Syracuse Apartment Project Builds Security Into Redevelopment From the Ground Up
Key Highlights
- G & G Security deployed an integrated security platform featuring 250 surveillance cameras, LPR, access control and emergency-response systems.
- The five-month deployment began with a comprehensive security assessment and included fiber connectivity, planned communications redundancy and geofenced loitering detection.
- Developers say early tenant resistance gave way to acceptance after residents understood the system's role in creating a safer living environment.
An integrated security platform now anchors the redevelopment of a Syracuse apartment community that developers say was once plagued by criminal activity and unauthorized occupancy, combining video surveillance, access control, license plate recognition and emergency response systems ahead of the first leasing phase.
Developers of The Cortile recently completed installation of the system across the 3.5-acre redevelopment, which will ultimately include four residential buildings containing 140 apartments. Brooklyn-based G & G Security served as the primary security integrator on the project. According to The Cortile, the company has worked with the developers on multiple projects throughout New York City.
Layered approach to multifamily security
Unlike many multifamily projects where security is added later in the design process, Joseph Hoffman, spokesperson for The Cortile, tells SecurityInfoWatch the objective was to make it a foundational element of the redevelopment.
“The security design objectives were to implement a security system that would help deliver a quality-of-life issue that was missing from the property before it was acquired and redeveloped,” Hoffman said. “A security system that worked in the background to ensure that residents and visitors were protected and safe was key and the security system had to operate with low visibility.”
The deployment took approximately five months and began with a comprehensive security assessment that informed the design of the integrated platform. To support the system, developers installed a fiber optic network connecting all four buildings to provide sufficient bandwidth for the property’s video surveillance infrastructure. A Starlink connection is also planned to provide communications redundancy in the event of a fiber outage.
The completed system includes 250 8-megapixel Hikvision ColorVu cameras monitored 24/7 by Live Lion Security using a DW Spectrum video management system. During weekday business hours, personnel at the developer’s Brooklyn headquarters can also monitor the property.
The video system includes geofenced loitering detection that alerts management when individuals remain in restricted areas of the property.
Vehicle access is secured using Hikvision automatic LPR cameras that permit entry only to authorized tenant vehicles. The security program also includes six-foot perimeter fencing surrounding the property. Resident access is managed through a Hartmann Controls fob system, while visitor communications are handled through Akuvox R29 intercom units.
Developers worked closely with Syracuse Police and the Syracuse Fire Department during system design to ensure first responders could quickly access the property without compromising day-to-day security. Syracuse Police officers assigned to the property’s sector have been issued key fobs that provide 24-hour access. Three lockboxes containing access fobs have also been installed for use by the Syracuse Fire Department during emergency responses, while the parking gate automatically opens for responding emergency vehicles when sirens are detected.
Backup power systems are designed to keep the security infrastructure operational during electrical outages while maintaining unrestricted emergency-service access. According to the developers, the property’s integrated smoke and carbon monoxide detection system has been inspected and approved for code compliance.
Winning tenant buy-in
Not every challenge during deployment was technical.
Hoffman said some existing tenants initially vandalized portions of the camera and access control infrastructure because they had never lived in a property with an integrated security system.
“Initially when we first started to install the security system there were challenging tenants who cut through the camera and fob system multiple times,” he said. “Management counselled them and answered all their questions. Once this had been done and they realized that the security system was designed to create a safe living environment, the vandalism stopped. These tenants have integrated well and are enjoying the newer and safer building.”
The first residential building is scheduled to open for leasing at the end of July as construction continues across the remainder of the redevelopment.
About the Author
Rodney Bosch
Editor-in-Chief/SecurityInfoWatch.com
Rodney Bosch is the Editor-in-Chief of SecurityInfoWatch.com. He has covered the security industry since 2006 for multiple major security publications. Reach him at [email protected].