Office provider Knotel and leasing data specialist CompStak are collaborating to create an Automated Valuation Model for commercial real estate. Such a model would be a rough equivalent of Zillow's Zestimate, which estimates values for residential properties.

That is, the model would be able to estimate the net operating income of a commercial property, especially office space, and thus come up with a valuation, Commercial Observer reports.

The move is the latest in Knotel's recent expansion mode. In April, the company obtained $70M in a Series B funding round, not long after inking a number of new leases in New York, such as at 6 West 48th St. near Rockefeller Center and East 29th Street. In June, Knotel acquired Ahoy!Berlin, a workspace operator in Berlin.

This summer the company, which is considered a strong WeWork competitor, acquired 42Floors, a commercial real estate search engine, for an unspecified price.

The acquisition was part of Knotel's plan to launch a blockchain-based listing platform. 42Floors will also be part of the collaboration with CompStak to create their Automated Valuation Model, which will likely roll out sometime next year.

“For far too long, commercial real estate has been trapped in the dark ages, as far as valuation is concerned,” Knotel CEO Amol Sarva told Commercial Observer, adding that the company's vision is to "shed light" on the value of office buildings.

For its part, CompStak recently rolled out its CompStak Analytics platform, which the company says comprises millions of lease comparables covering more than 10B SF of commercial real estate.

Among other things, CompStak says its new platform allows subscribers to compare the effective rent performance of a portfolio of properties against those of competitors in real time; identify investment opportunities by spotting properties that are performing above or below their peers; and track starting rents for tenants in different industries across submarkets.