Solar and energy storage real estate investment company SolaREIT is donating five acres of land San Diego County to support construction of Jacumba Fire Station 43, a new 7,100-sq-ft facility serving the Jacumba community in eastern San Diego County. Once completed, this will be the first permanent fire station in Jacumba, a small, rural community near the U.S.-Mexico border that currently lacks dedicated fire and emergency services infrastructure.
A computer-generated rendering of the Jacumba Fire Station 43 that will be built near Baywa r.e.’s JVR Energy Park in southern California. Credit: San Diego County
“Solar development does more than generate clean energy — it creates construction jobs, expands the local tax base, and can serve as a catalyst for lasting community investment,” said Laura Pagliarulo, CEO and co-founder, SolaREIT. “We are proud to work alongside BayWa r.e. to bring both renewable energy and this vital public safety resource to Jacumba. This is exactly the kind of impact we believe solar can and should have on the communities that host these projects.”
The donation is made in connection with and adjacent to BayWa r.e.’s JVR Energy Park, a 90-MWAC solar project currently under construction on SolaREIT-owned land. In project planning, BayWa r.e. committed to using some of the land for a fire station in Jacumba.
“When we first sat down with the Jacumba community, one of the things that came through clearly was the need for reliable emergency services. A fire station was not an afterthought; it was part of our commitment from the start. Seeing it become real is something we are genuinely proud of, and we are grateful to SolaREIT for making this land transfer possible,” said Michael Stanton, EVP of Development at BayWa r.e. Americas.
SolaREIT acquired the land underlying JVR Energy Park in 2025. Jacumba Fire Station 43 is expected to be completed in August 2027 and will be equipped with two bays, four double dormitory rooms and a full suite of operational facilities. The building is designed to achieve LEED Gold certification, be net-zero in terms of energy losses and result in a 20% reduction in embodied carbon.
News item from SolaREIT
