KBS Extends Technology Focus; Achieves WiredScore Status for Four Class A Office Properties in Texas

KBS, one of the largest investors in premier commercial real estate in the nation, announced that four of its Class A office properties in Texas have achieved WiredScore certification.

City View and Fountainhead Tower are the first two properties in the San Antonio market to achieve WiredScore certification. City View, a 221,373 square-foot office building located at the corner of Interstate 10 and Huebner in northwest San Antonio, was awarded WiredScore Gold, and Fountainhead Tower, 179,932 square-foot office building located directly off IH-10 with quick access to Loop 410 and just minutes from Loop 1604 and the San Antonio International Airport, was awarded WiredScore Silver. The certifications are noteworthy accomplishments in today’s tech-driven office environment, according to Gio Cordoves, Western regional president for KBS.

“KBS understands that connectivity is critical to driving business for today’s office tenants and enabling them to operate efficiently,” says Cordoves. “By offering the first two WiredScore certified properties in San Antonio, KBS continues to lead the market in providing its tenants with outstanding service and amenities.”

Two additional Texas-based KBS office assets – 515 Congress, a 263,058-square-foot office tower located at 515 Congress Avenue in Downtown Austin, and 1800 Bering, a 171,510 square-foot office building located at 1800 Bering Drive in Houston – have each been certified WiredScore Silver. With these new designations, KBS now holds a majority of Wired Certified assets nationwide.

Properties achieve WiredScore certification by meeting WiredScore’s criteria in three categories: connectivity, infrastructure and readiness. WiredScore Gold certification indicates that a property offers access to multiple high-quality internet service providers as well as in-place infrastructure measures that ensure connectivity sources are protected, redundant and prepared for the needs of current and future tenants. WiredScore Silver certification ensures that a building contains business-critical connectivity features. WiredScore Silver testifies that a building can satisfy the vast majority of tenants’ tech needs.

“Superior connectivity has become increasingly important to today’s office tenants over the last couple of years, and will continue post-pandemic as more employees return to the office,” says Brett Merz, asset manager for City View, Fountainhead Tower, 515 Congress and 1800 Bering and senior vice president for KBS. “These four WiredScore certifications exemplify KBS’ ongoing commitment to enhanced connectivity for tenants. By achieving WiredScore status, these four top-quality assets can more effectively meet the needs of today’s companies.”

In addition to the four newly certified Texas properties, KBS owns WiredScore certified assets in Bloomington, Minnesota, the Washington D.C. metro area, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, and California. Of these buildings, two are certified Platinum, 16 are certified Gold, 17 are certified Silver and one is Certified.

“Top-quality connectivity is an excellent example of the best-in-class amenities KBS consistently delivers to its tenants,” says Arie Barendrecht, CEO & Founder of WiredScore. “The WiredScore certification KBS has achieved at these four Texas properties will enable tenants to remain online and maintain their productivity levels through a seamless online experience.”

The Texas market has been attracting numerous tech companies within the last year thanks to lower housing costs, taxes and decreased regulation, including Google, Samsung, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, and Dropbox, to name a few.

Please find photos of City View here, Fountainhead Tower here, 515 Congress here, and 1800 Bering here.

About KBS

KBS is one of the largest investors of premier commercial real estate in the nation. As a private equity real estate company and an SEC-registered investment adviser, KBS and its affiliated companies have completed transactional activity of more than $43 billion on behalf of private and institutional investors globally. Founded in 1992 by Peter Bren and Chuck Schreiber, KBS acquires and operates prime commercial real estate in some of the most successful epicenters in the country. The firm is committed in its business ethics, its business relationships and its constant focus on exceeding the expectations of its investors, partners and tenants. SEC registration as an investment advisor does not imply any particular level of skill or training. For more information on KBS, please visit www.kbs.com.

This release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including statements relating to KBS’ ability to invest in and manage a diverse portfolio, and the performance of City View, Fountainhead Tower, 515 Congress, and 1800 1800 Bering and of the San Antonio, Austin and Houston real estate markets. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause KBS’ and/or City View’s, Fountainhead Tower’s, 515 Congress’ or 1800 Bering’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

About WiredScore

WiredScore is the organization behind WiredScore and SmartScore certifications, the internationally recognized digital connectivity and smart rating system for commercial real estate that helps landlords design and promote their buildings' great digital connectivity to tenants.

WiredScore certification champions cutting-edge technology in commercial real estate by providing the only certification for rating the infrastructure, connectivity and technological capacity of commercial buildings WiredScore launched in 2013 in partnership with Mayor Bloomberg and the City of New York, and in October of 2017 received support from investors Bessemer Venture Partners and Fifth Wall. To date, over 650 million square feet of commercial and residential space has been certified by WiredScore, impacting 6 million people across 10 countries since its launch in New York in 2013.

In an increasingly tech-driven economy, connectivity is fast becoming the most critical factor for tenants when selecting office space. The widely recognized WiredScore certification seal is a trusted symbol that identifies buildings that have been independently certified to provide the best-in-class connectivity infrastructure that businesses require to thrive. For more information on WiredScore certification or to find WiredScore certified buildings, visit: http://wiredscore.com/.

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