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Landmark At Broad And Callowhill Is Home To The Internet

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Talk about a re-invention: a landmark building in Philadelphia's Callowhill neighborhood survived the industrial decline and now plays a significant role in the Information Age.

Behind the art deco facade, 401 N. Broad Street is a carrier hotel -- not a place for you to get a room for the night, but instead where the Internet lives.

"It's a data center building that specializes in interconnecting different networks to voice and data traffic can efficiently go from the sender to the receiver," explains Jerry Marshall.

His company, Amerimar Enterprises, purchased the property two years ago, and so far has spent about $55 million -- from a budget of $70 million -- on improvements, inside and out. Customers include internet service providers, web hosting and streaming companies...really anything that connects to the web.

"To get competitive service, to get low latency, to get the bandwidth that you're looking for, it's important to have one of these buildings in close proximity to you," Marshall says.

A big draw of 401 N. Broad, he says, is its direct access to fiber data lines that span the Atlantic Ocean.

Less than a third of the 1.3 million square feet operated by Netrality Properties remains up for grabs.

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