Smart Cities- Smart Campuses- Smart Houses
The Smart Cities- Smart Campuses- Smart Houses initiatives have seen significant technical interest and research funding from a diversified community of federal, state, and city agencies. In 2016, the City of Columbus partnered with Ohio State University and other entities to compete against 77 other cities to win the Smart Cities Challenge organized by the US Department of Transportation. Columbus received $40 million in grants from DoT and $10 million from Vulcan Inc. This initiative will help Columbus City to drive economic growth by creating better access to jobs and improve the quality of life to ensure a sustainable future. With the presence of world-renowned institutions like Johns Hopkins University, University of Maryland, and Morgan State University, the State of Maryland and Baltimore City have a unique opportunity to drive an effort to become the “Silicon Valley” of Smart Cities- Smart Campuses- Smart Houses. The Smart Cities Council declared Baltimore a winner of the 2019 Smart Cities Readiness Challenge. Baltimore City with an approximate 600,000 population of which 62.7% are African American, has long battled with high crime rates, crumbling housing, aging infrastructure, and economic inequality. Being the largest city in the State of Maryland, Baltimore has always remained in the center of all economic efforts of the State. Its close proximity to the Capitol often draws a lot of attention from the federal government to participate in its effort to address some of the systemic problems that have long held back the city from becoming economically stable and self-sufficient. Riggle is leading an effort to bring together different stakeholders to jointly launch efforts to foster Smart Cities- Smart Campuses- Smart Houses. COVID-19 put us into a new reality, and we believe that the future generation Cities, Campuses, and Houses will look distinctly different. Intuitive technologies will transform our lives in ways that we cannot imagine. To stay relevant in this era of technological advancement, Cities, Universities, and Businesses are embracing new technologies and investing resources as a part of this technological revolution. Located in Baltimore, Riggle Capital (RC) is focused on real estate development and investments. Riggle has a history of partnering with city, state, and federal agencies who have committed funding to numerous projects. These projects have included the neighborhoods of Canton, Brewer's Hill, Patterson Park, and Johns Hopkins, promoting neighborhood revitalization and economic growth in Baltimore City. Riggle Capital transactions include concept building, evaluating financial performance, forming public-private partnerships, and raising capital. Capital stacks include new market tax credits, federal historic tax credits, state historic tax credits, grants, equity, and debt financing. RC has completed over $300 million in residential and commercial development. RC is the co-developer of the Hoen Lithograph Building, a $36 million historic commercial restoration in East Baltimore, near Johns Hopkins Hospital. In Henderson Crossing, a $17 million, 53-unit residential development project, RC brought together multiple developers, lenders, investors, and partners, increasing human capital and investment dollars. Through these projects, RC came to the realization that houses must offer more amenities to meet the growing demand of the aging population and millennials. RC aims to build houses that will provide features such as energy-efficient utility system, telehealth, blood pressure & heartbeat monitoring systems, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence to detect any danger & send alerts to the residents. RC aims to build Smart Houses as interactive to our living experience as the smartphone. RC is a leader in deal structuring, financial modeling, and complex fiscal management. RC is leading a $45 million New Market Tax Credit (NMTC) transaction which is being funded by the State of Maryland, City of Baltimore, US Bank, and the Neighborhood Impact Investment Fund for residential affordable ‘for-sale’ housing. RC has brought numerous developers into the transaction and is leading the effort to attract NMTCs, city, state, federal, and private lenders. These residential development sites can serve as sites to conduct research on smart housing technologies and provide the opportunity to test and implement advanced technologies. RC is focused on collaboration among communities to build Smart Cities, Smart Campuses, and Smart Houses that will use AI to ensure smooth mobility throughout the cities, lead efforts using smart technologies, and offer enhanced living experiences. RC believes this effort needs to have constant attention and the full and complete collaboration between researchers and businesses. RC is looking for partners to collaborate with to create “Smart Cities- Smart Campuses- Smart Houses”. RC is also open to jointly launch projects and apply for grants to conduct research related to Smart Cities- Smart Campuses- Smart Houses.
A framework to connect Smart Cities- Smart Campuses- Smart Houses
We believe by embracing Smart Cities- Smart Campuses- Smart Houses strategy, organizations can ensure their sustainability and enhance the experience of the stakeholders, users, and the surrounding communities where they coexist.