February 6, 2006
All mod cons | Some condo developers say that wiring for high-speed data service is a basic necessity
By Jeffrey Bouley
Something old, something new isn't just applicable to a bride's wedding preparations. As a developer retrofitting older buildings like the former Cowan and Libbey Mills in Lewiston for residential and commercial uses, Travis Soule, founder and president of SOLO Properties, sees old structures as perfect places for new technology. "There is something just inherently cool about a 150-year-old building with state-of-the-art technology ˆ an old brick wall that has a high-def TV on it, for example," says Soule, who is renovating the mills as part of his Island Point retail, office and residential project.
In keeping with this philosophy, Soule is running fiber-optic lines into the Island Point projects and his Stevens Mill Estates residential project in Auburn, a former apartment building he's currently renovating as condominiums. His goal is to offer residents communications features such as high-speed Internet, digital cable and digital telephone in every room.
He's betting that potential buyers for the Stevens Mill condos, which start at $120,000, and his Island Point units, which don't yet have a price, won't just appreciate those communications features ˆ they'll demand them. "Connectivity for high-speed data and voice communications is going to be something standard in living units the same way that telephone connections became standard," says Soule. "Would you buy a beautiful house that had no telephone jacks in it?"
The trend toward more technology in condos is a national one that is beginning to gain traction here in Maine, although to varying degrees among different developers. With median prices for condos nationwide now higher than those for single-family detached homes, according to the National Association of Realtors, people expect to get their money's worth, and that includes technological conveniences. In addition, developers need more bells and whistles to stand out from other properties in the increasingly crowded condo market, particularly if they want to attract the high-end buyers.
If Soule isn't alone in seeing a trend that condo buyers want more connectivity, he may be one of the most forward thinking, according to Craig Gunderson, chief operating officer for Oxford Networks, the company overseeing the high-speed wiring and networking needs of Soule's current projects. "We will get landlords and developers who ask us about more advanced wiring and networking options, but Travis seems to be the one actually doing it and figuring out how to take it to the fullest," says Gunderson.
As he explains, many developers initially interested in communications options for residential projects get hung up on questions of how big the potential market for such services really is. Others are unwilling to bear the cost of running fiber optics into a building, which can total thousands to tens of thousands of dollars depending on the size of the project. Most fall back to running more basic technological options into units, such as cable TV/internet and satellite dish connectivity.
Chasing wires
Even outside of the high-end condo buyer community, though, an increasing number of buyers want to know that they won't have to go in on their own and wire up a unit to the tune of a couple thousand dollars or more. After all, a developer could do it from the start for a fraction of the per-unit price, says Carl Lender, the former vice president of sales and marketing for CSI Consulting, a South Florida-based firm that advises builders on emerging technologies. "In Maine, there are a lot of attached townhome situations, and they have attics and crawlspaces and such so owners can fish in wire if they want," notes Lender. "But does an owner want to do that? Absolutely not. They want to move in and know the wiring for high-tech access is already there."
For projects that involve many condos in a single building, it can be cost-prohibitive or sometimes even technically impossible to add amenities for voice, data and video after construction is complete, adds Lender, who recently became sales manager for Hotwire Communications, a telecommunications and Internet technology provider based in Wynnewood, Penn. That factor can adversely impact both the marketability of the units and their resale value.
But offering the most reliable technology for integrated voice, video and high-speed data services typically means bringing fiber-optic wiring to the building's curb, at the very least. Then, Category 5 (Cat-5) cabling, which is the current standard for copper-based data lines, or interior fiber-optic wiring can be used to carry the information from the curb to individual units.
The problem is, while fiber or high-speed copper lines can be run to the property's curb at any time, they cannot be retrofitted to individual units once a structure is built without major demolition and renovation. That's why Soule is having Oxford Networks install such networking and communications technology during the construction of his projects. "We're pretty much wiring everything we're doing with fiber optics," Soule says. "It's easy to integrate it when you're still building and have open walls, and it's key to marketing."
Soule is spending between $18,000 and $30,000 for the fiber optics and networking features at his Stevens Mill property. But the price tag will be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars at Island Point, though, where he will also add "smart home" technology including high-tech security features, networked appliances and more. Soule is willing to make the investment, though, because he doesn't just think of communications systems as "amenities," like granite countertops and hardwood floors. "I think of cabling and networking like a mechanical system, and I think in the very near future such things will be treated with the same attitude as electrical systems, heating and cooling systems," says Soule.
Keeping it simple
Not everyone involved in Maine condo projects is as convinced as Soule, however. Jim Sterling, founder of James Sterling Architects and the architect for the 23-unit Kimball Court condominium project currently being framed in Portland, says he doesn't consider Internet access or high-tech wiring to be a particular selling point for residential properties. "I don't think everyone expects it in the same way they do plumbing," he says.
That doesn't mean Kimball Court will be bare of high-speed access, though; it just won't be anything cutting edge. Kimball agrees that people want to know they can readily plug in their TVs and computers, and says that every room in each condo unit ˆ with the exception of bathrooms ˆ will have jacks for cable television and broadband Internet access. But having done a lot of drilling and wire-pulling in his own home not so long ago to network his home technology, only later to get a Wi-Fi router and be left with a lot of unnecessary holes in the walls, he isn't eager to jump onto any bandwagon that involves wires and cables. "Technology changes, and we don't plan to bring in fiber optics or T1 lines or anything like that," he says. "I think all that stuff is fading fast and soon there will simply be a central place to run everything into and [install] wireless functionality throughout [a building]."
It is unclear how far other condominium projects planned in Maine will go with their own technology systems. Take, for example, the roughly $100 million Westin project in Portland being developed by Maine-based Liberty Companies and The Procaccianti Group of Rhode Island. Andrew Bedard, vice president of new development at Liberty Companies, did acknowledge that the condo units in the hotel and residential complex will be wired throughout for standard cable access, but referred technical questions about any other specific features to The Procaccianti Group, which could not be reached for comment.
However, the companies have noted that condo owners will have access to the same services as hotel guests, so cable subscriptions and high-speed computer access of some sort are virtually guaranteed. And with price tags of around $5 million planned for the penthouse condos and more than $500,000 for even the smallest units, it's likely that some other features more advanced than cable jacks will be under consideration.
But Rowan H. Morse, a licensed broker with Town & Shore Associates, which serves the Greater Portland area, agrees with Sterling that cutting-edge wiring or built-in Wi-Fi may not be all that important to most home buyers in the state. "I think all buyers want to be wired," she says. "They want access to it. But it's not the first thing buyers worry about."
On the other hand, she does believe that with condo buildings specifically ˆ where people don't necessarily have the ability to rewire their units easily, if at all ˆ pre-wiring for cable and broadband at the very least is considered a valued amenity.
To technology aficionados like Lender, those opinions ignore national trends. Developers and real estate brokers often aren't as tapped into technology as they could be, Lender argues, and don't necessarily have their finger on the pulse of what buyers want in that regard. He fears the lack of ubiquitous high-speed cabling even in new developments might show a lack of foresight. So, while people like Travis Soule are blazing trails and condo connectivity is rising, there still may be a ways to go before the market is where it should be technologically, he suggests. "Builders and developers often aren't interested in the technology as much as in the building itself," Lender says. "And buyers aren't always savvy enough to ask about such things. They may assume certain things are in the unit based on the money they've shelled out, and they can end up surprised and angry later when they find out they don't have a well-wired home."
Lender thinks that's a shame, and wishes more new and conversion developers would embrace technology ˆ and for more than just entertainment. He cites Internet-accessible thermostats, a new entry onto the home technology field, as an example of what technology can do. Homeowners who live away part of the year could remotely change their thermostats in Maine based on changing weather patterns, he says, or adjust them from work on a laptop. "All the developer has to do is spend an extra $20 for the Cat-5 wiring and maybe $300 for the [Internet protocol]-enabled thermostat, rather than the $70 for a standard programmable one, which isn't that big a deal when you're talking the kinds of prices people pay for condos," Lender says. "But the minute you put the walls up, it's too late to go back for most people."
Not surprisingly, telecommunications providers like Gunderson add their own note of caution for developers reluctant to run higher-end wiring into a property simply because of perceived demand or the promise of wireless technology. He says that the efficiencies and capabilities of wires as a transport mechanism, whether copper or fiber optic, are going to be significantly better than wireless solutions for some time. So far, he says, he hasn't seen wireless options for high-speed voice, data and video technology offer the same level of service as a wired network. "The [wireless] technology will come, but no one knows just how quickly," Gunderson says. "And people probably shouldn't wait on it."
Stevens Mill Estates
Auburn
Number of units: 20
Technology features: Fiber-optic cabling and wireless Internet networking
Projected price of units: $120,000 to $140,000
Completion date: At least some units available by spring 2006
Island Point project
Lewiston
Number of units: 34 in the former Cowan Mill in Phase 1; 45 anticipated in Phase 2 in the former Libbey Mill, which will be a hotel/condo complex in addition to retail and office space
Technology features: Fiber-optic cabling, wireless Internet networking and "smart home" technology (security systems, network-enabled appliances and more)
Projected price of units: To be determined
Completion date: 2006/2007 (first occupancies in spring 2007)
Kimball Court
Portland
Number of units: 23 residential and 3 commercial
Technology features: Wiring for cable TV/high-speed Internet access in all rooms but bathrooms
Projected price of units: $270,000 to $550,000
Completion date: July 2006
Westin hotel/condo complex
Portland
Number of units: 60 to 100 condo units, plus 150 to 200 hotel rooms
Technology features: Cable TV/Internet access, at minimum, and access to all hotel
services
Project price of units: $550,000 to $5 million
Completion date: Early 2008 (Possibly early 2007 for hotel units)
In keeping with this philosophy, Soule is running fiber-optic lines into the Island Point projects and his Stevens Mill Estates residential project in Auburn, a former apartment building he's currently renovating as condominiums. His goal is to offer residents communications features such as high-speed Internet, digital cable and digital telephone in every room.
He's betting that potential buyers for the Stevens Mill condos, which start at $120,000, and his Island Point units, which don't yet have a price, won't just appreciate those communications features ˆ they'll demand them. "Connectivity for high-speed data and voice communications is going to be something standard in living units the same way that telephone connections became standard," says Soule. "Would you buy a beautiful house that had no telephone jacks in it?"
The trend toward more technology in condos is a national one that is beginning to gain traction here in Maine, although to varying degrees among different developers. With median prices for condos nationwide now higher than those for single-family detached homes, according to the National Association of Realtors, people expect to get their money's worth, and that includes technological conveniences. In addition, developers need more bells and whistles to stand out from other properties in the increasingly crowded condo market, particularly if they want to attract the high-end buyers.
If Soule isn't alone in seeing a trend that condo buyers want more connectivity, he may be one of the most forward thinking, according to Craig Gunderson, chief operating officer for Oxford Networks, the company overseeing the high-speed wiring and networking needs of Soule's current projects. "We will get landlords and developers who ask us about more advanced wiring and networking options, but Travis seems to be the one actually doing it and figuring out how to take it to the fullest," says Gunderson.
As he explains, many developers initially interested in communications options for residential projects get hung up on questions of how big the potential market for such services really is. Others are unwilling to bear the cost of running fiber optics into a building, which can total thousands to tens of thousands of dollars depending on the size of the project. Most fall back to running more basic technological options into units, such as cable TV/internet and satellite dish connectivity.
Chasing wires
Even outside of the high-end condo buyer community, though, an increasing number of buyers want to know that they won't have to go in on their own and wire up a unit to the tune of a couple thousand dollars or more. After all, a developer could do it from the start for a fraction of the per-unit price, says Carl Lender, the former vice president of sales and marketing for CSI Consulting, a South Florida-based firm that advises builders on emerging technologies. "In Maine, there are a lot of attached townhome situations, and they have attics and crawlspaces and such so owners can fish in wire if they want," notes Lender. "But does an owner want to do that? Absolutely not. They want to move in and know the wiring for high-tech access is already there."
For projects that involve many condos in a single building, it can be cost-prohibitive or sometimes even technically impossible to add amenities for voice, data and video after construction is complete, adds Lender, who recently became sales manager for Hotwire Communications, a telecommunications and Internet technology provider based in Wynnewood, Penn. That factor can adversely impact both the marketability of the units and their resale value.
But offering the most reliable technology for integrated voice, video and high-speed data services typically means bringing fiber-optic wiring to the building's curb, at the very least. Then, Category 5 (Cat-5) cabling, which is the current standard for copper-based data lines, or interior fiber-optic wiring can be used to carry the information from the curb to individual units.
The problem is, while fiber or high-speed copper lines can be run to the property's curb at any time, they cannot be retrofitted to individual units once a structure is built without major demolition and renovation. That's why Soule is having Oxford Networks install such networking and communications technology during the construction of his projects. "We're pretty much wiring everything we're doing with fiber optics," Soule says. "It's easy to integrate it when you're still building and have open walls, and it's key to marketing."
Soule is spending between $18,000 and $30,000 for the fiber optics and networking features at his Stevens Mill property. But the price tag will be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars at Island Point, though, where he will also add "smart home" technology including high-tech security features, networked appliances and more. Soule is willing to make the investment, though, because he doesn't just think of communications systems as "amenities," like granite countertops and hardwood floors. "I think of cabling and networking like a mechanical system, and I think in the very near future such things will be treated with the same attitude as electrical systems, heating and cooling systems," says Soule.
Keeping it simple
Not everyone involved in Maine condo projects is as convinced as Soule, however. Jim Sterling, founder of James Sterling Architects and the architect for the 23-unit Kimball Court condominium project currently being framed in Portland, says he doesn't consider Internet access or high-tech wiring to be a particular selling point for residential properties. "I don't think everyone expects it in the same way they do plumbing," he says.
That doesn't mean Kimball Court will be bare of high-speed access, though; it just won't be anything cutting edge. Kimball agrees that people want to know they can readily plug in their TVs and computers, and says that every room in each condo unit ˆ with the exception of bathrooms ˆ will have jacks for cable television and broadband Internet access. But having done a lot of drilling and wire-pulling in his own home not so long ago to network his home technology, only later to get a Wi-Fi router and be left with a lot of unnecessary holes in the walls, he isn't eager to jump onto any bandwagon that involves wires and cables. "Technology changes, and we don't plan to bring in fiber optics or T1 lines or anything like that," he says. "I think all that stuff is fading fast and soon there will simply be a central place to run everything into and [install] wireless functionality throughout [a building]."
It is unclear how far other condominium projects planned in Maine will go with their own technology systems. Take, for example, the roughly $100 million Westin project in Portland being developed by Maine-based Liberty Companies and The Procaccianti Group of Rhode Island. Andrew Bedard, vice president of new development at Liberty Companies, did acknowledge that the condo units in the hotel and residential complex will be wired throughout for standard cable access, but referred technical questions about any other specific features to The Procaccianti Group, which could not be reached for comment.
However, the companies have noted that condo owners will have access to the same services as hotel guests, so cable subscriptions and high-speed computer access of some sort are virtually guaranteed. And with price tags of around $5 million planned for the penthouse condos and more than $500,000 for even the smallest units, it's likely that some other features more advanced than cable jacks will be under consideration.
But Rowan H. Morse, a licensed broker with Town & Shore Associates, which serves the Greater Portland area, agrees with Sterling that cutting-edge wiring or built-in Wi-Fi may not be all that important to most home buyers in the state. "I think all buyers want to be wired," she says. "They want access to it. But it's not the first thing buyers worry about."
On the other hand, she does believe that with condo buildings specifically ˆ where people don't necessarily have the ability to rewire their units easily, if at all ˆ pre-wiring for cable and broadband at the very least is considered a valued amenity.
To technology aficionados like Lender, those opinions ignore national trends. Developers and real estate brokers often aren't as tapped into technology as they could be, Lender argues, and don't necessarily have their finger on the pulse of what buyers want in that regard. He fears the lack of ubiquitous high-speed cabling even in new developments might show a lack of foresight. So, while people like Travis Soule are blazing trails and condo connectivity is rising, there still may be a ways to go before the market is where it should be technologically, he suggests. "Builders and developers often aren't interested in the technology as much as in the building itself," Lender says. "And buyers aren't always savvy enough to ask about such things. They may assume certain things are in the unit based on the money they've shelled out, and they can end up surprised and angry later when they find out they don't have a well-wired home."
Lender thinks that's a shame, and wishes more new and conversion developers would embrace technology ˆ and for more than just entertainment. He cites Internet-accessible thermostats, a new entry onto the home technology field, as an example of what technology can do. Homeowners who live away part of the year could remotely change their thermostats in Maine based on changing weather patterns, he says, or adjust them from work on a laptop. "All the developer has to do is spend an extra $20 for the Cat-5 wiring and maybe $300 for the [Internet protocol]-enabled thermostat, rather than the $70 for a standard programmable one, which isn't that big a deal when you're talking the kinds of prices people pay for condos," Lender says. "But the minute you put the walls up, it's too late to go back for most people."
Not surprisingly, telecommunications providers like Gunderson add their own note of caution for developers reluctant to run higher-end wiring into a property simply because of perceived demand or the promise of wireless technology. He says that the efficiencies and capabilities of wires as a transport mechanism, whether copper or fiber optic, are going to be significantly better than wireless solutions for some time. So far, he says, he hasn't seen wireless options for high-speed voice, data and video technology offer the same level of service as a wired network. "The [wireless] technology will come, but no one knows just how quickly," Gunderson says. "And people probably shouldn't wait on it."
Stevens Mill Estates
Auburn
Number of units: 20
Technology features: Fiber-optic cabling and wireless Internet networking
Projected price of units: $120,000 to $140,000
Completion date: At least some units available by spring 2006
Island Point project
Lewiston
Number of units: 34 in the former Cowan Mill in Phase 1; 45 anticipated in Phase 2 in the former Libbey Mill, which will be a hotel/condo complex in addition to retail and office space
Technology features: Fiber-optic cabling, wireless Internet networking and "smart home" technology (security systems, network-enabled appliances and more)
Projected price of units: To be determined
Completion date: 2006/2007 (first occupancies in spring 2007)
Kimball Court
Portland
Number of units: 23 residential and 3 commercial
Technology features: Wiring for cable TV/high-speed Internet access in all rooms but bathrooms
Projected price of units: $270,000 to $550,000
Completion date: July 2006
Westin hotel/condo complex
Portland
Number of units: 60 to 100 condo units, plus 150 to 200 hotel rooms
Technology features: Cable TV/Internet access, at minimum, and access to all hotel
services
Project price of units: $550,000 to $5 million
Completion date: Early 2008 (Possibly early 2007 for hotel units)
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