We've been working on this problem for a long time.
Since 2008, Rofo has been working to make commercial real estate easier for smaller businesses. Today, that starts with a question that comes before the listings: Where should your business be looking?
Started in San Francisco · 2008
A search can start with thousands of spaces—and still start in the wrong place.
Finding commercial space shouldn't be this hard for a smaller business.
When Rofo began, smaller businesses were often poorly served by a process built around larger commissions and longer commitments. Better access to listings helped. But finding a listing was never the whole decision.
The business, the people it needs to reach, the way it operates and the character of the location all help determine where a search should begin.
The technology has changed. The problem hasn't.
The work is still about helping a business make sense of a consequential decision. What has changed is where Rofo can begin.
Make the search work better
Rofo began in San Francisco by helping smaller businesses reach commercial-space information that was often hard to find or costly to navigate.
Rofo was started by commercial real estate professionals who believed technology could make the process work better for smaller businesses.
Understand the location, not just the listing
The work had expanded to the character of a business and a place: transportation, customers, peers, workspace and room to grow.
Know where to look
Rofo helps businesses understand districts, compare locations and then find spaces that fit.
Two early snapshots of the problem
These articles document Rofo's early work and how the location question became part of it.
2008 · San Francisco Chronicle
Startups want office leases with flexibility
The Chronicle documented Rofo's July 2008 start, its focus on smaller businesses and the difficulty those businesses faced getting useful help with flexible space.
Read the 2008 article →2010 · Inc.
How to Find a Bay Area Start-up Location
By 2010, Inc. was writing about Rofo's approach to choosing a location—not just finding available space, but considering the business, its people and the surrounding area.
Read the 2010 article →Understand the business. Compare locations. Find spaces that fit.
Different parts of a city work differently for office, retail, industrial and flex searches. Rofo explains how districts differ, what is common in each and which questions matter before choosing a building.
Understand the search
Start with the business, the space, how the team works, growth and what the location needs to support.
Compare locations
See how districts differ, what is common in each and which questions matter before choosing a space.
Find spaces that fit
Use that location guidance to focus the search and confirm the property details that matter.
Tell us what your business needs the space to support.
Rofo will help you understand where to look and what to confirm next.
Find spaces that fit →