GlobeSt.com: Are you providing capital for owners or the infrastructure, or both?

Marron: We are providing the capital as well as the system, and 20 years worth of monitoring and maintenance. Every four-to-five years, you have to refresh and upgrade the technology. We provide the capital upfront as well as future-proof the upgrades of the system. An owner will pay us a monthly fee, and we make the initial investment in the system and each year we reserve capital to make capital improvements every four years. We work with both the carrier as well as the OEM, the people that make the equipment.

GlobeSt.com: The need for reliable Internet is certainly not new. Why are building owners recognizing the need for a service like this now?

Marron: The portfolio owners have always assumed that wireless carriers were going to pay for this infrastructure in their buildings. That wireless carriers, however, don't have the money to do that. They are in the subscription business. They sell minutes and data plans. From the building owner's perspective, they have the money to do this, but they don't want to sink their equity into a system like this when it is not their business and in four-to-five years it will need to be refreshed. We know that there was this gap between the carriers and owners, and we are filling the gap between the two. We see the infrastructure side, and we are locking this in over a long-term period.

GlobeSt.com: What is the cost?

Marron: The cost is $0.32 per square foot per year for this utility. Many building owners spend $3 per square foot per year on the carpets; something like $15 per square foot each year on lighting. We are able to make the investment and underwrite it to the building owners, and we bring the carrier in. Our client is the venue and portfolio owner.

GlobeSt.com: Do you also see this as an additional amenity for the property?

Marron: Absolutely. Tenants aren't going to lease space in a building where there is no cell service. Why wouldn't a building owner have this? They need to have it. The other side of that is that they save on Wi-Fi and cell coverage. They save on all of those costs. If you are a building owner, you want to have the most technologically advanced building that there is.

GlobeSt.com: How are you funding the company?

Marron: With the backing from Tiger Infrastructure Partners, we have an initial $50 million commitment, and we are raising more capital. We have more opportunities that we know what to do with.

The commercial real estate industry is moving closer to modernization. A new firm—Strategic Venue Partners—is bringing in-building robust and reliable wireless infrastructure to commercial buildings, from offices to entertainment to medical, to provide tenants with wireless services that are as reliable as the water and electricity utilities. SVP wants you to think of it as a fourth utility. In its 20-year deals, they will provide the capital to install and set up the service, as well as routine upgrades all for a monthly fee. Justin Marron, one of the founders, has officially been named CEO, and he sat down to talk with us about the new platform and the benefits for both landlords and tenants.

GlobeSt.com: What was the impetus for you to start Strategic Venue Partners?

Justin Marron: We are investing in in-building systems in office buildings, arenas, hospitals, resorts and high-end residential, and we are a capital provider that provides a 20-year technology solution. Today, wireless is like electricity and water, and so it has to work wherever a person is. It is really a fourth utility. The cellular companies today don't have the capital to build out the infrastructure that landlords need today's users. In the past, a single cell-tower could take care of user needs, but that cell tower wasn't assuming that each person would have smart phones running 10 apps at once and using a tremendous amount of data. We are creating a highway to supply all of the demand, and we are taking it a step beyond outdoor cell towers and bringing it inside.

GlobeSt.com: Are you providing capital for owners or the infrastructure, or both?

Marron: We are providing the capital as well as the system, and 20 years worth of monitoring and maintenance. Every four-to-five years, you have to refresh and upgrade the technology. We provide the capital upfront as well as future-proof the upgrades of the system. An owner will pay us a monthly fee, and we make the initial investment in the system and each year we reserve capital to make capital improvements every four years. We work with both the carrier as well as the OEM, the people that make the equipment.

GlobeSt.com: The need for reliable Internet is certainly not new. Why are building owners recognizing the need for a service like this now?

Marron: The portfolio owners have always assumed that wireless carriers were going to pay for this infrastructure in their buildings. That wireless carriers, however, don't have the money to do that. They are in the subscription business. They sell minutes and data plans. From the building owner's perspective, they have the money to do this, but they don't want to sink their equity into a system like this when it is not their business and in four-to-five years it will need to be refreshed. We know that there was this gap between the carriers and owners, and we are filling the gap between the two. We see the infrastructure side, and we are locking this in over a long-term period.

GlobeSt.com: What is the cost?

Marron: The cost is $0.32 per square foot per year for this utility. Many building owners spend $3 per square foot per year on the carpets; something like $15 per square foot each year on lighting. We are able to make the investment and underwrite it to the building owners, and we bring the carrier in. Our client is the venue and portfolio owner.

GlobeSt.com: Do you also see this as an additional amenity for the property?

Marron: Absolutely. Tenants aren't going to lease space in a building where there is no cell service. Why wouldn't a building owner have this? They need to have it. The other side of that is that they save on Wi-Fi and cell coverage. They save on all of those costs. If you are a building owner, you want to have the most technologically advanced building that there is.

GlobeSt.com: How are you funding the company?

Marron: With the backing from Tiger Infrastructure Partners, we have an initial $50 million commitment, and we are raising more capital. We have more opportunities that we know what to do with.