One camera system for the shop below and the homes above.
Ground-floor retail or a restaurant, apartments upstairs, a shared lobby and service entrances used by different people around the clock. We install wired PoE cameras on one recorder for buildings where commercial and residential uses share an address, without running conduit through finished tenant spaces.
Each party gets its own login, limited to its own cameras. The owner keeps the master account.
One address, several stakeholders, a pre-war shell.
A bodega on the ground floor, a medical office on the second and co-op apartments above: a real installation challenge that needs planning before a single cable is pulled.
Zoning the system by use
Commercial tenants, residential floors and shared common areas often answer to different people: a landlord, a retail tenant, a co-op board. We set up camera zones on the recorder so each party sees only the footage that concerns them, without compromising tenant privacy or lease obligations.
Pre-war construction
Thick plaster, terracotta tile, original tin ceilings and old cast-iron conduit. We route low-voltage cable through existing pathways and risers where possible, keeping core drilling to a minimum and protecting the historic finishes tenants and boards care about.
Round-the-clock traffic
A bar on the ground floor and apartments above means the lobby camera has to perform at 2 AM as well as at noon. We specify strong low-light or IR performance for the entrances and corridors residents use after the shops close.
Every entry point
A residential lobby door, a separate storefront entrance, a service or freight entrance and a rear yard gate. Each one is a gap if the layout misses it, so we map every entry during the site assessment.
Recorder placement and network
The recorder usually lives in the basement utility room or the super's closet, not in a tenant space. We pick the spot with the super or property manager, make sure it is ventilated, and give the cameras their own network segment instead of a retail tenant's Wi-Fi.
Fire-rated floors and walls
Cable that crosses between commercial and residential floors often passes through fire-rated floors. Every penetration we make through a fire-rated wall or floor is fire-stopped. We use existing risers wherever we can.
Tie into the building system, or stand alone?
Both work. The owner and the tenant decide; we lay out the trade-offs before we start.
Tied in: one recorder, no competing systems. The tenant logs in to their own cameras, and the owner keeps master access.
Stand alone: a separate recorder in the tenant space, under the tenant's full control. We lay out both options before we start.
What we install in mixed-use buildings.
Every component is wired: PoE cameras on Cat6 runs to one central recorder, with no dependency on tenant Wi-Fi or consumer cloud subscriptions.
Lobby and residential entrance cameras
Wide or varifocalCoverage of the residential lobby door, the intercom station and the mailboxes, with face-level detail for tenant safety and package theft.
Storefront and sidewalk cameras
Exterior · weatherproofMounted above the commercial entrances to cover the sidewalk apron, the roll-down gate and any sidewalk ATM or outdoor seating, in housings built for NYC winters.
Shared hallways and stairwells
Every landingA camera on every residential landing and stairwell. It matters most where delivery workers and commercial vendors can reach the upper floors.
Freight and service entrances
DeliveriesBasement service entries, freight elevators and rear access points that take deliveries for the shops and the apartments all day.
Roof and courtyard
Trespass pointsRear courtyards, roof hatches and shared outdoor space: common trespass points in Brooklyn and Manhattan buildings with several roof bulkheads.
Recorder and remote viewing
Separate credentialsA rack-mounted recorder in the utility room or super's closet, with remote viewing for the property manager, the owner and any commercial tenant with their own zone, each on separate credentials.
From building walk to separate logins.
We coordinate with the property manager, the super and the commercial tenants, so every stakeholder is heard before design starts.
Site assessment
We walk the building with the property manager or super. We find every entry point, document existing conduit pathways, note fire-rated walls and floors, and confirm where the recorder will live. Commercial tenant requests are captured here.
Layout and design
A camera plan showing coverage by occupancy: commercial, residential common areas and exterior, with camera specs and recorder sizing. You see exactly what is covered, and we flag anything about the building that affects the scope, before any cable is pulled.
Wired PoE install
Cat6 from each camera to the recorder through existing riser chases, conduit or surface raceway where needed. Every penetration through a fire-rated wall or floor is fire-stopped. Cameras are aimed and tested for overlap and IR before walls and ceilings are closed.
Configuration and handoff
Separate accounts for the owner, the property manager and any tenant with their own zone. Remote viewing on phones and tablets, retention confirmed, and a walkthrough of playback and clip export with whoever runs the system day to day.
Mixed-use building cameras, answered.
RFI log · requests for information
RFI-MU1Can the building owner and a commercial tenant both have access to cameras, but only to their own areas?
Yes. Modern recorders support role-based user accounts with camera-level permissions. The building owner or property manager gets a master account with full visibility. A ground-floor retail tenant, for example, can have a separate login that shows only the cameras inside their leased space and the entrance serving their storefront. Residential floors and common areas stay restricted. We set this up when we configure the recorder and document the account structure for the property manager.
RFI-MU2Do we need a DOB permit to install cameras in a mixed-use building?
Camera cabling is low-voltage work and does not need a DOB electrical permit. Running cable between a commercial ground floor and the residential floors above usually means passing through fire-rated floors, and every penetration we make through a fire-rated wall or floor is fire-stopped. We map those assemblies during the site visit and use existing risers wherever we can.
RFI-MU3The building has a commercial tenant on the ground floor who wants their own separate camera system. Can we tie it into the building-wide system instead?
Yes, if the owner and the tenant agree. Tying in avoids duplicate cabling and competing systems: the tenant gets a login limited to their own cameras, and the owner keeps master access. If the tenant is on a long-term lease and wants full control, we can install a separate recorder in their space as a standalone system instead. We lay out both options and the trade-offs so the owner and tenant can decide before we start.
RFI-MU4How do you handle cabling in a pre-war building where the walls are plaster and lath?
We plan for it from the first visit. Before pulling cable, we look for existing riser chases, old telephone conduit and utility pathways we can reuse, to avoid unnecessary core drilling through plaster and tile. Where surface raceway is the cleanest answer, usually in basement corridors or above drop ceilings, we use metal or paintable PVC raceway. In finished spaces where looks matter, we fish cable through walls using existing openings and coordinate any minor patching with building management. We do not cut first and figure it out later.
RFI-MU5Can residential tenants in the building see the lobby camera footage?
That is a policy decision for the building owner or co-op board, and we can set the system up either way. Some buildings give residents live view of the lobby camera only, so they can see who is buzzing before they release the door. Others keep all camera access with building management. We set up accounts and permissions to match. What we will not do is set up a system where camera access is uncontrolled, or where tenants can see floors or spaces that are not their own.
RFI-MU6How much footage storage do we need for a mixed-use building with 12 to 15 cameras?
For 12 to 15 cameras recording continuously at 1080p, plan on roughly 8 to 16 TB of recorder storage for 30 days of footage, which leaves time to find an incident that is reported late. We size storage from your camera count, resolution, frame rate and how many cameras record on motion instead of continuously. Busy commercial areas like a storefront or lobby usually warrant continuous recording; stairwells and utility areas can record on motion to save space. We set this during design, so you are not buying more hardware than you need.
Camera systems for every commercial building in NYC.
Ready to cover your mixed-use building?
We walk the building with your super or property manager, map every entry point and deliver a system design before we pull a cable. Planned for NYC construction.