The Plaza Riviera professional building in Redondo Beach, Calif. was built in 1989 and is located just 20 miles southwest of Los Angeles and minutes from LAX. In addition to office space, the Plaza Riviera includes storage spaces, underground parking with approximately 200 vehicle spaces, and the famous Chez Melange restaurant, Bouzy’s Gastro Pub and Sacks Cafe.

Situated in a busy business district just a couple blocks from the beach, the Plaza Riviera experienced many common problems including transients camping on the property, vandalism, vehicle theft in the parking garage and property damage in the public areas of the building. Unauthorized dumping in dumpsters on the property resulted in thousands of dollars in overcharges every year with no way to recoup the cost. The Plaza Riviera previously paid for a security company to patrol the property and perform security checks, but they rarely caught anyone in the act.

The building investors previously selected an OpenEye hybrid solution for one of their other commercial properties to retrofit the existing analog camera installation and add IP cameras. They appreciated the ease-of-use and convenience OpenEye Web Services offered and selected to install it at the Plaza Riviera as well. The installation included multiple NVRs and IP cameras throughout the structure to gain complete coverage of the internal common areas and building perimeter.

The cameras are actively monitored from Command Station on-site at the Plaza Riviera but the property management company also accesses video remotely using OpenEye Web Service’s (OWS) web client and OpenEye mobile app. As the property management group has multiple sites throughout the city, they are often dealing with incidents and needing to manage the property from off site. Single sign-on through OWS makes it easy for them to provide remote video access and keep their accounts secure with multi-factor authentication. This ensures secure access to search and live video whenever they need it, regardless of their location.

The system is quickly helping to pay for itself by replacing the high cost of a security patrol service, allowing property managers to monitor the Plaza Riviera common areas, exterior and parking structure and identify individuals that caused damage to the property and recoup the cost for repairs. The property managers have also been able to identify and appropriately bill tenants for unauthorized dumping in the dumpsters.

Using OWS to save video clips, they can document incidents and save video evidence to the cloud for future review and to share with law enforcement. “Most tenants, vendors and visitors at the building notice the cameras which seems to bring out people’s best behavior knowing their actions are being recorded,” said Jeff Ginsburg, president, Pike Properties.

“We have greatly benefited from the time and cost savings OpenEye’s video solution have provided us,” Ginsburg said. “Not only has it helped us more efficiently manage our property and reduce our facilities costs, but it also helped make our building and surrounding areas safer for tenants and the surrounding community.”

Most importantly, the cameras at the Plaza Riviera have created a safer environment in and around the property as well as for the community. Multiple incidents have been captured on video in the underground parking and storage spaces which then were turned over to police resulting in the thieves being located, arrested, and in some cases those responsible paid the costs to repair the damage.

“The police and the surrounding community are aware of our camera system and so we have been able to assist them with videos of incidents occurring around the building, at community events, in public parking spaces surrounding the building and we have even captured some major traffic collisions,” Ginsburg said. “For sure this system was well worth its cost and has made things better for everybody.”