Commercial Real Estate Firm Provides Modern Guest WiFi at Legacy Union with SecurEdge

Architecture Innovators Brings Business

One of the southeast region's most accomplished commercial real estate companies has earned a reputation for their strategic approaches to markets throughout the United States.

Together with a property management company, they currently lease and manage over 406 million square feet of real estate.

Their latest building, the Bank of America Tower, is the 4th largest addition to Charlotte's skyline and only part of one of their 5-phased project at Legacy Union.

This contemporary-meets-classic skyscraper is made up of 35 floors and plays a huge role in bringing businesses to the Charlotte, NC area.

Planning for the Ultimate Guest Experience

During the time of construction, the property management firm had already leased out a majority of the building, but they were responsible for the guest WiFi. They needed to support both the indoor common areas and an outdoor public courtyard.

The specific environment had several critical requirements including support for:

• Large capacity

• Easy onboarding

• Secure access

• Seamless digital experience going from indoor to outdoor

The project manager also wanted consistent management of the network. Due to tight deadlines, they needed to make sure that ongoing WiFi management was not another task added onto their plate.

After taking several bids, the commercial real estate group was impressed by SecurEdge's offer of a completely managed WiFi subscription and their ability to engineer the required guest experience.

Engineering Secure and Simple to Use Guest WiFi

Since the building was still under construction at the time of deployment, new infrastructure was still being added and new devices were being implemented, such as an impressive 64-by-36-foot video screen that displays drone footage of North Carolina to meet visitors.

“By being flexible, we were able to manage design changes to ensure the best possible product was delivered,” says Erik Portillo, Director of Engineering.

This is where getting a customized solution was beneficial for the property management group. They didn’t have to commit to a one-size-fits-all scenario; they received a solutions partner that worked with them to design a fast digital experience for their guests.

The SecurEdge team deployed indoor guest WiFi in the common areas of the first and second floors of the Bank of America Tower.
They also tackled nature when deploying the network in the outdoor courtyard by accounting for outdoor interference, and an ever-changing environment.

However, the most difficult part of the project took place in having an open guest SSID, while also planning for the capacity of 10-1,000 guests at any one time.

Overall, SecurEdge used 14 access points for the three location areas; HPE Aruba AP-375s in the outdoor area and HPE Aruba IAP-315s in the first and second story indoor common areas.

Once deployed, SecurEdge took charge of monitoring the performance of the network to ensure a consistent guest WiFi experience.
Their entire solution was called Managed WiFi, which included all of the WiFi engineering services on the front-end, the required installation and configuration of the network, and all of the ongoing support services on the back-end.

“It was a successful process from start to finish,” states Skye Jaundoo, the customer success manager, “We were there to make sure that the construction process—concerning both the wireless infrastructure and the network—was happening as seamlessly as possible and that is truly valuable to property managers.”

The Results and Future Plans

As businesses are becoming more driven by the guest experience, the guest WiFi at the Bank of America Tower is ready for business.

With 24/7 performance monitoring and an engineered wireless network, this property management group is providing guests an easy, fast, and secure digital experience, which will foster the loyalty of the businesses that rely on happy guests.

Their clients will trust that their property management group is committed to their digital transformation goals.
As Legacy Union stretches over their 10 acres of Uptown Charlotte, SecurEdge is ready to ensure a seamless WiFi experience.

The team has already begun on Bank of America Tower’s third floor common area, which is a business environment with a fitness center, as well as a parking garage unit that relies on receiving payment transactions.

When it’s time for a network refresh, the commercial real estate company is considering a transition to WiFi as a Service, a 100 percent OPEX solution.

As Legacy Union continues to grow, SecurEdge will continue to be a trusted partner.