Commercial real estate is no longer about a simple and functional building. Tenants demand more in terms of aesthetic, functionality and recently, technology. Tenants want a work and living environment that embraces the forms of technology that create unique and inspiring experiences each time they encounter them.
Slowly but surely developers and property owners are learning to incorporate these forms of technology to help enhance a tenant or a visitors experience within their property. These cool and advanced gadgets are not only pleasing to look at but they’re actually providing a way for property owners and tenants to more efficient in the way their properties function on a daily-basis.
Here’s just a sneak peak at how organizations and property owners are embracing technology within their properties and how these simple additions are improving a building’s functionality and aesthetic.
Digital Displays
You encounter them all the time, whether it be your own tablet or cellphone, you’re constantly engaged with a digital display of some sort. Advances in screen technology have made it more affordable for others to incorporated them in everyday life, for example in advertisement. Advertisers may have been some of the first to embrace digital displays as a replacement to billboards, reducing costs and increasing profits, they were able to display way more ads on one screen than would have with a simple billboard display.
Where we see commercial real estate embracing these digital displays is right within their lobbies. For example, Rising Realty Partners incorporated lobby tenant directories within their building using Enplug’s software to help power these digital directories. Digital directories allow for visitors to quickly look up the location of a tenant, but Rising Realty Partners didn’t just stop there. They’ve incorporated even more into their digital displays; social media feeds, news feeds, promotional graphics, and even weather updates. Ultimately increasing their social media presence with a 35% increase in tweets due to 100% more users interacting with their brand on Twitter.
Elevators
Now you may be thinking, “how do you even begin to improve an elevator?” Marriott Marquis has been able to do just that; by improving the speed and efficiency at which their elevators operate. Which proved to be a solution to a problem that the company had back 2001 when piles of crowds were waiting over 5 minutes to use their elevators to access the hotel’s 2,000+ rooms, rooftop restaurant and bar, theater, and meeting space.
Using Schindler Elevator Corp.’s Miconic 10, Marriott was able to increase their elevator’s efficiency by 50%. Implementing Miconic 10 allowed elevator users to enter their floor on a keypad, the system would then calculate the fastest travel time and then assign an elevator that would get the guest to their destination in the promised time. This destination dispatch technology is relatively common and simple to install into new construction, even older buildings are beginning to incorporate the technology as well.
Art Displays
Probably our favorite new method of incorporating new technology within a building would have to be this new method of installing rotating art displays. Unfortunately art can be expensive and good art isn’t always easy to come by, but by incorporating rotating digital art displays, buildings and and their tenants will be able to enjoy and experience new art every day at a much more affordable price. Impart provides organizations with mesmerizing digital art that can be displayed on any TV for only $40/month per TV set.
Technology is changing the way we work and live every single day and it’s your job as developers and investors to keep up with the new and innovative technology that is helping improve and shape the way we live our everyday lives.
For more on technology in commercial real estate take a look at MFE’s article, “How Digital Displays Can Drive Value,” and Propmodo’s article “Digital Displays Make Responsive Attractive Buildings – On the Cheap.”