Babcock Ranch featured in New York Times article on solar power
Not every energy-resilient community is classified as a microgrid. Babcock Ranch, a development about 15 miles northeast of Fort Myers, Fla., calls itself the nation’s first solar-powered town. Babcock Ranch has an 870-acre solar farm to power the community, including two solar array systems totaling 150 megawatts of capacity, a transmission substation (with another being […]
Babcock Ranch featured on Action News Jacksonville
Action News Jax Anchor Tenikka Hughes visited Babcock Ranch and spoke to Syd Kitson to learn how innovation here could help make homes safer when severe weather hits the Jacksonville area. WATCH THE FULL SEGMENT HERE.
Babcock Ranch’s Lake Timber Lodge renovations enhance resident connections
BABCOCK RANCH, Fla. (April 6, 2023) – Kitson & Partners has completed renovations at Babcock Ranch’s first recreational amenity building and unveiled a new name – Lake Timber Lodge, a rustic waterfront clubhouse with a swimming pool and gathering spaces for events, meetings and activities for residents. Renovations added poolside cabanas and a new screened […]
Babcock Ranch featured on The Weather Channel
Syd Kitson joined The Weather Channel’s Alex Wilson and Lynette Charles to discuss Babcock Ranch and its resilience in light of the upcoming hurricane season. Syd shared Babcock’s unique approach to storm preparation and commitment to being a resilient community in the face of hurricanes and climate challenges. Watch the full segment here.
Babcock Ranch featured on NFL Total Access
‘NFL Green’ was launched in 1993 to help reduce the environmental impact of the league’s major events. But change can also be made one individual at a time. This Earth Day we celebrate NFL legend Syd Kitson who is turning land in Florida into America’s first solar city run completely on renewable energy. Watch the […]
Featured In Gulfshore Life: Southwest Florida’s Defenders of the Gulf
Amy Wicks, Civil Engineer, Babcock Ranch Amy Wicks had just graduated with a civil engineering degree from Indiana’s Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and made the trek to the Sunshine State when her new boss at Johnson Engineering dropped an assignment on her desk. “Don’t mess it up,” he said. It was 2006, and the assignment […]
Home Sales Surpass 3,000 as Babcock Ranch Kicks Off a Milestone Year
Babcock Ranch is experiencing another banner year in 2023, surpassing over 3,000 homes sold just as it introduces new neighborhoods, builders, amenities and a second retail center. Ranked the nation’s No. 5 best-selling master-planned community in 2022, Babcock Ranch is America’s first solar-powered town developed with the philosophy that respect for the natural environment, smart […]
Babcock Ranch lauded as a Game Changer in prestigious 2023 Edison Awards
Babcock Ranch’s resilient design earned the sustainable new Southwest Florida town top honors in the internationally recognized Edison Awards ceremony in Fort Myers on April 20. The Game Changer designation honored Babcock Ranch for its groundbreaking innovation in the resilient design category. The Edison Awards, named after American inventor Thomas Alva Edison, not only recognizes […]
Babcock Ranch Featured on “How I Built This” Podcast
Credit: NPR/How I Built This Podcast “How I Built This” Podcast with Guy Raz – Episode 513 – Babcock Ranch: Syd Kitson What would it take to build America’s first solar-powered town? What about a town that could withstand a direct hit from a hurricane? In the early 2000s, Syd Kitson, a former NFL football […]
The History of Park Square Homes and Plans for the Future
For 40 years, Florida-based Park Square Homes—No. 82 on the 2022 Builder 100—has been in the business of building both traditional and resort-style single-family communities in the Sunshine State. Family-owned and headquartered in Orlando with offices in Tampa, the company is led by CEO Suresh Gupta. To learn more about the company, its history, and […]
Babcock Ranch Featured at Aspen Ideas: Climate Conference
Babcock Ranch, which is powered entirely by solar, was designed for resilience, said Kitson as he spoke to the crowd on the final day of the conference. The 150-megawatt solar facility has 700,000 panels, and weathered the hurricane well. Kitson took a rare approach to developing land. The firm bought the 91,000-acre ranch in 2006, […]
How Newer Construction Homes Fared in Hurricane Season
A recent success story is Florida’s Babcock Ranch. The master-planned community straddling Charlotte and Lee counties withstood hours of sustained winds over 100 miles per hour (161 kph) when Hurricane Ian made landfall in September 2022. The damage was so minimal, inspectors from the Federal Emergency Management Agency officials determined the storm had missed the […]
Babcock Ranch featured in The Wall Street Journal
Neighborhoods powered by solar panels with backup batteries weathered the direct onslaught of Hurricane Ian in Florida, utilities and developers said, keeping the lights on throughout the storm while millions of others lost power. At least three solar-powered communities near Fort Myers and Tampa made it through Ian without losing electricity. Some also had hardened electrical […]
Babcock Ranch featured in The Hill
As Hurricane Ian made its way to southwestern Florida on Sept. 28, Mark Wilkerson put up his metal hurricane shutters, locked his door and hunkered down to wait out the Category 4 storm. Wilkerson’s home, in the center of the entirely solar-powered town of Babcock Ranch, was made for this. But he still feared the […]
Babcock Ranch featured in Business Insider
As Hurricane Ian battered Florida and left millions without power last week, one forward-thinking community managed to keep the lights on. Babcock Ranch, a planned community of roughly 2,000 that bills itself as “America’s first solar-powered town,” skated through the storm without power loss or significant damage, CNN reported. A spokesperson for Babcock Ranch confirmed that residents didn’t […]
Babcock Ranch featured on NPR’s All Things Considered
BABCOCK RANCH, Fla. — Like many others in Southwest Florida, Mark Wilkerson seemingly gambled his life by choosing to shelter at home rather than evacuate when Hurricane Ian crashed ashore last week as a Category 4 storm. But it wasn’t just luck that saved Wilkerson and his wife, Rhonda, or prevented damage to their well-appointed […]
Babcock Ranch featured on BNN Bloomberg
Syd Kitson, chairman and CEO of Kitson & Partners, joins BNN Bloomberg to discuss how Florida community Babcock Ranch successfully endured Hurricane Ian nearly unscathed. Kitson says that instead of fighting nature, Babcock Ranch works with nature – using native plants and natural watercourses as sustainable methods of combating the storm. He also discusses keeping […]
WPTV West Palm Beach features Babcock Ranch
WPTV West Palm Beach spotlights Babcock Ranch: How America’s first solar-powered town weathered Hurricane Ian. Read the full story and watch the segment here.
Babcock Ranch featured on CNN’s New Day
CNN’s Bill Weir reports from a solar-powered Florida town that endured Hurricane Ian with no loss of power and minimal damage. Watch here.
Babcock Ranch featured on 60 Minutes
While hard-hit Fort Myers, Florida, continues its recovery from Hurricane Ian, some hope can be found 12 miles to the northeast at the planned community of Babcock Ranch. That’s where Syd Kitson and his partners built an environmentally friendly, fully sustainable town that they hoped would be hurricane proof. Kitson, an eco-conscious developer and former […]
