RIP Zethus. We Hardly Knew Ye.

Zethus Flames Out... Wow, that was quick. Zethus was here (almost). Then it was bankrupt. Goldman Sachs, which is "believed to have invested about $15 million in Zethus" (Wall Street Journal, Mar 7, 2001) stated that it would no longer fund the company after Zethus tried unsuccessfully to sell itself to CoStar and Octane. This, of course, put the cabosh on Zethus' planned acquisition of RealtyIQ, which is now looking for another buyer, according to Scott Rechler of FrontLine Capital Group.

What was Zethus anyway? Well, up until Friday, Mar 9, you would have read about its "patent-pending lease transaction platform..." And there was more. "Future releases will include a sales platform, enhanced project tracking and reporting, in-depth market research and reports, state-of-the-art digital imaging and mapping and virtual touring." Holy cow, that was a big vision. ... So who's left in this space? Well, dozens of companies provide elements of transaction management and buyer matching services. But few seek to provide both.

One that does is NetStruxr, which currently offers both buyer matching and transaction management. NetStruxr, which is backed by Bank of America, IBM and Prudential Insurance, bills itself as "the only corporate real estate-sponsored transaction platform and e-marketplace -- for the procurement and disposition of commercial real estate space." ... Two other services should also be on your radar screen. WorkPlaceXchange's LeasePilot, an online transaction management system, will soon emerge from stealth mode, according to John Amend, President of WorkPlaceUSA. ... And Bricsnet has just launched its BuildingCenter ASP "to bridge the gap between construction and building operations," according to Yoav Etiel. ... So despite the crash of real estate dot-coms like Zethus, we're still witnessing the launch of very serious efforts to digitize the real estate process. This will be a fun ride.

--Peter Pike