Developers Kitson and Partners unveiled Babcock Ranch in Charlotte County today. It will be the first town in the nation primarily powered by solar energy, along with a few other surprises.
A decade in the making, Babcock Ranch plans to marry a small, hometown feel with modern technology. Construction has begun on 1,100 single and multi-family homes that will be finished by next year. They’ll cost anywhere between $200,000 and $900,000.
Developer SydKitson said the town will have about 70,000 square feet of commercial space.
“What you see behind us is Phase 1 under construction, which includes the first neighborhood that we have and our town square,” Kitson said. “It’s going to have a health and wellness center. It’s going to have an education research center. It’ll have a general store with an incubator on top of our discovery center, which is our offices and an outfitters, and it’ll also have a restaurant.”
The downtown district will include a K-8 charter school. Kitson said they hope to have the school ready for enrollment in the fall of 2017. He also said Babcock Ranch will use driverless vehicles to transport people and goods throughout the town.
Construction begins on the town square in June.
