Smart City Developers

Part
01
of three
Part
01

Smart City Developers: Part I

Two real estate companies that are working on smart cities in the United States are L.C. Fulenwider and LStar Ventures. L.C. Fulenwider is developing Pena Station Next in Denver, Colorado, and LStar Ventures is working on a smart city called Union Point in Boston.

L.C. FULENWIDER

  • Fulenwider is committed to bringing fresh ideas to Colorado and ushering in "what's next" for the real estate industry. By hiring forward-thinking professionals, Fulenwider serves as one of the transformative developers in Denver, and it focuses on creating projects that stand the test of time.
  • L.C. Fulenwider's emphasis is on sustainable developments, and the company is committed to applying the latest real estate development practices.
  • Fulenwider is now developing a smart city called Pena Station Next in collaboration with Panasonic's CityNow.
  • They are planning to construct the smart city on 400 acres of land near the Denver International Airport in Denver, Colorado.
  • The Pena Station Next smart city project will cost about $500 million, and it is scheduled to be fully functional in ten to twelve years.
  • The project will include around 500,000 square feet of retail space, 1.5 million square feet of office space, and 2,500 residences. This space will also serve as a base for exotic tech installations.
  • Every installation on this project, including parking meters and parking, will be fully connected to the internet.
  • The cameras and sensors embedded in the landscape will transmit data to the project managers and facilitate the ability to control various installations through cloud-based apps.
  • A solar canopy will be installed in the parking space, then linked to a microgrid for electricity supply. The solar canopy will also transform Pena Station Next into an energy producer.
  • Residents and workers will receive transportation between their homes and offices through on-demand robotic shuttles.
  • An array of high-end sensors will monitor traffic density, pedestrian count, and environmental conditions. The gadgets will also monitor the temperatures beneath roads when it's snowing, and this data will be used to help transport crew to operate quickly and efficiently.
  • The lighting system can dim the intensity when the moon is bright or during late-night hours when there are fewer people on the streets, saving energy. It will also send alerts to the management team whenever there is a power outage.

LSTAR VENTURES

  • Since its inception in 2007, LStar has developed more than 40 environmentally conscious properties across 13 states in the United States.
  • While LStar Ventures enjoys financial stability and owns various master-planned real estate projects, they value healthy partnerships that respect the environment and the community.
  • The North Carolina-based LStar takes pride in being innovative by prioritizing visionary planning and exceptional performance, as well as integrity.
  • LStar Ventures is working on developing a smart city called Union Point in collaboration with General electric, who will provide technical support.
  • Union Point will be connected to a grid that will be partly powered by solar power while the roads, streets, and garages will be developed to suit autonomous vehicles.
  • High-tech sensors will be installed on the landscape to monitor light, sound, and environmental factors to gather big data that will optimize Union Point's overall operations.
  • The infrastructure will use a cloud-based app from General Electric called Predix, and Union Point managers will be able to receive feedback from the sensors and take necessary actions.
  • The data collected from the sensors embedded in the landscape will be crucial in helping drivers navigate traffic, but it will also be used to alert law enforcement agencies if a firearm is fired.

RESEARCH STRATEGY

Our research began by consulting online publications for relevant press releases, news media, and articles discussing real estate companies working to develop smart cities in the United States. Fortunately, we found the requested information, and we were able to identify real estate companies developing smart cities in the country.
Part
02
of three
Part
02

Smart City Developers: Part II

Two real estate companies that are working on smart cities in the United States are Kitson and Partners and Weller Development. Kitson and Partners is developing Babcock Ranch in Florida and Weller Development is working on a smart city called Port Covington in Baltimore.

KITSON AND PARTNERS


PROJECT DETAILS

WELLER DEVELOPMENT

  • Headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, Weller Development is a full-service real estate development firm that offers a range of expertise and experiences for all stages of development.
  • Weller Development works in partnership with investors in creating small and large scale development projects that can transform cities.
  • Weller Development is working on the development of the smart city, Port Covington, that is considered as one of the country's largest urban revitalization project.

PROJECT DETAILS



Part
03
of three
Part
03

Smart City Developers: Part III

Brandywine Realty Trust and WeWork have been identifies as real estate companies that are working on smart cities in the United States. In the case of Brandywine, they have already completed a community park in the Schuylkill Yards Development. In the case of WeWork, they have plans to enter the smart city industry and have already engaged former Waze and Google executive Di-Ann Eisnor to head that initiative.

BRANDYWINE REALTY TRUST

Brief Overview

  • The company is one of the largest, full service, publicly traded, cohesive real estate companies in the United States of America. Its focus in the Philadelphia, Washington, and Austin areas. The organization owns, develops, manages, and leases a variety of urban and transit-oriented developments.
  • The main purpose of Brandywine Realty Trust is to inspire, shape, and connect the world through their expertise. They were presented with the NAIOP’s Developer of the Year Award, which is one of the highest honors in the real estate industry.
  • In 2015, in an attempt to provide effective transportation and support smart urban development, the company partnered with TransitScreen in Philadelphia, to offer real-time, location-based public transportation throughout the day.
  • These displays promote sustainable urban mobility by giving citizens access to real-time information. They save both time and money and offers a maintainable transportation demand management (TDM) tool for large employers and transit-oriented development.
  • They were the first installments in the Philadelphia region.

Smart City Example

WEWORK

Brief Overview

  • WeWork, real estate company, started in 2010 intending to create beautiful shared office spaces and communities.
  • The company has a team of leaders, creators, and self-starters that constantly try new things and challenge conventions.
  • The company is a subsidiary of the We Company and currently has more than 425 coworking spaces in over 100 cities.
  • Recently, the company expressed its interest in expanding into offering Smart Cities. This will be made possible through a smart cities initiative that it is rolling out.

Smart City Examples

RESEARCH STRATEGY

To find information for this research, we first looked for smart cities in the United States. This led us to a variety of web pages that listed some United States smart cities. We tried from these lists to find information on which real estate company was responsible for the cities’ developments. This proved to be successful.

After discovering IBM Smarter Cities and Brandywine Realty Trust, we sought to get more information on their role in the cities’ development. We searched a variety of news platforms, blogs, and company websites. For Brandywine Realty Trust, a wide range of information was found on its involvement in the development of Smart Cities. However, for IBM Smarter Cities the information was there, but limited. We found the information on the MOVEPGH foundation from the company’s website and other news platforms on blogs. They gave a general overview of the plan and its development; they did not provide this information in detail.

Did this report spark your curiosity?

Sources
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From Part 01
Quotes
  • "In Denver, Peña Station Next is an attempt to apply that same logic across an entire community. As Panasonic’s Karayannis explains, the development is a bigger, more advanced,"
  • "Already, one of the Peña Station Next development’s buildings has been completed—the gleaming, solar-powered 112,500-square-foot (10,500 sq m) edifice that houses Panasonic Enterprise Solutions’ operations and technology center. In the streets, workers are installing the wirelessly controlled light-emitting diode (LED) streetlights that will illuminate the mixed-use complex, providing as much as a 70 percent energy savings over conventional lampposts."
Quotes
  • "The company is now building "smart city" infrastructure near Denver, Colorado, with the goal of turning the area into a "smart city" by 2026."
Quotes
  • "The lights adjust automatically depending on time and light level, Government Technology reports, which saves energy, but could also be used to harbor 5G wireless equipment, cameras, sensors or other technologies. Free Wi-Fi, pollution sensors, cameras and a solar-powered micro-grid are a few of the other smart city features"
Quotes
  • "We strive to create communities that are prosperous, healthy and beautiful… and are viewed with the same admiration 100 years from now as they are today."
Quotes
  • "Still, LStar is pushing ahead with the smart city, called Union Point. Plans include thousands of housing units and millions of square feet of high-tech commercial space on about 1,500 acres that extend into the neighboring towns of Rockland and Abington. The community’s glass towers, public plazas, clustered housing, scattered parks and retail zones will be contained within 500 acres, leaving the rest as dedicated open space."
  • "LStar, based in Raleigh, N.C., has enlisted General Electric as its partner. Because they are starting from scratch, Mr. Corkum said, the companies can embed smart technology into the energy, water, lighting and transportation systems that will serve the community."
Quotes
  • "The developer is partnering with technology giant General Electric in a plan to build a small smart city virtually from scratch, one that will incorporate an array of innovations into one coherent system. Union Point will have a smart grid that in part will use solar energy, streets and garages designed with autonomous vehicles in mind, and an array of sensors embedded into the landscape"
Quotes
  • "Kyle Corkum, CEO of LStar Ventures, told StateScoop that he had to google the definition of “smart city” 18 months ago. Since then, Corkum said, more than $200 million has been invested in the 2,000-person community’s infrastructure — with another $100 million scheduled this year. "
Quotes
  • "All of the buildings will feature smart technology and be LEED-certified, and the community will run completely on renewable energy by 2050."
  • "GE will install smart streetlights complete with sensors that can track sound, light and other environmental conditions. City planners will be able to analyze that data using apps running on Predix, GE’s cloud-based platform for the industrial internet."