When venturing out to create something new, there is no roadmap to follow. When
your innovative idea falls in between a unique dichotomy of traditional best
practices (ex: the building industry) and a more nascent field (ex:
renewable energy), the stakes could not be higher or more convoluted.
That was the stage in 2006, when we made a historic land purchase and took our
first steps to deliver on the idea of Babcock Ranch
— the US’s first solar-powered town, one of the country’s largest
solar-plus-battery storage systems, which withstood a category 4
hurricane in 2022.
Ranked as the nation’s fifth-best-selling master planned community in 2022,
Babcock Ranch now encompasses 18,000 acres and is planned for 19,500 residences
and 6,000,000 square feet of commercial space. However, that was not always the
case; and the journey to get to this milestone quite literally took “all hands”
and a village — or in this case, the State of Florida. We rallied the
nation’s largest home builders, the nation’s largest clean-energy provider,
elected officials, engineers, architects and biologists to create a new city
that works in harmony with nature.
Image credit: Babcock Ranch
A model for climate-resilient communities
Join us as we dive deeper into proof points for climate resilience and innovation at Babcock Ranch, and how it can help shape housing and community design for the future — Oct. 17 at SB'24 San Diego.
If the world is serious about getting to net zero by 2030 (or 2050), economies
will need to rethink how they function — and solar power will have to play a
larger role in both community infrastructure and the energy mix. That level of
commitment, planning and redesign will require collaboration among leading
innovators, regulators, investors and developers. Creating a fully sustainable,
climate-resilient town was not (and is not) easy — it took many individuals,
organizations and partners to achieve the Babcock Ranch you see today. If you
are going to build something never done before, my first piece of advice: Do not
do it alone.
Foundational trust is key
Building anything requires purchasing land and obtaining permits. Brokering
those types of deals can be challenging — especially when working with families,
two counties, the state, tax issues and stock sales. Success in this arena can
only be achieved with foundational trust and delivering on your promises.
Soon after the purchase was complete, we did something never done before — we
sold 73,000 acres back to the State of Florida to be permanently conserved for
future generations to enjoy. The land purchase and preservation alone required
collaboration with the state, county officials, environmental leaders and state
legislators. The real hurdle at that time was showing “proof of concept” for a
town that had yet to be built and whose industry-leading infrastructure had
never been tested.
With that in mind, Babcock Ranch secured commitment for solar generation from a
key partner, Florida Power & Light (FPL), in 2008 — but legislative
approval was needed, because solar was not yet cost competitive with
traditional, natural gas-generating plants; it took us eight years to get the
solar power agreement in place. During that time, legislative requests failed —
which delayed construction until 2015, when solar-generation costs became
comparable to fossil fuels, eliminating the need for legislative approval.
While working with the state and FPL to broker an agreement on power generation,
Kitson & Partners spent six years planning the
community amidst a devastating recession and real estate downturn, before
starting construction in late 2015. We knew early on we would need to garner
local support if we wanted this idea to take off. We began hosting charrettes
with the local community, design professionals and environmental organizations
to offer everyone and anyone a seat at the table that wanted to see this project
come to life. In the early 2000s, we truly believed that clean energy and
sustainable development could be “the future of development” around the world —
and today, because of Babcock Ranch, others can now see that vision, too.
Seek input from established experts
Half of Babcock Ranch’s footprint is dedicated to greenways, parks and lakes —
with an active trail system that will expand to more than 100 miles through
preserved and restored ecosystems. Starting with a thorough understanding of the
land’s natural systems, we have located development areas where they will have
the least impact. To ensure we were doing right by nature, we worked closely
with a host of environmental groups — including The Nature Conservancy,
The Trust for Public Land, The Florida Wildlife Federation, Audubon of
Florida, 1,000 Friends of Florida, Defenders of Wildlife, and the
Florida Recreation and Park Association — which advised on the project.
Due in part to the cohort of environmental partnerships that Babcock Ranch
worked with early on, as well as Kitson & Partners’ vision for the solar
community, the town is far beyond its time when it comes to sustainable
development. Babcock Ranch aligns itself with the Florida Green Building
Coalition’s (FGBC) Green Land Development
program —
which focuses on conservation, restoration and preservation; multi-modal
circulation; and safe access to daily services, hardened utilities, parks and
nature, and education. Babcock Ranch is the first and only community in Florida
to have earned a Platinum FGBC certification, which is known to reduce
energy consumption.
The town is also at the forefront when it comes to water conservation: The
landscape design requires native plants to be planted throughout the community
to reduce water consumption; all irrigation uses reclaimed water; natural
stormwater-management systems restore historic flow-ways and utilize natural and
created wetlands to slow and clean surface flow; and a weir
system rehydrates wetlands and habitat
enhancements for native species, such as the endangered Florida Panther. In
fact, Babcock Ranch’s integrated water-management system set a new standard for
watershed protection and flood control — exceeding requirements of Charlotte
County, Lee County, the Water Management District, and the Army Corp
of Engineers.
Many of the features that make Babcock Ranch a leader in sustainable development
offer a dual benefit: They also ensure climate
resilience.
For example, native plants can withstand wet and dry conditions (and hurricanes)
and quickly rebound; filter marshes and wetlands greatly expand storage
capacity; and underground power distribution, combined with hardening of
incoming transmission lines, keep power flowing. Babcock Ranch is more than a
solar-powered town — it is a living laboratory for testing sustainable
practices.
Secure and retain formidable partnerships
To remain at the forefront of innovation, we must continue to work with
industry-leading partners that see standards as a floor to begin their work.
Power and utility
Early on, Babcock Ranch achieved its renewable-energy goals by partnering with
FPL to operate its 150-MW solar array utilizing more than 700,000 panels across
880 acres of land — through this partnership, Babcock Ranch was the first town
to generate more renewable energy than it will ever consume.
But it does not end there: FPL is currently researching and testing
battery-storage technology aimed at improving the predictability and reliability
of solar power. The 10-MW battery storage added in March 2018 made the Babcock
Ranch Solar Energy Center the largest solar-plus-storage project operating in
the US at the time. As for connectivity, Babcock Ranch partnered with Lumen
to provide one gigabyte of fiber to every home and up to 10 gigabytes to each
business. We are working with FPL on the construction of a solar education
center, which will offer an interactive educational experience and the
opportunity to view the solar array from a three-story observation tower.
Image credit: Babcock Ranch
Education
Supported by Governor Jeb Bush, the decision to open a public charter school
at Babcock Ranch before the first residents arrived was a calculated risk with
great rewards. Now offering K-12, the school has attracted young families that
make the community a vibrant, multigenerational hometown. Babcock Ranch’s
sustainability and conservation principles provide a great landscape for
hands-on, project-based learning about nature, health and renewable
energy.
Babcock Neighborhood School offers a “greenSTEAM” education that integrates
Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics for grades K-8; Babcock
High School also offers a well-rounded STEAM educational experience.
Health
In 2018, Babcock Ranch partnered with Lee Health to establish Lee Physician
Group Clinic, located
in the town’s Wellness Center, to perform medical services and advance health
initiatives for all residents.
In Fall 2023, Babcock Ranch announced a partnership with Tampa General
Hospital — one of the nation’s leading academic health systems and the
highest-ranked hospital in West Central Florida — to open an Urgent Care
(powered by Fast Track) in 2025. Babcock
Ranch’s rapid growth has accelerated demand for local access to quality
healthcare. With the planned Tampa General Hospital Urgent Care and doctors,
residents will soon have access to immediate care from world-class providers for
common illnesses and injuries. They will also gain more efficient and timely
access to the specialists and experts across the academic health system with the
help of care navigators.
The hometown of tomorrow
Babcock Ranch has partnered with 11 national and regional builders to push the
envelope on innovation for sustainable, modern design. We do not settle for best
practices — which is why the nation’s leading builders have agreed to work
collaboratively on this constantly evolving project to redefine what sustainable
living looks like.
The Babcock Ranch team continues to monitor changing environmental demands and
technological advances to continue leading the sustainability movement in
Florida and beyond. The town’s continued growth and success serves as an
inspiration for communities around the world seeking to leave a positive (or
neutral) impact on the planet.
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Chairman/CEO, Kitson & Partners
Syd Kitson is Chairman/CEO of Kitson & Partners — a Florida-based real estate company specializing in the creation and development of environmentally responsible master-planned communities and commercial properties.
Published Sep 19, 2024 2pm EDT / 11am PDT / 7pm BST / 8pm CEST