Building A Sustainable Town in Florida

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Many cities and surrounding communities are planned, built, and modified without any awareness to the level of destruction they are causing the environment. Ten years ago, Syd Kitson, a Florida developer had a vision to develop a 17,000-acre sustainable city in Southwest Florida, known as Babcock Ranch. Babcock Ranch is a sustainable city that turned over 80 percent of the total acreage (74,000 acres of the property to be exact) back to the state of Florida in the largest land preservation agreement in Florida’s history.

When the Florida land deal was first made nearly a decade ago, the general public and local residents assumed that the developer would destroy the pre-existing Southwest Florida cattle ranches and the natural wildlife currently present at Babcock Ranch. When in reality, Kitson & Partners has been preserving the majority of the acreage, preserving it only 50% of the remaining to-be-developed land into one of the most sustainable, intentional and high-tech new towns in the country. Since day 1 the town of Babcock Ranch has always been to enhance the land, not destroy it.

It’s time for a fundamental shift; a shift to keep the Southwest Florida culture alive. It’s time to orchestrate change, a change that will improve the quality of life in Southwest Florida. We welcome you to learn more about the vision of Babcock Ranch – a town of the future that is leading the way in urban sustainability.

The Babcock Ranch Vision: A Sustainable Town in Florida

The town of Babcock Ranch is designed to accommodate thousands of new residences, will feature an engaging downtown, numerous green spaces, lakes, and nature trails; Babcock Ranch will ultimately be home to approximately 50,000 residents. Babcock ranch is a sustainable town that’s embedded in nature and powered by the sun, by innovation, and by the great outdoors. Babcock Ranch has blended high-tech designs and green construction practices into an intriguing model for a sustainable town. As the project unfolds we’ll be sharing more details on the specific of our green and high-tech building practices as well as additional eco-friendly amenities.

Solar: The majority of the town’s energy will come from renewable sources. Babcock Ranch entered into a unique partnership with Florida Power & Light, where all the homes and businesses at Babcock Ranch will be powered by renewable solar energy generated and distributed on property, BEFORE hitting the more general grid. Babcock Ranch will have one of the largest solar fields in the state of Florida and is truly the country’s first Solar Town.

Nature: Babcock Ranch values the 94,000 acres that are home to animal habitats, wildlife, and existing flora and fauna. Built into our culture, our planning, and building codes – from day 1 is a commitment to nature. We strive to protect the land we love and embrace the natural Florida environment that surrounds us. Babcock Ranch resembles Old Florida and we will preserve every piece of that for years to come.

Innovation: Babcock Ranch is about people connecting with people. Babcock Ranch will be the very first master-planned, green field “smart town” with global network access points that allow instant connectivity – worldwide. A major transportation initiative for the town will strengthen the town’s livability. Babcock will offer Babcock Ranch bikes, electric and autonomous vehicles, and car and bike sharing programs. In addition to the above major commitments Babcock Ranch has already made the following strides to build into the town a culture of innovation and sustainability:

  • Existing Land Repurposing – More than 90% of the town’s development us built upon already impacted pasture, farm and rock-mined land. We’re making sure we keep as much of the existing pristine Florida wildlife and plants, utilizing land that has already been developed for nearly 100 years.
  • Better Flow Way & Wetlands – Our town layout doesn’t impact flow ways or wetlands at all. In fact, we’ve worked hard to improve existing flow ways and wetland ecosystems.
  • Babcock Panther Habitat – We’ve dedicated more than 70 acres of habitat, in addition to the existing tens of thousands of preserved acres specifically for a panther habitat. We’re converting existing farmland to this Panther habitat.

And this is just the beginning. We have far more exciting nature-friendly and smart-design announcements we’ll be making over the course of the next couple of months.

Call Babcock Ranch Home – A New Sustainable Home-Town in Florida

At Babcock Ranch, we are committed to conserving, preserving natural resources, and improving people’s lives. We firmly believe that Babcock Ranch will provide solutions to the environmental challenges we are facing. Babcock Ranch will provide comfortable, safe, eco-friendly, and affordable homes that respect the land and the Southwest Florida ecosystem. We invite you to learn more about the town of Babcock Ranch, contact us today for more information on our sustainable city in Florida. The Babcock Ranch Development Office is located at 11390 Palm Beach Boulevard, Fort Myers, Florida, 33905. Please call 941-235-6900 for an appointment and we’ll be happy to share more about the Babcock Ranch story with you.