNet and PropertyFirst.com complete merger". National Real Estate Investor.
  7. "LoopNet, Inc. Prices Initial Public Offering" (Press release). Business Wire. 7 June 2006.
  8. Gelsi, Steve (5 June 2006). "LoopNet undaunted, looking to IPO". MarketWatch.
  9. Writer, | Staff. "LoopNet buys BizBuySell". Inman. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  10. "LoopNet Acquires Cityfeet.com, the Largest Distribution Network for Commercial Property Listings" (Press release). Business Wire. 2 August 2007.
  11. "LoopNet Acquires REApplications, the Leading Provider of On-Demand Brokerage Operations Software" (Press release). Business Wire. 8 April 2008.
  12. "LoopNet offers commercial real estate data, comps". Bradley Inman. 25 March 2011.
  13. Sernovitz, Daniel J. (30 April 2012). "CoStar Group completes LoopNet deal". American City Business Journals.
  14. www.bizjournals.com https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2012/04/30/costar-completes-loopnet-deal.html. Retrieved 15 September 2020. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. Brownfield, Andy (22 July 2014). "Dotloop settles trademark lawsuit". American City Business Journals.
  16. "LoopNet Launches CoTour to Conduct Virtual Tours in Real-Time". www.businesswire.com. 4 May 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
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