Real Estate Re-optimization

With multifamily security as our cover focus this month, I was intrigued by the trend - Real Estate Re-optimization - ranked #9 on The Security Industry Association's (Silks) Megatrends Report, which came out at the end of 2023. Last year, Proptech made the list and the SIA Proptech Advisory Board, which was launched a few years ago under the leadership of Lee Odess who I spoke with for my multifamily piece has done a great job at bringing thought leaders together within security to shed more light on where that vertical is headed and the opportunities therein.

As Odess points out, a digital transformation is changing the way companies and end users perceive the ever-expanding role of security and those who provide it. "Every vertical in our industry is going to be impacted," he says. "It happened in hospitality, it happened in multifamily, and it's happening in enterprise com­mercial real estate right now."

Getting back to #9 on SINs Megatrends Report, real estate re-optimization, multifamily owners and operators are interested in capital expenditures that can generate higher rents and ROI, including mobile-friendly entrance solutions and community WiFi solutions, both creating a "high ROI for the owner/opera­tors while improving tenant experiences:' says the report's editor Geoff Kohl, senior director of marketing, SIA. 'A continued deficit of housing at the multifamily and single-family markets should continue to drive investments in smart home and automated security technologies:'

In addition, the report examines how companies are changing the way they use their office spaces, a trend that will continue. "Many companies are fully remote, and over half of the popula­tion is working outside the office 50% of the time or more," notes Jeff Stanek, president, Access Solutions, Carrier Fire & Security, in the report. "There's a retrofit opportunity to take the space a company has and adapt it to that new model leveraging cloud and mobile technology."

Yes, the use of the smartphone as a credential to not only to unlock a door and grant access, but also to provide control over many other aspects in a building or an apartment is becoming much more ubiquitous and appealing to both the property owners and the tenants and renters.

"There's a long list of added value that it can deliver in a very connected world now where I may work in four different loca­tions, so I can now open up my sort of community of buildings and places, and it's the same user experience as I go," says Odess.

Yes, user experience, value add, operational efficiencies, busi­ness intelligence ... security is no longer just about keeping the bad people out!