Viewpoints

The multifamily broadband industry has finally reached the next stage.

By: Bryan J. Rader, President, Pavlov Media

A couple of weeks ago, the largest property management firm in our market announced its expansion into “infrastructure.”

This property owner and management company, named Greystar, proclaimed that they saw a huge opportunity in multifamily infrastructure and that it was time to take advantage of this moment.

They saw this as the right time to launch a strategic initiative to invest in infrastructure at their multifamily communities nationwide. This included fiber to the home, solar, battery storage, EV charging, and certainly all things related to “connectivity.”

Although it didn’t specify, it likely meant bulk managed Wi-Fi for a very large number of their apartment communities.

When I first read the press release, I thought that this was another announcement from an investment firm taking advantage of residents’ desire for sustainability, renewable energy, and social connectivity.

But, upon further review, it was clear that they see this as a unique intersection of real estate and technology at this time and as an opportunity to invest in infrastructure to support their long-term objectives of building social communities in a responsible way.

This wasn’t a press release without teeth. This was the largest property owner and manager in our market telling the world, “Hey, we are going to invest heavily in infrastructure to support our residents and our communities.” That means, fiber broadband networks with managed Wi-Fi to support resident connectivity, car-charging stations for EVs, and solar for renewable energy.

This headline was a major change in property owners’ approach to our business. They no longer are looking at wiring or infrastructure as simply a way to generate miscellaneous revenue, but rather, they are looking at this strategically and asking, “How can I build the right networks for my communities, for my residents and for my staff?” and “What else can this platform provide for all stakeholders?”

This is a real shift, and one that did not go unnoticed. In many of my private conversations with property owners over the past few months, it is clear that developing an “infrastructure strategy” that is consistent with the residents’ values, as well as the property’s objectives, can be both rewarding, and success driven.

I think this very large property owner and management company is an early adopter and trend-setter. They are the tip of the iceberg in the multifamily industry in regard to seeing this trend and will certainly spark many other apartment owners to follow suit with their own version of an “infrastructure strategy.”

If you are a service provider, you should look at this as a signature moment. This is one company telling the rest of our market that infrastructure planning is very important to success for MDU owners.

And you are going to see “connectivity” planning become more strategic in the near future – whether it is driven by economic objectives, or resident experience goals.

Watch this seminal event become the beginning of the next phase of our market. You will see MDU owners take a whole new approach to infrastructure. Be part of this trend and participate in these strategies.

Overall, it is a really good sign for our industry.

Bryan J. Rader is the president of MDU for Pavlov Media.

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