GW has joined a planned $500 million “smart city” project in Ashburn, Va. to help build the “backbone” for the high-tech city, according to the Washington Business Journal.

GW has partnered with 22 Capital Partners, the private equity firm behind the project, as well as the Center for Innovative Technology, Microsoft and Crescent Ridge Capital Partners LLC to create the 2.5 million-square-foot Gramercy District, “an ‘ecosystem’ of smart city technology,” the Journal reported Monday.

A smart city is a city which combines technology into every aspect of its framework, layout, structures and day-to-day functions, from buildings to parking lots to retail options, according to a Washington Business Journal article from earlier this year.

The partners, as part of a new entity, 22 CityLink, are hoping to develop a “Smart City In-A-Box” platform that can be carried through to more smart cities in the future, linking real estate development with an intelligent technological framework, according to the Journal.

Gramercy District will be the first Smart City In-A-Box, a plan for a smart city designed to be portable and replicated in future smart cities.

“We believe that modern technology is going to be a major force in urbanization projects and can improve the overall quality of life for the citizen,” Minh Le, 22 Capital Partners’ managing partner, told the Washington Business Journal.

Gramercy District will be Metro-accessible (once the Ashburn station is completed) and will be built over the course of at least two phases. It is expected to include more than 900 residential units, about 34,000 square feet of retail space, an 85,000-square-foot hotel, a 350,000-square-foot office building, a high-tech business center and two parking garages, according to the Journalds.