Having the best of both worlds is not an easy thing to achieve, that’s why Babcock Ranch in Southwest Florida is so proud to present their housing community to the world. Situated in both Charlotte and Lee counties near Fort Myers, Babcock Ranch is planned to become the first solar-powered city in the U.S. upon completion. It will feature homes designed for small families and there will be amenities nearby such as restaurants, soccer camps for kids and townfair events. Moreover, one of the defining features of Babcock Ranch is that while it is a very modern and eco-friendly city, it will maintain an American small town charm – talk about having your cake and eating it too!
The place was named after Edward Vose Bobcock, mayor of Pittsburgh (1918–1922), who purchased the land in 1914. It was used mainly as a source of logging and agricultural products until the Babcock family sold it to the state of Florida in 1990. After a long bidding process, all 91,000 acres of it was purchased by former professional American football player Syd Kitson who runs the Florida real estate development firm Kitson & Partners in 2005. Then, Kitson & Partners resold 74,000 acres of the land back to the state of Florida for environmental protection reasons.
Today, Babcock Ranch is being constructed for housing purposes and the construction was laid out on November 2015 and the official opening of the construction was celebrated in Earth Day 2016. The development for the area is a public-private partnership and so will include a 75-megawatt solar photovoltaic array which broke ground in 2016 courtesy of the Florida Power & Light Company.
As part of its developmental efforts to make the city truly technologically modern, a driver-less shuttle which takes children to school began its operations in January 2018. This electric shuttle will runs once a week and picks up grade-schoolers at 7:30, then takes them straight to school – all without a driver. However, there will be a chief operator who will act as an attendant on-board and will be in charge of the doors plus the assisting of the passengers.
A nice feature of Bobcock Ranch is its downtown area with is its array of restaurants that will surely please the palette, complete with live music and an amazing lakefront view. There also will be healthy fruit juices and salads at the market cafe. You are also welcome to take a quiet stroll by the boardwalk or take a break from the bright sun by relaxing under a cool shade. Or, if you like, you can pump up the action and get a view of the lake up close by renting an electric powered charter or by simply renting a kayak. It doesn’t matter when you arrive, there is always something nice happening in the Bobcock Ranch, whether its a weekly, quarterly or annual event. And the epicenter of these events will almost always be in the Founder’s Square right in the heart of the Bobcock Ranch downtown area.
So, if you think Bobcock Ranch is a place for you to invest a home in or just perhaps to visit, the place is always open for visitors and investors and you can learn more about the place in their website.
