Panasonic Invests in Denver NEXT Smart City Developer

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Peña Station NEXT is a 400-acre, transit-oriented development destined to become a model smart, sustainable mixed-use community. It is located near 61st & Peña Station along the new University of Colorado A Line train route connecting downtown Denver with Denver International Airport (DIA). The Rail Stop land comprises 154 acres of Peña Station NEXT and includes the newly constructed and recently opened operations hub of Panasonic Enterprise Solutions Company. The Panasonic investment is a joint venture with LC Fulenwider, Inc., the master developer of Peña Station NEXT.

The live/work/play community includes“live, work, play” include: a solar-plus-storage microgrid; smart LED street lights with video analytics and other features for community safety and parking; electric vehicle charging stations; autonomous electric shuttles within the transit-oriented development and to and from the rail station; and community wi-fi.

“Panasonic is much more than the anchor corporate tenant at Peña Station NEXT,” said Jarrett Wendt, Executive Vice President of strategic initiatives at Panasonic Enterprise Solutions Company. “This is our home, and this strategic investment is a testament to our commitment to make that home one of the smartest and most sustainable new developments in the country. In partnership with LC Fulenwider, the progressive City and County of Denver, Denver International Airport, and our other key partners, we expect to put Peña Station NEXT on the national and global map.”

Cal Fulenwider, III, CEO of LC Fulenwider, said, “Peña Station NEXT is raising the bar for real estate development in the United States by utilizing clean, smart, connected, and sustainable technologies as the basis of our master plan.”

In December 2014, Panasonic announced it would consolidate the operations of Panasonic Enterprise Solutions in Denver, including operations for Panasonic CityNOW, which brings Panasonic’s global smart city expertise to North America. The announcement launched a collaboration among the City and County of Denver, DIA, LC Fulenwider, Xcel Energy, Panasonic, and other major stakeholders. The epicenter for that collaboration has become Peña Station NEXT, a global smart city showcase inspired by Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town, a Panasonic-led smart and sustainable development in Fujisawa, Japan, about 30 miles southwest of Tokyo.

Panasonic Enterprise Solutions, a technology and solar subsidiary of Panasonic Corp., was previously based in Newark, N.J. By 2018 the company estimates that it will have some 350 employees at the new Denver operations hub. The first building within the developing operations complex opened September 12.

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