Real estate developer and holding company Crow Holdings founded a renewables arm to develop solar-plus-storage assets on 500,000 square rooftops and in the approximately 25 MW utility scale space.

Crow Holdings has founded a new subsidiary, Crow Renewables, to develop solar and energy storage assets atop expansive industrial rooftops. The firm intends to develop rooftop community solar assets 5 MW in capacity, while developing ground mount facilities with up to 25 MW capacity.

According to the company’s press release, the industrial rooftops should be 500,000 square feet or larger, and located on relatively new structures. For ground mount community solar, they’ll see parcels near population centers of approximately 30 acres. The Crow Holdings Renewables team already has projects, and is seeking more, in California, New Jersey, Maryland, and Illinois, with additional markets to follow.

By next year, the company aims to have 50 MW of solar projects in their portfolio. Laurance Pelosi, a senior managing director at Crow Holdings and the nephew of Nancy Pelosi, predicts that the firm’s solar assets under development will double annually for the ‘foreseeable future’. He pointed out that less than 5% of all commercial real estate currently incorporates solar, representing the most significant solar opportunity in the United States.

Moreover, the group announced they would extend their development services to other rooftop asset owners.

The press release mentioned that the Crow Industrial team has already developed more than 68 million square feet of industrial facilities. While the private firm does not disclose specific data, a report from 2020 disclosed that the company had developed 60 properties and 23 million square feet of industrial space since 2013. In the fourth quarter of 2019, it had 8 million square feet under construction.

Another entity under Crow Holdings, Trammell Crow Residential, has constructed over 280,000 multifamily residential units. 

Crow Holdings was originally established by Trammal Crow. His son, Harlen Crow, expanded the business considerably after taking over. Harlan currently serves as the chairman of the board, and previously served as chief executive officer.

Harlan Crow recently drew attention as a fervent supporter of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and a collector of various controversial military society artifacts.