Slate Grocery REIT Joins the 5G Rooftop Club
The rooftops of commercial buildings are the ideal “cell tower” site.
Slate Grocery REIT has inked a deal with 5G LLC to install equipment on the rooftop of grocery-anchored assets across the country, marking the latest entrant of REITs into the space.
The equipment will be installed in both dense urban and suburban locations as part of an exclusive multi-year agreement, 5G LLC said in a statement. The company deemed the deal an opportunity for Slate Grocery “to turn the dead space of their urban rooftops into the perfect 5G equipment site bringing significant additional property revenue without capital contribution.”
REITs are increasingly entering deals with 5G and wireless providers to utilize the otherwise unused rooftop space for such installations, which allow them to increase their rent rolls and build capped value without otherwise encumbering buildings. Earlier this month, alternative asset manager Melody Investment Advisors announced it would invest in 14 rooftop cell sites at hotels and resorts owned by Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, and in January, NAI Global launched NAI Global Wireless in a bid to exclusively represent property owners and landlords to market properties to cell tower operators and mobile device carriers.
Cell companies are investing billions in the next wave of 5G coverage, with NAI Global Wireless noting that the bids “have blown past Wall Street’s highest forecasts, suggesting that several companies are fighting over the most valuable wireless rights.”
The rooftops of commercial buildings are the ideal “cell tower” site, 5G LLC maintains, because the physics of the technology requires a fourfold increase in cell site density and provides for lower cell antenna heights. In addition, an increasing number of tenants require access to 5G.
“The close to $90 billion carriers spent on additional spectrum in the recent C-band auctions further increases the urgency to get new sites up and running,” said Matt Davis, CEO of 5G LLC. “Depending on location, the size and structure of the roof, it is now possible to have 3 or more carriers’ antennas all paying the owner rent with 10-to-30-year leases. The roof is the best next generation lease.”