Brookfield to deploy self-driving vehicles at new Virginia development

Real estate firm Brookfield Properties plans to launch a $1.4 billion development in Reston, VA—and that’s just beginning. 
 
The company also announced it will deploy Optimus Ride’s self-driving cars at the office park where it will launch the new development. The vehicles will be unveiled in June at One Reston Crescent and Two Reston Crescent—the two current office buildings where Brookfield is planning its 3.5 million square foot mixed-use project. 
 
“Brookfield is constantly exploring innovations that can improve the experience of our tenants,” Brookfield Executive Vice President Greg Meyer said in a statement. “We are excited to engage with Optimus Ride to deploy this program in an effort to increase mobility and add convenience for our tenants in their day-to-day lives.” 
 
The on-demand, self-driving vehicles will transport tenants from the office buildings to nearby parking lots and won’t leave the Brookfield-owned property. Tenants will be able to use both Optimus Ride’s reservation system and on-demand ride services. An on-site operations team will actively monitor the fleet service and provide maintenance, cleaning, charging and updating the self-driving fleet. After the initial rollout, the program could expand after Brookfield finishes the new buildings.  
 
The self-driving vehicle rollout serves as another example of the type of amenities commercial real estate owners can offer their tenants with the strong, reliable wireless coverage that will be necessary for these cars to operate on Brookfield’s property. 
 
“We are pleased to announce our partnership with Brookfield, the world’s leading real estate developer,” Optimus Ride CEO and co-founder Ryan Chin said in a statement. “We will deploy our self-driving system at Brookfield’s Halley Rise location this summer to provide users with autonomous mobility access between office buildings as we continue to scale our business. In the future, we will advance our partnership by deploying our self-driving systems at additional Brookfield sites around the world.” 
 
The project, “Halley Rise” is expected to comprise 1,500 residential units, 1.5 million square feet of office space, 250 square feet of retail and five acres of open space, along with new public streets. Wegmans grocery store will be the project’s retail anchor. Construction is scheduled to begin in the middle of 2019, with the first phase completion expected in 2022. The entire development is expected to be complete by 2026.