SAN FRANCISCO–WiredScore has expanded its Wired Certification service to office property owners, asset managers and leasing agents in San Francisco, in addition to cities including New York, Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C., among other metro areas. Wired Certification provides assurance that certified buildings have access to the most reliable Internet services available. Buildings that meet WiredScore's rigorous standards are awarded a Wired Certification.
Arie Barendrecht, CEO and co-founder of WiredScore, tells GlobeSt.com:
"California is one of the better connected states in the country (ranked 11th by BroadbandNow.com), but connectivity can vary wildly from building to building. Wired Certification is gaining traction in San Francisco because brokers and tenants can have full confidence that certified buildings provide the connectivity they need.”
WiredScore is the only provider of a standardized rating system designed to identify, evaluate and certify commercial buildings with the fastest and most reliable Internet connections. Similar in concept to LEED certification for energy efficiency and environmental sustainability, the certification rating levels of certified, silver, gold and platinum are used to classify each building. These ratings are based on factors such as the number and quality of Internet service providers as well as the bandwidth capabilities and reliability of connections. Certified buildings are ones that meet minimum requirements and platinum buildings are those with outstanding connectivity.
Many of US commercial owners including SL Green, Brookfield, Jamestown, Paramount, Beacon Capital, Empire State Realty Trust, Clarion Partners, Washington Real Estate Investment Trust, Columbia Property Trust, Brandywine and Hines have already adopted Wired Certification to promote the technology of existing assets. In San Francisco, 11 buildings have gained Wired-certified status with the most noteworthy being 50 Beale, One Market Plaza, 888 Brannan (Wired Certified Gold), 343 Sansome Street (Wired Certified Gold) and 650 California Street (Wired Certified Silver).
"San Francisco is a national tech hub. Today, 60% of all leases done in San Francisco are for technology companies (according to Colliers data). As tech companies continue to dominate the San Francisco economy, high-speed, reliable Internet connectivity has become a critical priority for office tenants. Since our expansion into San Francisco, we've seen owners like Columbia Property Trust and Beacon Capital really embrace Wired Certification, and the response from the broker and tech communities has been overwhelmingly positive. We've certified numerous properties so far, including 888 Brannan, home to Airbnb's headquarters, with dozens more in the process of becoming certified," Barendrecht continues.
Launched in 2013 as WiredNYC by the Bloomberg administration in partnership with New York City Economic Development Corp., WiredScore has since certified more than 325 properties totaling in excess of 155 million square feet of office space in 30 cities. WiredScore is adding more than 15 million square feet of new office space certifications per month. To date, information on the connectivity of more than 700 buildings nationwide has been added to the WiredScore database.
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Lisa Brown
Lisa Brown is an editor for the south and west regions of GlobeSt.com. She has 25-plus years of real estate experience, with a regional PR role at Grubb & Ellis and a national communications position at MMI. Brown also spent 10 years as executive director at NAIOP San Francisco Bay Area chapter, where she led the organization to achieving its first national award honors and recognition on Capitol Hill. She has written extensively on commercial real estate topics and edited numerous pieces on the subject.
