Dive Brief:
- Development team 22 CityLink has released new renderings of the 16.8-acre Gramercy District smart city under development in Loudon County, VA, according to the Washington Business Journal.
- Reverse-auction platform FedBid has also joined the development team, and will provide design-build crews with access to commodity items and common services as a time and resource saving initiative.
- The $500 million Gramercy District build-out is intended to provide a replicable model for sustainable smart-city development across the U.S.
Dive Insight:
Backed by Washington, DC investment firm Revolution Growth (which counts Zipcar and LivingSocial among its portfolio), FedBid is the latest high profile project partner to join the Gramercy District development team. In August, Tishman Construction joined with Virginia-based TRINITY Construction to build out the development in Ashburn, VA, with phase one expected to be complete by 2018. George Washington University, the Center for Innovative Technology and Microsoft will helm the technology components of the development.
Even as smart cities aim to be highly specialized from both a sustainability and technology standpoint, 22 CityLink aims for Gramercy District to be replicable as a "smart city in a box" blueprint for similar projects across the country. As smart city development interest grows, technologists are following suit with purpose-built energy and connectivity systems. In November, Bedford, NY-based Totem Power revealed its eponymous platform combining solar plus storage, Wi-Fi and 4G communications hubs, electric vehicle charging and smart lighting into a post-modern innovation on the streetlight that can be installed directly onto smart city streets.
