When Kitson & Partners set out to build Babcock Ranch, the developer sold more than 73,000 of its 91,000 acres to Florida and Lee County for preservation. About half of the remaining 18,000 acres on which the town is rapidly growing also will be preserved.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That agreement was the foundation for Babcock\u2019s stormwater management systems, resilient building practices, efforts to maintain biodiversity, preservation of wildlife corridors and focus on energy efficiency, with a vast solar array.<\/p>\n
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Syd Kitson<\/p>\n
Kitson & Partners<\/p>\n
Since Kitson & Partners CEO Syd Kitson decided to develop a community on those terms in 2006, that combination of conservation-minded features was rare. Now Babcock\u2019s features represent the increasing demand that developers and their partners face to create environmentally sound communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my opinion, today the vast majority of developers are very conservation minded,\u201d said Ben Wilson, Southwest Florida general manager for Suffolk Construction. \u201cIn most cases, you\u2019re marketing the geography, and you have to maintain the geography to maintain something that\u2019s marketable.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Local governments, consumers, investors and insurance companies are among the stakeholders that seek what the Urban Land Institute\u2019s Lindsay Brugger calls \u201cnature positive\u201d development. She points to Babcock Ranch as among the leaders of this trend, with its potential for enhanced marketability, higher property values, lower operating costs and reduced risk from flooding and storm damage. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the tagline here is, nature positive development is good for business,\u201d said Brugger, ULI\u2019s vice president of urban resilience.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kitson agrees.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn order for [a development] to be successful, it has to work economically,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I think what we\u2019re proving is, it does work, and because of that we\u2019re going to see more of it. And that\u2019s capitalism hopefully at its best.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Homes along the Babcock Ranch lakefront reflect the community\u2019s mix of modern development and preserved natural landscape.<\/p>\n
Evan Williams<\/p>\n
While each development faces unique challenges, Kitson hopes that developers use Babcock\u2019s features as a template for conservation-minded housing and commercial spaces that will be needed as the area continues to absorb population growth. The town is expected to have more than 19,500 homes, some 60,000 people and 6 million feet of commercial space at full buildout. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it is a model for how to build the right way, to really provide the housing that is needed in Florida, but also throughout the country,\u201d Kitson said. \u201cOther developers might not be able to do it like we did it and that\u2019s okay, as long as they\u2019re thinking about how they live and work with the environment in a pragmatic and thoughtful way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For Kitson, striking the right balance between conservation and development started with preserving land and using it as part of a water management system.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAgain, understanding the flow of water, how the natural systems work, how the hydrology works and being able to preserve as much of the land as possible,\u201d he said. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Kitson also cites Babcock\u2019s requirements for use of native plants that better withstand regional weather, the town\u2019s hardened infrastructure and underground utilities with redundant backup systems as features that could be implemented by a wide variety of developers. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAll those things, people can use the playbook to do the same thing,\u201d he said. \u201cOur goal has always been for people to kind of copy the good things that we\u2019re doing and hopefully do things even better.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Kayaks rest at the community\u2019s waterfront storage area, part of Babcock Ranch\u2019s commitment to outdoor living and environmental balance.<\/p>\n
Evan Williams<\/p>\n
Recent hurricanes highlighted the need for effective stormwater management bolstered by conservation. Babcock Ranch sustained little damage during Hurricane Ian and never lost power, saving on both rebuilding costs and loss of downtime. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think you\u2019ll see a lot of developers are really paying attention to how they build in light of what\u2019s going on,\u201d Kitson said. \u201cI think insurance companies are also keeping an eye on that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In Cape Coral, nearly half of the planned 1,745-acre Hudson Creek community is set to be in perpetual conservation, said Justin Thibaut, president and CEO of LSI Companies Inc., who represented the seller in the $100 million deal. \u00a0<\/p>\n