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When Dennis Mangone, a real estate broker at The Corcoran Group, shows his high-flying clients the luxury apartments in the new Time Warner Center, many are sold on the spectacular views of Central Park, the prime Columbus Circle location, and the access to fine dining and shopping in the same building.
But something else tipped the scale for two famous buyers, a baseball player and an entertainer: the ability to stream broadcast video directly from the cutting-edge premises.
"They could hold press conferences from home," says Mr. Mangone, who has sold six apartments so far and purchased one himself
It's not just celebrities who expect high-tech treatment. In an example of what most new upscale developments will look like in the future, the Time Warner Center was erected with an eye to what well-heeled tenants-residential, commercial and retail-will be demanding in the years ahead.
"(The owners) had a vision of
providing the highest-tech-enabled building in the U.S.," says Greg Weldon, vice president of building services for OneSource Building Technologies, the unit of Tyco International Ltd. that designed the technology infrastructure for the complex.
OneSource will manage the technology of the development under a seven-year contract with the developers, The Related Cos. and Apollo Real Estate Advisors. Cisco Systems Inc. provided the hightech hardware.
Drawing on the latest advances in technology, the development features wireless fidelity highspeed Internet access, or Wi-Fi, and Internet-based phone service throughout its 80 stories, as well as fiber-optic cables, which allow broadcast video streaming.