Article submitted by Mike Stinson, CCIM, Sales and Leasing Agent for Saurage Rotenberg Commercial Real Estate
Written by Jim Winter | May/June 2017
Driverless vehicles are coming, and coming fast. Many of the world’s largest and most prestigious corporations are investing billions in the technology.
Google has been testing a self-driven Toyota Prius in California since 2009 and has logged more than two million miles after expanding its operation to Arizona, Texas, and Washington. Uber began an autonomous vehicle pilot program in Pittsburgh in September 2016, while a start-up called nuTonomy is running public trials in Singapore and Boston.
Tech giant Apple is pursuing driverless vehicle opportunities, as are Ford, General Motors, and the majority of automobile manufacturers. Electric car innovator Tesla Motors already has partial driverless technology available; its “Autopilot” software upgrade is part of a $4,250 technology package available for several of its vehicles.
The public sector also is paying attention. In 2016, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced a 10-year, $3.9 billion investment “to accelerate the development and adoption of safe vehicle automation through real-world pilot projects.”
Nearly 80 years after General Motors’ Futurama exhibit at the 1939 World’s Fair foretold “fine green parkways upon which cars would drive themselves,” autonomous vehicle technology is poised to be our next cultural revolution.
Major Shifts in CRE
Mike Stinson, a native of Monroe, Louisiana, is a graduate of Louisiana State University (LSU). A real estate licensee since 2004, Mike specializes in the sale and leasing of commercial real estate. A Designee member of the Certified Commercial Investment Member Institute (CCIM), Mike’s other professional memberships include Baton Rouge’s Commercial Investment Division (CID), the LSU Alumni Association, REALTOR Land Institute (RLI), and an affiliate member of the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR).
Saurage Rotenberg Commercial Real Estate is a member of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber of Commerce (BRAC); the West Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce; the Baton Rouge Better Business Bureau; the Louisiana Commercial Data Base (LACDB); and the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). Several agents, on an individual basis, are members of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors® (SIOR), the Certified Commercial Investment Member Institute (CCIM); the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR); and the Greater Baton Rouge Association of REALTORS® Commercial Investment Division (CID).
