Unisys Wires Sheraton Manhattan In 5 Days, Transforming Guestrooms Into Office Space

NEW YORK— Unisys, a technology solutions provider for the hospitality industry, committed major resources to the Sheraton Manhattan here to wire its 650 guestrooms with high-speed Internet access the week of Sept. 17 in order to get them ready for investment banking firm Lehman Brothers Holdings, which reportedly rented the rooms out as makeshift office space. According to several recent news articles, Lehman Brothers Holdings, which was driven from its quarters across the street from the World Trade Center, is taking over the Sheraton Manhattan, giving its investment bankers a place to work. It is unknown just how long the firm will be working out of the hotel. Earlier this week, mattresses from the Sheraton lined the streets just outside the building, as some 1,500 investment-banking employees began setting up temporary offices. Two security guards posted at the hotel’s entrance reportedly barred the public from entering. Meanwhile, loads of tech crews from Unisys, or outsourced by Unisys, worked several shift per day to wire the entire hotel with a broadband network using existing phone lines— a task which usually takes weeks or months. The process began Monday, Sept. 17, just a few business days after the attacks on the World Trade Center. It is slated for completion Sept. 21. “We had some teams already in New York and also had some people on retainer, so we were able to move and get started very quickly,” said Mike DiLeva, worldwide director/hospitality practice for Unisys. “Now, our doors are being beaten down by several [lodging]companies which are interested in doing something similar,” he noted. Unisys, a Blue Bell, PA-based e-solutions company, currently has a team of eight employees in various project management roles at the Sheraton Manhattan, in addition to a number of subcontractors, working on the installation. Executives at Unisys said at least five other hotels have shown interest in getting guestrooms wired and ready for use as office space in light of the lack of business space in Manhattan due to the loss of the World Trade Center Sept. 11. “We expect to [wire]another five properties next week,” said DiLeva, who noted, “We’re just doing our share to get New York up and running.” DiLeva said Unisys sent two additional executives, via train, to New York City to handle additional projects. “We’ll commit resources there indefinitely. Our chairman issued a corporate mandate that said projects in New York take precedence right now.” DiLeva said Unisys is close to inking a dial with a major hotel chain in which it will provide high-speed Internet access. He would not say which chain, however. He did explain one of the major challenges in wiring the New York hotels is getting the tools and equipment. And while the companies who want to use the space for their offices are absorbing much of the cost for the Internet installation, Unisys said it is not charging more for the rush job, in fact, standard time and materials are being charged, said DiLeva.