Washington mixed-use properties firm JBG Smith has selected Fortress to provide end-to-end facilities management services in National Landing, said to be the first 5G smart city in the USA.

Texas-based digital infrastructure specialist Fortress has been selected for its fibre optics, edge data centre and 5G infrastructure expertise.

Fortress will let JBG Smith deploy digital infrastructure that is poised to deliver seamless connectivity and fuel innovation and business models in Industry 4.0.

Located just across the Potomac from Washington, DC, and minutes from the Pentagon, National Landing is one of Virginia’s largest walkable downtown areas, blending the best of both city living and urban outdoors.

National Landing comprises three neighbourhoods – Crystal City, Pentagon City and Potomac Yard. It is home to the Pentagon, Boeing’s global headquarters, Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus, and Amazon’s second global headquarters.

As JBG Smith’s digital infrastructure facilities management partner, Fortress will provide design and implementation services as well as operate and maintain the edge data centre facilities. This will include maintaining a ubiquitous fibre optic and 5G infrastructure throughout the development.

In doing so, Fortress will be delivering co-location capabilities, low latency 5G communication, and dark fibre connections in support of carrier networks, IoT devices, AI, AR, VR and robotics applications. This network will enable a digital infrastructure for corporate, residential and retail tenants within National Landing.

Fortress will support JBG Smith customers, including its partnership with AT&T to deploy and operate a ubiquitous outdoor 5G network in National Landing. JBG Smith delivered the first phase of the converged digital infrastructure platform late last year, with 5G small cell infrastructure expected to be on air in the first half of this year.

“We’re thrilled to be a major player in creating the first 5G smart city at scale with JBG Smith,” said John Shelnutt, CEO of Fortress. “Fortress is excited to bring our suite of managed services to implement and operate this state-of-the-art data centre that’s enabling the convergence of 5G, cloud and IoT services bringing the emergence of smart cities to full production.”

Adam Rashid, senior vice president at JBG Smith, added: “This partnership with Fortress gives JBG Smith tremendous operational support to deliver on the power of converged digital infrastructure and seamless network operations in National Landing, providing leverage for entrepreneurs, universities and global technology companies to deliver digital transformation across both their digital landscape and built environment.”

Fortress is a provider of digital infrastructure deployment, logistical support, and monitoring and analysis. The company supports the telecommunications market, EV charging integration, drone fleet management and other digital transformation endeavours.

JBG Smith owns, operates, invests in and develops mixed-use properties in high growth and high barrier-to-entry submarkets in and around Washington, DC. About two-thirds of its holdings are in National Landing in northern Virginia, including: Amazon’s new headquarters, which is being developed by JBG Smith; Virginia Tech’s under-construction $1bn Innovation Campus; the submarket’s proximity to the Pentagon; and JBG Smith’s deployment of public and private 5G digital infrastructure.