FLASH, a cloud-enabled parking software provider, today announced its strategic partnership with real estate investment management firm Brookfield, according to a press release.
The partnership involves a $40 million investment from Brookfield, aimed to improve the tenant experience by utilizing FLASH’s electric vehicle solutions and connected mobility for its residents. These technologies are used in more than 15,000 locations across cities in the U.S. and Canada.
The partnership will also transform the real estate industry into one which uses clean energy, according to Josh Raffaelli, Brookfield’s managing partner. As more tenants seek a unique and seamless experience, the alliance will use digital technologies like “machine-vision, real-time parking and electric vehicle charging reservations, convenient mobile payments,” among other tools to deliver that experience.
The technologies can be accessed by any tenant who has a smartphone or through a car dashboard, owing to FLASH’s partnership with automobile makers, as observed by Dan Sharplin, chairman and CEO of the organization.
“We have the parking technology to address every use case in the paid parking world,” Sharplin told Commercial Observer. “That includes everything from a local valet stand, to a surface lot, to a large event venue like a giant stadium or Madison Square Garden.”
Sharplin added that the company’s software integrates into a digital network that provides information for all stakeholders. This includes an inventory on monthly parkers, residents, transient parkers or people seeking EV charging. Most customers who require this inventory are “large asset owners and managers, and parking operators,” he said.
FLASH will collaborate with industry professionals in automaking, entertainment and hospitality, mapping, navigation and payment platforms to reach its goal of connecting real estate and customer demands, as per the release.
“The dynamic nature of the communities that we build, own and invest in, like in downtown Nashville or D.C., require a flexible technology platform to maximize the value of multi-use real estate,” Raffaelli said. “It needs to seamlessly deliver and integrate a variety of journeys and provide the support to tenants and customers who drive utilization of these constantly evolving hubs.”
In April FLASH acquired Ticketech, a valet parking technology company based in New York City, using its Mobility Hub Operating System to connect its network of customers to the city’s $22 billion dollar parking industry.
“FLASH’s best-in-class mobility hub operating system will allow Brookfield to integrate our investments in real estate, construction, infrastructure, and climate technology that are leading the transformation toward smarter, connected cities,” Raffaelli said.
There are other companies in the space like Xeal, which works in the EV charging and smart technology space. It uses patented technology to provide these charging infrastructures in multifamily properties with high end renters.
“Every new development is putting in EV charging,” Chris Moreno, Xeal’s VP of Real Estate and Channel Partnerships, told FinLedger. “There’s so many mandates now for new construction that they have to have a certain number of EV spots. They have a certain percent, whether it’s 15% or 20% that are already wired ready to go and then about 80% that are ready. It all depends by state, but we help teams with that.”
In other recent proptech news, pet policy management platform PetScreening integrated with property management firm ResMan. In other proptech news, TruAmerica Multifamily acquired 1,500 apartment units in Florida, Phoenix and Ohio.