The site plan for Babcock Ranch.
Even though Earth Day is more than two months away, Syd Kitson figured he couldn’t keep the secret that long.
Earth, finally, is being moved at Babcock Ranch, and Kitson chose a cloudless and chilly Friday to let the press in on it.
Ten years after Kitson & Partners purchased the 91,000-acre Babcock Ranch, most of it in southeastern Charlotte County -- and then sold 78,000 acres to the state in a $350 million deal for preservation -- site work has begun for the commercial core in the first phase of the 18,000-acre “new town.”
In fact, the bulldozers have been pushing dirt since November.
The official opening of Babcock Ranch is April 22, but Kitson wanted to show the progress that has been made so far.
The mammoth development is 500 acres bigger than Lakewood Ranch, and more than 3,000 acres bigger than Manhattan.
Developer Syd Kitson speaks with a reporter during a preview event at Babcock Ranch in southeastern Charlotte County on Friday. After 10 years, development is finally underway at the 18,000-acre tract. Staff photo / Harold Bubil; 2-5-2016.
In 20 years or so, if all goes according to Kitson’s ambitious plan, Babcock Ranch could have 19,500 homes in a variety of styles and price points — “from $200,000, maybe less, to the millions,” he said — that will house 50,000 people. They will be served by perhaps 6 million square feet of commercial, office and retail space.
And they will get their power, at least during the daytime, from the sun through a 75-megawatt solar photovoltaic array that Florida Power and Light is building on 450 acres adjacent to the Babcock Ranch development. That work started in October. Negotiations over which entity would provide power — Kitson originally wanted Babcock Ranch to provide its own — were among the many hurdles that had to be cleared before the development could proceed.
“It is all about sustainability,” said Kitson. “Solar is one of the big stories for us. FPL is a tremendous partner. What they have stepped up here to do is spectacular. When you turn a light on during the day, you are going to know that it is powered by the sun.”
All of the homes, office buildings, stores and schools will have solar power, he said. “At nighttime, we will be fed by the grid. All sources of energy here are as clean as you can get. Instead of rooftop PV panels, it is just part of the community.”
Using a bulldozer as a table, developer Syd Kitson explains the site plan for Phase I of Babcock Ranch during a preview event at Earthsource on Babcock Ranch in southeastern Charlotte County, Friday, Feb. 5. After 10 years, development is finally underway at the 18,000-acre tract. Staff photo / Harold Bubil; 2-5-2016.
Head of the Palm Beach-based Kitson & Partners, the developer said the new community is designed to foster engagement and connection among its residents.
“Babcock Ranch is probably the largest new town coming out of the ground in the United States, and certainly the most sustainable,” Kitson said. “I don’t think anyone has ever attempted what we are trying to do with the solar. One of the reasons for that is because it is on 450 acres, and that is a lot of land, right next to our town. There is not a lot of opportunity to build a solar array right next to a new town.”
Early renderings of the architecture and planning have a decidedly New Urbanist feel. The architecture firm Looney Ricks Kiss has designed neotraditional houses for Babcock Ranch, firmly rooted in a pre-World War II design language.
“If it works, we will do more,” said Kitson, standing about a mile from the site work going on across an 80-acre lake. The roster of home builders will be announced later this year.
A stand of cypress trees as seen from State Road 31 in Charlotte County. Staff photo / Harold Bubil; 2-5-2016.
Planning for Babcock Ranch, founded in 1913 by a former Pittsburgh mayor, started in 2006. The sale of most of it was hailed as the largest single land preservation agreement in Florida history.
Development was delayed because of the collapse of the real estate market in 2007. “The downturn was much more impactful than we thought it would be,” Kitson said.
“The time is finally right, and we are excited to get to work on a new town that can meet the diverse needs of families, employers, neighbors, businesses, surrounding communities and the natural environment for generations to come,” Kitson said. “Our focus on the environment, sustainability, technology, transportation, education and health and wellness will provide a whole new way of living — one that is conscientious, engaging and connected.”
The town of Babcock Ranch will be about 30 minutes from downtown Punta Gorda, via Bermont Road and then south on State Road 31, and about 25 minutes from downtown Fort Myers. So it has to be self-contained.
And sustainable, Kitson emphasizes.
“We are creating a place, a true hometown where there is a downtown, and where people can really interact like they used to do,” he said. “The subdivisions, where builders come in a put up a lot of houses, are important, but that is not what this is. This truly a town and place that people can enjoy without having to drive all over creation.”
Site work is underway on the first phase of the 18,000 Babcock Ranch development in southeastern Charlotte County. The first model homes could be complete in early 2017. Staff photo / Harold Bubil; 2-5-2016.
Babcock Ranch, already dotted with large lakes that were created by aggregate mining decades ago, will have 50 miles of trails, with a trailhead in each village within the ranch, Kitson said.
“Anyone can use them,” Kitson noted. “Our trail system will be open to the public. This is not a private, gated community. This is a new town. Anybody who wants to come in here will be able to enjoy it.”
The plan calls for health and wellness to be a key component of Babcock Ranch. The wellness center will have 30,000 square feet, and it is “not a gym,” Kitson said. “It will have doctors, rehab facilities. Exos MediFit is running it for us. FGCU and HCA are participating. It can be used by everyone, inside and outside of Babcock.”
The community is planned so that most residences will be within a five-minute walk of the village downtown, said John Hillman, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Kitson & Partners. The housing stock will include houses, condos, townhouses and even cottages around shared greens. “It is all in the design,” Hillman said.
Not restricted by “the legacy” of an existing town, Kitson said Babcock Ranch will have an autonomous-vehicle system.
A lot of master-planned communities have “live here, work here” as a goal. It doesn’t always turn out that way.
“We are in discussions with several companies that we hope will move in and create a lot of jobs,” Kitson said. “That is one of the keys here.”
Information: www.babcockranchflorida.com
