Old Properties, New Features: Bringing Connectivity to Unusual Spaces

By Arie Barendrecht, WiredScore CEO & Co-Founder

Arie Barendrecht, WiredScore CEO & Co-Founder

New York—The proliferation of tech startups has created a booming demand for office spaces that match these companies’ creative personalities. These businesses often seek out uncommon office space, and the real estate industry has been quick to respond; former warehouses and other industrial spaces around the country are being transformed into attractive, open offices.

These historic buildings offer the loft-like spaces, flexible floor plans, and an old-meets-new feel that tech startups want. But how do you distinguish buildings that look the part, but can’t deliver the tech specs their tenants need from the cutting-edge spaces that startups require?

It can be tricky, and this is why building owners are increasingly seeking expert recognition of their infrastructure. Here are seven of the best buildings in the country standing out through their top-notch connectivity and looking good doing it:

1. Atlanta – Ponce City Market

One of the hottest new properties in Atlanta, Ponce City Market, revitalized the historic Sears, Roebuck & Co. building and created a new community hub. In addition to a food hall and other trendy amenities, the building provides superior internet connectivity to tenants such as Twitter and Mailchimp, and offers a choice of seven internet service providers, which helped it earn Platinum Wired Certification, the highest possible connectivity rating.

2. Boston – Innovation and Design Building

The Innovation and Design Building (IDB) was constructed nearly a century ago, originally serving as a waterside storehouse for the South Boston Army Base. Today, some of Boston’s most creative local businesses, such as the Boston Beer Co. and MassChallenge, call the Wired Certified Platinum IDB home, taking advantage of the property’s public Wi-Fi and flexible floor plans.

3. Chicago – Fulton Market

Tenants such as Glassdoor and Google call Fulton Market, one of Chicago’s most innovative complexes, home. The property was part of Chicago’s bustling meatpacking district in the early 1900s, and it continues to be a source of wholesale food for restaurants and hotels throughout the Chicagoland area.

4. Los Angeles – ROW DTLA

Alameda Square is currently undergoing a transformation from being one of the country’s largest historic industrial centers into ROW DTLA, a modern innovation hub focused on fashion, tech, and other creative businesses. The complex is home to approximately two million square feet of buildings across 30 acres of gardens and walkable streets.

5. New York City – Industry City

Industry City’s developers transformed a 100-year-old shipping and warehousing complex in Sunset Park into Brooklyn’s newest creative center, offering lightning-fast internet connectivity and other modern amenities that are attracting tenants such as Gap and Time Inc. to the first Wired Certified Platinum property in Brooklyn.

6. New York City – Falchi Building

Constructed in 1922 as a warehouse and distribution facility for the Gimbels department store, the Falchi Building now attracts companies seeking an alternative to Manhattan offices, while still remaining close to Midtown and reaping the benefits of renting in a Wired Certified Gold building. The property is fully networked with strong internet connectivity and offers airy loft-like spaces, attracting modern tenants such as Juice Press and Lyft.

7. Philadelphia – The Navy Yard

The Navy Yard has been in existence since America’s early days in the late 1700s—today it is home to more than 12,000 employees and 152 companies, including GlaxoSmithKline and Urban Outfitters, at the forefront of today’s economy. These tenants enjoy the flexibility of public Wi-Fi available on the property’s 5-acre park.

These repurposed buildings are a stunning achievement in breathing new life into formerly unusable and undesirable spaces. One of the key ways landlords are modernizing these buildings is by upgrading the tech infrastructure to meet the highest possible standards and provide strong internet connectivity for tenants.

WiredScore makes it easy for companies to identify the office space that best meets their needs by certifying these innovative buildings’ best-in-class tech infrastructure. The international standard allows properties to benchmark their achievements against objective criteria.

By modernizing historic properties, landlords can offer tenants the best of both worlds—unique offices with best-in-class connectivity.

Arie Barendrecht is the CEO & co-founder of WiredScore