City & smart city partners
A public amenity that pays for itself
Sentinel hubs are private developments designed to deliver public benefits: charging access, safe family space, accessible facilities, local business activation, and a tax-generating commercial node.
Why Sentinel needs this partner
The role you would play
Cities shape where and how a hub can exist. Early collaboration produces a better project than late-stage negotiation.
You know which parcels can actually work — where access, zoning, and neighborhood context align.
Your planning, public works, and utility relationships shorten the path from concept to feasible.
Your priorities on safety, accessibility, and economic development should shape the design, not react to it.
What you may contribute
Your potential contribution
- Planning guidance on appropriate districts and land-use pathways
- Introductions to landowners, developers, and utility contacts
- Site identification within growth areas or corridor nodes
- Utility coordination support for early load conversations
- Clarity on the permitting pathway and expected review sequence
- Letters of support for grant or program applications
- Potential incentive or grant collaboration where a project qualifies
What Sentinel provides
What we bring to the table
- Private development capital and program management
- Publicly accessible fast charging with multiple compatible networks
- A protected, accessible family destination open to residents, not just travelers
- Restaurant, retail, and local vendor space that activates the site
- Sales tax, property tax base, construction and operating jobs
- Design coordinated with staff on safety, circulation, and emergency access
- Solar and storage planning that supports local resiliency goals
- Smart-city readiness: conduit, wayfinding, and data integration where lawful
Potential deal structures
Ways this partnership could be structured
Illustrative structures only. Every arrangement would be negotiated site by site and documented in definitive agreements.
Private development on private land
The most common path: Sentinel develops on a privately held parcel, with the city's role limited to planning, permitting, and coordination.
Public land ground lease
Where a city controls a suitable parcel, a competitively awarded ground lease could generate recurring public revenue from an underused site.
Pilot-site collaboration
A jointly announced pilot hub with agreed public benefits, accessibility commitments, and community programming.
Grant and program collaboration
Joint applications to state, federal, or utility programs where a public-private pairing strengthens competitiveness.
Public benefit
What a hub can do for a community
- Public charging access for residents without home charging
- Economic development on an underused commercial parcel
- Tourism and travel spending captured locally
- Expanded sales and property tax base
- Accessible facilities that exceed the local norm
- Local business and vendor activation on the promenade
- Improved public safety through lighting, cameras, and staffing
- Smart-city integration and resiliency infrastructure
- A gathering place for families, not just a place to park
What the next step looks like
A clear, low-commitment path forward
- 01
Introductory briefing
A short staff-level briefing on the concept, the prototype, and what we would be asking of the city.
- 02
Corridor and site discussion
Review candidate districts and parcels against the site criteria, with no commitment on either side.
- 03
Utility and permitting orientation
Coordinate an early conversation with the serving utility and clarify the review sequence.
- 04
Letter of support, if appropriate
A non-binding letter for grant or program purposes, clearly stating no entitlement is granted.
- 05
Formal application
Sentinel submits through the normal public process, with community engagement.
Partner interest
Talk with us about your city
Planning, economic development, public works, sustainability, and elected offices are all welcome to reach out.
Nothing on this page implies that any city is a current partner, or that any approval, entitlement, incentive, grant, or funding has been granted, promised, or is assured. All municipal actions would follow the jurisdiction's normal public process.