Gigabytes and Square Feet

Sometimes technology's impact on real estate has less to do with square footage and more to do with gigabytes. (Gigafootage? Sqaure Gigs? Squig Bytage?) For North American Properties, that issue is to be one of the top priorities in all its new developments moving forward, says NAP's John Kelley, one of our experts on tap for Tuesday's Atlanta Creative Office & Tech Summit (tickets here).

NAP made headlines last year when it announced it would install gigabyte Internet connectivity at its Avalon mixed-use project. And John tells us that factor alone has made a huge difference with prospective tenants. It's especially true for Wakefield Beasley, the Atlanta architectural firm that inked a deal for its HQ there. John says the firm typically downloads huge files (renderings and what not) that eat away at average bandwidth. (It makes it really hard to watch music videos on your computer at work.) With its connection pipeline, mundane online tasks won't be slowed due to big file downloads, he says.

It's also true for Avalon's retail base at Avalon (with NAP's Mark Toro pictured here at the project's recent topping-out ceremony). Typically, retailers download sales reports to central offices at the end of the day. Historically, that process can take a fairly long time. “With our technology, they'll be able to do it in a matter of minutes, if not seconds,” he says. (What are they going to do with all their new-found free time?)

NAP added the huge bandwidth at its BOHO4W project, the 276-unit apartment community at the Old Fourth Ward. “We're finding that a lot of the clientelle there are in the tech industry and are young Millennials who work for themselves. Having this gigabyte speed in their apartments makes a huge difference,” he says. “We're looking at gigabyte speeds the same way we look at water and sewer and natural gas. It's something I expect we'll have at every project moving forward.”