Old is New in Durham As Tenants Jazz Up Warehouses
	Fitch Launches Risk Analysis Service
	Florida East Coast Realty and Hotwire Business Solutions Partner on “Smart Buildings"

How does a company make a dramatic statement with its commercial real estate property at a time when little credit is available for new development? One way is to adapt an old building to a new use with a snazzy, high-tech rehab.

In Durham, N.C., where the tobacco industry once thrived as factories rolled out cigarettes and warehouses stored the aromatic tobacco, Capitol Broadcasting Co. has developed a massive, mixed-use development, American Tobacco Campus. The company has converted dilapidated warehouses and an abandoned factory to state-of the art office and retail buildings.

Fitch Solutions and Algorithmics Advisory Service team is taking steps to try to identify potential problems in commercial real estate, including areas of delinquency, with the launch of a risk analysis and portfolio assessment service.

“With a substantial number of commercial real estate loans up for refinancing in the next few years, lacking a precise understanding of the complex risks within commercial real estate loan and securitization portfolios has become the latest area of concern for senior management teams,” said Krishnamoorthy Narasimhan of Algorithmics in a statement.

Developer Florida East Coast Realty and Hotwire Business Solutions, part of Hotwire Communications, have joined in a partnership to convert the real estate company’s South Florida office buildings into “smart buildings” with advanced, fiber-based technology.

The company estimates that the new technology could reduce the overall cost of telecommunications by up to 20% for office tenants.

The properties include 1101 Brickell Avenue in downtown Miami, a 3.2 acre site with office towers of 11 and 19 stories, and 2020 Ponce de Leon Boulevard in Coral Gables, a 14-story, Class-A building.