Two Downtown Wilmington Buildings are First to Earn Digital Connectivity Distinction in Delaware

February 12, 2019

McConnell Johnson Real Estate Achieves Wired Certification for 1201 and 1313 North Market Street

McConnell Johnson Real Estate and WiredScore, the pioneer behind Wired Certification, the international standard for cutting-edge internet connectivity in office buildings, today announced the first certified properties in the state of Delaware. Governor John Carney, Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki, and New Castle County Executive Matthew Meyer joined Scott Johnson, McConnell Johnson Real Estate Partner, for the announcement.

Two office towers in Wilmington’s downtown business district—1201 and 1313 North Market Street—have now joined the more than 1,700 Wired Certified buildings worldwide that offer top-notch tech capabilities.  The designation was assigned upon review of the buildings’ best-in-class connectivity, technological infrastructure and readiness to adapt to emerging technologies. Both of the North Market Street offices towers achieved the certification’s highest level which is Wired Certified Platinum.

Platinum Wired Certification represents the best-in-class standard of in-building connectivity, infrastructure, and readiness. The Empire State Building, Willis Tower in Chicago, and the Shard in London are some of the world-class properties that have achieved this recognition.

Collectively encompassing nearly 1 million rentable square feet, the 1201 and 1313 North Market Street properties offer a range of amenities to tenants including generous floorplates, on-site conference and fitness amenities, abundant parking and walkable access nearby retail amenities.

These properties benefit from an extensive investment in fiber-optic expansion in the State of Delaware fueled by private investment and grants provided by DEDO and DTI to help accelerate deployment of key fiber-optic routes.  This combined investment has created a dense fiber-optic network in Delaware with 1201 & 1313 North Market Street acting as a key HUB site with strategic access to domestic US routes and trans-Atlantic cable landing points on the east coast.

The establishment of a hub for carrier routes at 1201 North Market St allows for fiber-optic connectivity to a broad range of key markets as well as significant local and regional connectivity.  In addition to more than 250 fiber miles in the State of Delaware and extensive reach in New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties. 1201 N Market also acts as a regional HUB for connectivity to approximately 2,000 miles of fiber in bordering PA and NJ with critical low latency routes south to key data centers in Northern Virginia, north to Philadelphia, NYC, and Boston, west to Pittsburgh, as well as to Chicago and the west coast.

“The WiredScore Platinum independent certifications for 1201 and 1313 creates better transparency for those tenants that are dependent on the digital economy for future growth,” said Scott Johnson, Partner of McConnell Johnson Real Estate.

 “We’ve now clearly entered a time in which an uninterrupted digital experience has become non-negotiable for office tenants to feel empowered and productive,” said Arie Barendrecht, CEO and founder of WiredScore. “As the first properties in the state of Delaware to pursue and earn Wired Certification, 1201 and 1313 North Market Street stand out as forward-thinking properties in the region and can clearly demonstrate a commitment to digital connectivity.”

In pursuing Wired Certification, the Wilmington properties underwent a comprehensive certification process that evaluated the aspects of digital infrastructure that enable a seamless connectivity experience in which office tenants are able to stay online and maintain productivity levels.

Upon review of the project’s technical elements including: internet service providers available to tenants, infrastructure redundancy, connection access points, and readiness to meet future tenant needs, a Wired Certification level is assigned based on the official standards developed by WiredScore and its connectivity advisory board with representatives from Google Fiber, Rudin Management, Arup, WSP / Parsons Brinckerhoff, and Zayo Group.