ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Columbia Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE: CXP) today announced that it has completed the assessment and certification of all properties in its 12.3 million-square-foot office portfolio (except for certain buildings that are triple-net-leased or targeted for sale) in the WiredScore Wired Certification program, the nation’s preeminent program that rates and recognizes the infrastructure, technology and connectivity of office buildings.
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229 West 43rd Street in New York, owned by Columbia Property Trust, has achieved Gold Wired Certification, along with most of the rest of Columbia's 12.3 million square foot portfolio of office buildings. (Photo: Business Wire)
Among Columbia’s portfolio, fifteen buildings have received Silver Wired Certification, six have received the higher Gold Certification level, and two have achieved Platinum Certification, the highest Wired Certification rating possible, for best-in-class internet infrastructure.
“These certifications provide our tenants – both current and prospective – a clear picture of how well our buildings can meet their connectivity needs,” said Nelson Mills, president and CEO of Columbia Property Trust. “We are proud to have achieved Silver or higher certification across our entire portfolio and believe that assessing our properties through the WiredScore program was an important step in ensuring that our buildings can meet the changing and increasing technology demands of leading corporate tenants.”
“Connectivity speed and access are critical to business operations, and our participation in the WiredScore program is another way that we can ensure our tenants have the level of service and infrastructure they expect from our best-in-class, Class-A office buildings in leading U.S. markets,” continued Kevin Hoover, senior vice president of portfolio management for Columbia.
WiredScore is the pioneer behind the international Wired Certification standard that evaluates and distinguishes best-in-class internet connectivity in commercial buildings. In order to award Wired Certification, WiredScore collects information about a property’s internet connectivity and infrastructure, and then rates and benchmarks it. The connectivity features used to determine each property’s rating include: the number and quality of internet service providers, redundancy and resiliency of telecom infrastructure, ease of installation, and capacity to readily support new telecom services.
“Strong internet connectivity has never been more critical to tenants seeking new office space,” said Arie Barendrecht, CEO and co-founder of WiredScore. “Forward-thinking building owners like Columbia Property Trust are now offering high-quality tech capabilities to attract the world’s leading businesses to their properties. By providing a comprehensive resource on connectivity for landlords, brokers, and tenants alike, Wired Certification offers unprecedented transparency into a building’s tech infrastructure and makes it easier than ever to market these features.”
All office properties owned by Columbia have received Wired Certification, with the exception of three triple-net-leased assets for which the tenant declined to participate and four properties that are being marketed for sale.
About Columbia Property Trust
Columbia Property Trust (NYSE: CXP) owns and operates Class-A office buildings in competitive, primarily CBD locations, and over half our investments are in high-barrier-to-entry, primary markets. Our $5 billion portfolio includes 25 office properties containing 12.3 million square feet and one hotel, concentrated in San Francisco, New York, and Washington, D.C. For more information about Columbia, which carries an investment-grade rating from both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s, please visit http://columbia.reit/.
About WiredScore
Launched in 2013 in partnership with the City of New York, WiredScore is the pioneer behind the international Wired Certification standard that evaluates and distinguishes best-in-class internet connectivity in commercial buildings. The widely recognized Wired Certification seal is a trusted symbol that identifies buildings that have been independently certified to provide the leading-edge internet infrastructure that businesses require to thrive. More than 650 properties—totaling 250 million square feet of office space in over 50 cities—have achieved Wired Certification through providing superior tech capabilities for their tenants. For more information, visit: http://wiredscore.com/.
Forward-Looking Statements:
Certain statements contained in this press release other than historical facts may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. We intend for all such forward-looking statements to be covered by the applicable safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in those acts. Such statements include, in particular, statements about our plans, strategies, and prospects and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including known and unknown risks, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated. Therefore, such statements are not intended to be a guarantee of our performance in future periods. Such forward-looking statements can generally be identified by our use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "expect," "intend," "anticipate," "estimate," "believe," "continue," or other similar words. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. We make no representations or warranties (express or implied) about the accuracy of any such forward-looking statements contained in this press release, and we do not intend to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
Any such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors and are based on a number of assumptions involving judgments with respect to, among other things, future economic, competitive, and market conditions, all of which are difficult or impossible to predict accurately. To the extent that our assumptions differ from actual conditions, our ability to accurately anticipate results expressed in such forward-looking statements, including our ability to generate positive cash flow from operations, make distributions to stockholders, and maintain the value of our real estate properties, may be significantly hindered. See Item 1A in the Company's most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, for a discussion of some of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those presented in our forward-looking statements. The risk factors described in our Annual Report are not the only ones we face, but do represent those risks and uncertainties that we believe are material to us. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also harm our business.
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