Seattle-based OfficeSpace.com is beta testing a new business model that targets smaller office tenants on its Portland website. The revised website and online tools will eventually be rolled out in OfficeSpace.com's five other markets.

The impetus for the changes -- which include unlimited photos with listings, an online calendar for booking tours and easy integration of marketing materials onto social media sites Facebook, LinkedIn and Google + --came from the firm's new ownership.

OfficeSpace.com quietly changed hands two years ago when it was sold for an undisclosed amount to Algard Ventures, which is owned by Alex and Susie Algard of Whitepages.com. Susie Algard is now the CEO of OfficeSpace.com. She said the couple was attracted to the online listing service in part because OfficeSpace.com "is such a compelling (internet) domain name."

OfficeSpace.com provides online office leasing information in Seattle, Portland, Spokane, Denver, Cincinnati, Columbus and Minneapolis/St. Paul.

The new direction for OfficeSpace.com was sparked in part by the Algards' experience running startup companies, Algard said. "It always seemed like a bigger struggle than we anticipated to find office space for the company, no matter what stage we were at."

Young companies that need a small space under 1,000 square feet or so for six months to a year while they establish themselves have difficulty finding commercial brokers to work with them because their transactions do not generate much in the way of broker commissions, Algard said.

The new service in Portland will make it easier for companies to find small spaces online. The beta website is geared to tenants looking for space and helping them connect with brokers and landlords, said Algard, "It's kind of a reversal of what everyone else does."

The Portland listing service is free for tenants, landlords and brokers to use while the company charges landlords and brokers to use its services in its other markets.

OfficeSpace.com was founded in 1995 by Kip Spencer and John Suryan, making the firm one of Seattle's oldest dot-com companies.

For prospective tenants looking for 1,000 square feet or less, the new Portland website provides tools to help them identify suitable spaces online. For larger tenants, the listing service helps tenants identify suitable spaces and will ultimately charge a commission for referring these larger tenants to a broker once a lease is signed.

In addition to a new batch of online tools, the Portland website has a space where tenants can comment on their office building and nearby lunch spots and other neighborhood amenities.

Algard attributed the company's success in Seattle to its strong relationships in the real estate community, but said OfficeSpace.com does not have as strong a network of relationships in other markets and has lost market share to competitors such as CoStar and Loopnet.

She does not have a time line for rolling out the retooled website in OfficeSpace.com's other markets.

"My philosophy is one city at a time," Algard said.