- HIVE 50 CATEGORY: STRATEGY
In 2016, Syd Kitson, chairman and CEO of Kitson & Partners, received one of the first HIVE Innovator nominations for Babcock Ranch, Fla., a town master planned around sustainability and smart growth. Now the community is in its first phase of home construction, with residents officially moved into its Lake Timber neighborhood and a grand opening celebration held in March 2018.
Babcock Ranch covers 73,000 acres in south Florida, with 80% set aside as permanent preservation upon purchase in 2006. The town will contain 19,500 new homes and 6 million square feet of commercial space when complete. A 75-megawatt solar plant and a battery storage system provide clean, renewable energy for the entire town, and every home and business is equipped with high-speed fiber-optic networks. All homes meet Florida Green Building Coalition standards, landscaping requires at least 75% native plant materials, and all irrigation is conducted with reused water. Alternate transportation infrastructure includes autonomous shuttles and car charging stations.
Homes at Babcock Ranch start in the low $200,000s, thanks to a combination of advanced technologies and economies of scale focused on lowering cost barriers to entry.
