What a broker needs from an aerial
A commercial listing is read differently from a home listing. A tenant rep or an investor is scanning for access, visibility, parking ratios, loading and what surrounds the site. Ground photos show a facade. Only an aerial shows the curb cuts, the truck court, the signalized intersection and the drive time to the interstate in one frame.
We plan every commercial shoot around those questions. A typical set includes a high context shot that places the property in its market, mid-altitude angles on each elevation, straight-down views of parking and circulation, and ground-level exteriors that match the aerial look. For listings where the building’s character matters, a short video carries the viewer from the road to the front door.
Office, retail, industrial and land
Each asset class asks for different shots:
- Office. Highway visibility, parking, the walk to nearby restaurants and the view from upper floors. For suburban office parks, the campus layout and green space.
- Retail. Frontage and signage from the angle a driver sees, curb cuts from both directions, anchor tenants and pad sites. We shoot early, before the lot fills.
- Industrial. Dock-high doors, clear truck courts, trailer parking, rail spurs and the route to I-94, I-275 or I-75. Straight-down aerials help buyers read the site plan.
- Land. Boundaries, frontage, topography and neighboring uses. For sites moving toward construction, repeat visits from fixed points build a record. See construction progress aerials.
Airspace across Metro Detroit’s commercial corridors
Where a property sits changes what the flight takes. According to FAA facility maps and airspace data we checked:
- Troy and Southfield office corridors are uncontrolled airspace at the surface, with Detroit Metro’s Class B floor between 3,500 and 4,000 feet above sea level overhead. No LAANC request is needed below 400 feet there.
- Industrial parks around Detroit Metro Airport in Romulus, Taylor and Allen Park sit inside DTW’s Class B surface area. Grid ceilings we checked range from 0 feet near the airfield to 400 feet farther out, and every flight needs authorization.
- Midtown and Eastern Market fall inside Coleman A. Young International Airport’s Class D airspace, where the grids we checked allow LAANC authorization up to 400 feet.
- Downtown and the riverfront are uncontrolled below 400 feet, but the FAA’s game-day restriction around Comerica Park and Ford Field closes that airspace during Tigers and Lions home games.
Airspace changes, so we check again in a LAANC app on the day. Our Detroit drone rules guide explains the rest.
Twilight, people and parking lots
Twilight is the most flattering hour for retail and office property, and it comes with rules. Part 107 requires anti-collision lighting visible for three statute miles during civil twilight and at night. Busy properties bring two more: limits on flying over people, and limits on flying over people in moving vehicles. A shopping center at 5 p.m. is full of both. We solve that with timing and angles, not by hoping nobody walks under the drone.
Launch sites need the owner’s permission, and neighboring roofs and lots are off limits without it. Michigan law also bars using a drone to capture images where people have a reasonable expectation of privacy, which matters on mixed-use sites with residential floors.
Deliverables and next steps
You receive full-resolution stills, web-sized versions and, if ordered, a listing video with vertical cuts, all organized by use for listing platforms, brochures, offering memorandums and email campaigns. Our property prep guide covers what to fix before the shoot.
Send the address, the asset type and the date you need the listing live. We will check the airspace and access and send a fixed quote. Get a quote.