HOMMA Group, Inc. has recently announced a partnership with Mitsubishi Corporation’s real estate investment arm, Diamond Realty Investments, Inc. (DRI) to bring a more refined smart living experience to 30 select rental units in the new Willamette Tower MDU project currently under construction in the South Waterfront District of Portland. As part of this deal, HOMMA Group and DRI will also be working with builder Alamo Manhattan as construction partner for the development.

HOMMA will be equipping the units at Willamette Tower with an adaptive lighting system, integrated connected door locks and smart thermostats.

A hybridized technology developer, designer and builder, HOMMA creates proprietary technology for homes blended with modern architecture and design to create smarter living experiences. The company’s in-house integration platform, Cornerstone AI (Architectural Intelligence), allows both it and its partners better plan and implement smart technology on projects.

The Cornerstone AI platform also acts as a management tool for installed devices and services following project completion, allowing the company to supply over-the-air software updates to smart home systems, thereby adding new features and enhancing existing ones.

This is tied together with the user-facing HOMMA app, which supplies distributed control of the system while also providing direct access to 24/7 support.

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“Our customer research shows homebuyers are easily frustrated by the many DIY solutions, the installation process and the personalized configuration. Maintaining and using multiple apps from various companies is tedious. HOMMA believes homeowners would like to have a trusted partner do the technical install and setup for them. Ideally these technology features would be pre-installed as the home is built,” states Takeshi (Ted) Homma, HOMMA founder and CEO in talking with CE Pro regarding the push for smart home systems in MDUs.

“Builders may have architects or designers in-house, but they don’t typically have technology specialists. Today, the most common approach has been for builders to include smart thermostats, locks, doorbells, and lighting – leaving it to the homeowners to figure out how to use them. We take a more holistic approach to smart home building: we design every inch of the interior, and specify the location and quantity of devices needed. This process requires understanding of how the space might be used to develop a seamless living experience for each resident.

“We know from conversations with home builders and developers that many of them see technology as a differentiator and they want to meet this growing demand. We believe firms like Diamond Realty Investments are excited to partner with HOMMA because we help them bring this type of product to market faster, more efficiently, and with a repeatable process. HOMMA offers them a flexible and scalable technology package so that they can provide residents with a market-leading, ‘move in ready’ smart home experience.”

“The collaboration between DRI and HOMMA is a proof-of-concept within the emerging smart-home market that has been challenged with delivering ubiquitous solutions to an exponentially growing do-it-for-me segment demanding ease-of-use and simplicity,” adds Homma.

“DRI gains the most advanced platform for delivering pre-built smart technology and the benefits of modern living to residents today. HOMMA Group gains a one-to-many partner that will be a key driver in our mission to quickly expand into urban markets undergoing major growth. We look forward to continuing to work with DRI and to exploring the many other opportunities for growth and collaboration.”

HOMMA also recently announced HOMMA HAUS Woodstock, its second project in Portland, Oregon. Previously, its HOMMA HAUS Mount Tabor was the nation’s first pre-configured, multi-family smart townhome community project.

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