A five-year lease signed right before lockdown turns into an 1,800-square-foot “soccer field” of emptiness and a million-dollar headache. That pain sparks an idea with a big question behind it: if Airbnb unlocked the value of spare bedrooms, what’s the value of all the unused nooks and slices of commercial space hiding in plain sight? The conversation explores a “Craigslist-style” approach to commercial listings, designed to make fractional and unconventional spaces feel approachable, searchable, and actually monetizable. 

Guest Bio

Steve Taylor is the founder of SoCommercial, a platform built to help owners list and monetize commercial spaces of any type or size, especially the odd, fractional, or overlooked ones that don’t fit neatly on traditional listing sites. 

Episode Highlights and Chapters

00:03 The origin story of a pandemic-timed lease and an 1,800-square-foot empty office

05:50 Why traditional commercial listing sites felt clunky and overpriced, and what a better experience looks like

06:28 The Airbnb comparison and the bigger question about “unmonetized” commercial space

07:43 Real-world use cases from warehouse racks to spare chairs, basements, display space, and collaboration concepts

09:57 The brutal reality of building a marketplace and why traction matters more than perfect tech

14:31 If everything is free to list, how does the business eventually make money

16:04 How developers can use flexible leasing and “artisan mix” thinking to enhance retail and office projects

18:21 The problem with small ground-floor retail in residential buildings and why brokers often ignore it

21:13 Why the platform stays focused on listings instead of consulting, and when to use AI for ideas

22:37 Not a broker, not a competitor, just another option for visibility and exposure

25:12 Launch timing, bootstrapping, and why this kind of startup is a long marathon

28:23 The ask to listeners, plus the tease of a jingle you have to hear on the site 

Contact Information

SoCommercial website: https://socommercial.com

Contact Eugene Gershman for real estate development advice and guidance. Download the free feasibility study checklist at https://giscompanies.co/development/feasibility-study/

If you’d like to be a guest on the show, visit https://giscompanies.co/podcast/.

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