The developer, usually an office building developer by experience, is not in the business of guaranteeing the critical infrastructure required for sustained e-commerce, says Kundich. It involves planning the facility carefully, he adds. There are management plans for all the shared spaces, for example. A common problem is the absence of a thorough master plan and a tenant manual, says Rouleau. Without proper planning, the first few tenants monopolize the premium riser space and premium common areas, he says, leaving the rest to suffer.
All planning is worthless if there is no power available, say sources, who worry about a shortage.
If there is access to the information superhighway, and there is no power, it can't work. Telecom hotel teams typically ask utilities for 100 to 200 w per sq ft. But that number keeps growing. While building teams grapple with the utilities, they are concurrently dealing with zoning and permitting issues. The first generation of telecom hotels, just coming on line, are often sited in old warehouses.