CBRE and EV charging station company SemaConnect announced Nov. 4 they had completed the largest installation of charging stations in the country: 1,128 completed for Electrify America (EA). That’s the organization formed by VW in the wake of its emissions scandal to invest $2 billion over a 10-year period in zero-emission vehicle infrastructure, education, and access. We offered exclusive insight into its location strategy for that infrastructure in this September 2017 report, which noted EA’s first charging station installation in D.C.
The U.S. saw an 86% increase in EV car sales in 2017-2018, according to BloombergNEF, and by 2040, it’s expected over 30% of the global passenger vehicle fleet will be electric. CBRE’s Program Management business managed program planning, site selection, procurement, site preparation, landlord approvals, permitting, installation, activation and closeout at 215 workplace and apartment buildings across 15 metros in 11 states and Washington, D.C.
At Site Selection’s request, CBRE provided the breakout below. Four California cities accounted for 312 (27%) of the total installed stations, reflecting the state’s continuing progress in building out a mega-regional mobility ecosystem. The CBRE/SemaConnect program for EA does not include Atlanta and the Twin Cities (something against Delta Airlines hubs?), which ranked No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, in another measure of sustainability, the office buildings section of the Green Building Adoption Index released by CBRE, Maastricht University and the University of Guelph Oct. 31.
Market
Total Units
Total Multifamily
Total Workplace
Seattle
226
30
196
San Jose
126
84
42
San Francisco
104
50
54
Miami
96
24
72
Washington, D.C.
95
19
76
Houston
84
12
72
Portland
84
18
66
Denver
70
20
50
Los Angeles
70
70
0
Chicago
68
22
46
New York City
42
42
0
San Diego
26
26
0
Philadelphia
14
4
10
Fresno
12
12
0
Boston
11
11
0
TOTAL
1,128
PROJECT WATCH
UNITED KINGDOM
On November 11, Morris Site Machinery began construction on its new facility in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom. The $7.8 million investment will result in a 60,000-sq.-ft. factory which will include office space. Morris has four bases in the West Midlands, Kent, Lincolnshire and Scotland. Staffordshire, only three miles from one of those sites, will allow it to retain its skilled workforce and create new jobs locally. Morris Site Machinery makes SMC mobile lighting towers, generators, welders, pumps and pressure washers.
Red Stag Fulfillment, a third-party e-commerce order fulfillment company based in Tennessee, has announced that it will invest $16 million in an expansion project which will add 313,000 sq. ft. to its existing warehouse in Knoxville. The investment, which is partially funded by Red Stag Fulfillment’s parent company, Mollenhour Gross, LLC, reflects the significant growth that Red Stag Fulfillment has experienced since it was founded in 2013.
Apprenticeships continue to be a growing facet of workforce development across the United States, as the former colonies begin to catch on to a practice European — and especially German — organizations have cultivated for centuries. In September, the U.S. Department of Labor updated its statistics on apprentices and programs by state to reflect data from FY 2018. The updated map here depicts active apprentices by state, with California head and shoulders above the rest, followed by South Carolina, Michigan and Ohio. Watch for more insights into workforce development in the January 2020 issue of Site Selection.
Map courtesy of the U.S. Dept. of Labor
PHOTO OF THE DAY
Conway Custom Content Managing Editor Savannah King made this photo at the Costa Rica Marriott in San Jose earlier this month, where she moderated discussions during the Megaminds in Megatrends Forum organized by CINDE, Costa Rica’s investment promotion agency. Even as the republic builds impressive clusters in BPO, software development and life sciences, tourism continues to undergird the economy: The number of foreign visitors surpassed 3 million for the first time in 2018.
