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Last week, Atlanta's leaders in Commercial Real Estate and technology celebrated WiredScore's official launch at the Atlanta Tech Village. Kevin Johnson, Sr. VP of Economic Development for Invest Atlanta, the City of Atlanta’s economic development authority, kicked off the evening delivering opening remarks to warmly welcome WiredScore to the market.
"Invest Atlanta fully supports WiredScore’s mission to improve transparency around connectivity in commercial properties in Atlanta," remarked Johnson. "By doing so, we can promote Atlanta’s global competitiveness across all sectors."
After the opening presentations, a panel of CRE experts led by David Rubinger, Market President and Publisher of the Atlanta Business Chronicle, weighed in with their thoughts on the future of the Atlanta office market.
Here are some highlights from that conversation:
Matt Simon, on delivering a seamless office experience at Colony Square:
"I think so much of what we do is focused on for us the office tenant, who is our guest in that building every single day - taking them from that moment that they enter the garage and making sure that experience is seamless for them. The moment that it stops being seamless, I’m going to start losing tenants, and my investors in that case will start to feel the effects of that."
Michael Phillips, on serving investor and tenant priorities:
“Here’s the thing, [connectivity] is like sustainability or wellness in your building...We’re not the largest company, but certainly our sales volume shows that investors are willing to pay a premium for buildings that are paying attention. And tenants are paying attention, the absorption rate is higher, and the concessions are less. I would say the same thing to landlords, if you guys aren’t paying attention to connectivity, then your days are numbered.”
Lawrence Gellerstedt IV, on how changing technology will impact the next leasing cycle:
"When you think about it, we’ve only had iPhones since 2007. In the world of commercial leasing, there are people who haven’t signed a new lease since the smartphone. Think about how crazy that is, right?"
Tori Kerr, on the benefits of Wired Certification:
"Getting a WiredScore certification, it’s really a partnership between us and WiredScore. They do great things for us. Yesterday, they brought me fact sheets on T3 West Midtown and Atlantic Yards that we can give to our prospective tenants... WiredScore is here to really help tell the story and help all of us be successful."
Atlanta’s first Wired Certified properties are:
- Ponce City Market, Jamestown
- Colony Square, North American Properties
- T3 West Midtown, Atlantic Yards, & 1180 Peachtree, Hines
- Piedmont Center I-IV, The Ardent Companies
- Northwinds VII, The Brookdale Group
- One & Three Glenlake, Columbia Property Trust
- 260 & 270 Peachtree Street, Richard Bowers & Co
- Perimiter Summit 1001, 2002, & 4004, Seven Oaks Management
- Third Rail Studios, The Integral Group
- 271 17th NE, Lionstone Investments
- Resurgens Plaza & 100 Peachtree St NW, Zeller Realty Group
- Star Metals Offices, Allen Morris Co
