Securing a mile of D.C. waterfront: how The Wharf protects millions of visitors with Kastle

About The Wharf

The Wharf is a mile-long, mixed-use waterfront destination on Washington, D.C.’s Southwest waterfront, developed by Hoffman-Marquette. The property combines retail, multifamily residential, office, and entertainment space, delivered in two phases: Phase I opened in 2017, and Phase II followed in 2022. Today it draws nearly 12 million visitors a year, including large signature events such as the Cherry Blossom Festival and the annual Parade of Lighted Boats.

The challenge

The Wharf’s security had to be operational from day one, before the developer even knew who the tenants would be.

That created a demanding set of requirements. Site security needed access to every common area, while individual tenants needed their own view into the cameras covering their own space, without standing up separate, duplicate systems. Space was also at a premium: traditional video surveillance infrastructure eats into square footage the developer wanted to lease out, so the security footprint had to stay as light as possible. With 220 cameras across the property, there was no realistic way to have staff monitoring every feed around the clock. The system needed to flag issues on its own. On top of all that, footage needed to be easy to share with outside agencies like the police and Coast Guard when incidents occurred.

The solution

Kastle built a system that met each of those requirements at once. A single video wall in the command center can be configured through a web browser, including remotely, giving security staff a unified view without requiring every camera to route through one rigid, on-site system.

AI-driven video analytics act as a force multiplier. Officers can patrol in the field instead of sitting in front of monitors, because the system surfaces footage automatically based on triggering events, such as loitering in a particular area, rather than requiring constant human review. The cameras themselves are compact 4-megapixel day/night units, capturing high-detail color footage even after dark, without the bulky footprint of older systems.

Because the platform is cloud-managed, on-site infrastructure needs are minimal. Equipment fits into existing network closets rather than requiring dedicated security rooms, giving The Wharf the functionality of an enterprise system without sacrificing rentable space. The system also monitors its own health, checking for faults and notifying technicians proactively, so problems get caught before they become gaps in coverage.

The outcome

According to Diane Groomes, director of security and public safety at The Wharf and a 27-year veteran of the Metropolitan Police Department, including as assistant chief, the property has not had a single violent incident, robbery, or felony assault since the system went live. That holds true even as the site draws 50,000 to 75,000 visitors for signature events like the Cherry Blossom Festival and the annual holiday Parade of Lighted Boats.

When investigations are needed, Kastle’s CloudVMS search functionality lets staff pinpoint the exact moment an incident occurred in a fraction of the time older systems required. That means no incident goes uninvestigated, not just the most severe ones. Groomes, who has used a range of CCTV platforms over her career, says Kastle’s ease of use lets her check in on the system multiple times a day, including remotely from home or her phone.