So you didn't qualify for Sochi this year. (Rolling down your hallways in an office chair doesn't count as bobsledding.) But there's a new way to go for gold, even platinum. Consider it LEED for Internet connectivity.
WiredNYC (above, its Phil Kanfer and Arie Barendrecht) launched a LEED-esque certification for building Internet connectivity—a way to help tenants find the best-connected buildings and help owners market their buildings. The company, backed by office mogul Jared Kushner, launched when former NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg wanted to improve Internet access in all buildings. Jared, chatting with former NYC Economic Development Corp head Seth Pinsky, liked the idea but thought it should be handled via the real estate community, and so he and the NYCEDC formed a partnership. He then brought in former NGKF tenant rep Phil and tech entrepreneur Arie to head the program.
WiredNYC reached its first benchmark Sept. 30, when Bloomberg announced the launch of www.wiredscore.com. Owners of 190 buildings (115M SF) have taken the survey, and 50 already have achieved certification (Platinum, Gold, Silver, or Connected), which involves a visit from engineers to check out wires, points of entry, redundancy, etc. The program is on pace to reach 500 certified buildings by next year and expand to other cities. Rudin Management's 761k SF 1675 Broadway (which we snapped, above) has a Platinum rating. In fact, VP Michael Rudin is on WiredNYC's board, along with Google Fiber head Milo Medin and folks from Time Warner Cable, Cisco, Betaworks, and other tech biggies.
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