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Tishman Speyer, a $129 billion commercial real estate firm having managed 522 properties worldwide, turned to long-time partners at K&A with a physical access control system puzzle at 200 Park Avenue, NYC.
In August 2020, Tishman Speyer contacted K&A about a project at their famous MetLife building. The 59-story skyscraper had dozens of tenants to consider when making changes in the common spaces; with a new physical access control initiative, that consideration became a challenge. Tenants range from enterprise companies with specialized PACS requirements to small businesses that inherited old readers from previous renters. Because Tishman Speyer had been working with K&A since 2018, they knew they could trust K&A’s expertise to figure it out.
Tishman Speyer needed new secure credentials for all 39 of the MetLife building tenants. Landlord-controlled space needed to migrate to these new credentials, and pre-existing tenant access control would need to work post-migration.
The biggest obstacle to a seamless migration was the number of unique tenant-installed readers.
Wherever possible, the goal was to create a single badge for tenants to use throughout the building. How, with all these different PACS systems, could it all work together?
Tishman Speyer has been working with K&A Industries since 2018. In fact, K&A was already their secure credential custodian. K&A had engineered prior access control migrations for Tishman Speyer at other New York City locations such as Rockefeller Center.
When other contractors had attempted the challenge and had left the project in a mess, it was clear that a complex challenge, involving so many types of technology, required someone with a deep knowledge of physical access systems, an eye for physical access control analysis, and the patience and persistence to find the right solution. K&A had a track record of being the trusted Secure ID partner Tishman Speyer needed.
The MetLife Building’s director of security, who was on point for the project, needed the help of an access control expert to unravel this complex technology puzzle. Together with K&A’s project manager, Cody Dembiec, a physical access control analysis defined what would be best to use for access control through the building turnstiles vs. the various tenant spaces.
STEP 1 — Whiteboarding tenant and PACS technology.
Cody worked with each tenant in a physical access control analysis. Some tenants had one card; others had two cards (one for building access and common areas and another for their own tenant area).
STEP 2 — Prototype and testing.
Seeing it all mapped out helped to move the project forward with a comprehensive strategy. With a thorough idea of the criteria, Cody was able to determine how best to get everyone onto one card where possible and create a sample card for each occupant to test drive in their environment.
STEP 3 — Refining and implementation.
Once the prototypes worked for each tenant, Cody worked with the occupants to get the new card facility code into the new dual-card technology that would work within both systems. Eventually, Cody and the director of security resolved all issues, and physical access cards worked as desired.
Thanks to everyone’s hard work, all tenant access cards worked as intended — allowing tenants access to their internally authorized spaces as well as the common areas.
Within a personalized physical access control system
Smoothly transitioned to an upgraded building-wide PACS
Ensuring all tenants can continue to get into their building as well as their own space.
Our White Glove Services can make the most challenging issue feel easy.
With K&A’s personalized white glove services, you can relax while we provide secure, future-proofed identity management solutions — fit just for you.
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