Developing Successful & Sustainable Planned Communities With Tom Hoban – RFP 54

When most developers talk about community, they’re referring to lot sizes, traffic patterns, and maybe a town square with a few restaurants. But when Tom Hoban talks about community, he’s talking about something radically different.

In Episode 54 of The Real Finds Podcast, host Gordon Lamphere speaks with Hoban—President and CIO of Kitson & Partners—about one of the most ambitious real estate developments in the United States: Babcock Ranch. Located in Southwest Florida and spanning 18,000 acres, Babcock Ranch isn’t just a master-planned community—it’s a fully realized blueprint for sustainable, resilient, and forward-thinking living.

And it’s already changing how developers, planners, and even commercial real estate agents think about growth in the 21st century.

Sustainability First—By Design, Not as an Add-On

From the very beginning, Babcock Ranch was envisioned as a response to the conventional development model. Rather than maximize land value and retrofit later, the team prioritized environmental sensitivity at the core of the planning process.

“We set aside more than half the property for conservation before putting a single shovel in the ground,” Hoban explains.

That decision wasn’t just ethical—it was strategic. Florida’s coastal regions are uniquely vulnerable to hurricanes, rising sea levels, and extreme heat. By designing around natural systems, including wetlands and wildlife corridors, Babcock Ranch is inherently more resilient to the environmental volatility that threatens many other new developments.

But sustainability wasn’t limited to the natural landscape. Hoban’s team integrated solar fields, fiber-optic internet, autonomous shuttles, and LEED-level building standards to reduce the carbon footprint of daily life.

Affordable Housing—Baked Into the Master Plan

While the environmental side of Babcock Ranch is groundbreaking, what really stands out is the community’s approach to affordability.

“We committed to reserving 10% of all homes for attainable housing,” Hoban shares.

That might not sound radical until you consider the typical pricing dynamics of a high-demand, master-planned community in Florida. Many similar developments push working families out of the market entirely. Babcock Ranch has taken the opposite approach, integrating affordable homes directly into the same neighborhoods as market-rate ones, without compromising access to green space, amenities, or connectivity.

It’s an intentional way to foster economic diversity and create multigenerational, resilient communities where teachers, first responders, and service workers can live alongside remote workers and retirees.

The Post-Pandemic Town: Designed for Remote Work and Mental Health

One of the more fascinating parts of the conversation with Hoban is how Babcock Ranch was unintentionally ahead of its time when it came to the remote work revolution.

“The pandemic validated a lot of our design choices,” Hoban says.

With built-in gigabit-speed fiber across the entire community, residents had everything they needed to work from home long before remote work became the norm. Combined with ample parks, walking trails, and community spaces, the development offers an antidote to urban stress.

This wasn’t an accident. Hoban notes that health and wellness were “pillar-level priorities” from the outset, ranging from access to outdoor fitness to embedded mental health programming and neighborhood gathering places that reduce isolation.

Mixed-Use Without the Traffic Jam

Another core principle at Babcock Ranch is convenience. Not in the “Amazon Prime” sense—but in the way the town is physically structured to reduce commutes and encourage walkability.

“We wanted people to be able to live, work, and shop without needing to get in a car every time,” Hoban says.

To achieve this, the developers built true mixed-use neighborhoods—where residential units are co-located with schools, offices, retail, and recreation. The result? Fewer long drives. More spontaneous interactions. And a sense of place that most suburban developments never achieve.

This vision runs counter to the siloed zoning strategies that dominate suburban planning across the U.S. But it’s exactly the kind of thinking that urban planners and sustainability advocates have been pushing for decades. At Babcock Ranch, it’s working.

Retail in a Town Built for the Future

Hoban also offered a thoughtful perspective on the evolution of retail in planned communities, especially as e-commerce continues to reshape consumer behavior.

“It’s not about square footage anymore—it’s about experience,” he says.

Rather than anchor the community around big-box retailers or strip malls, Babcock Ranch is curating retail tenants that offer services and spaces people actually want to linger in. Coffee shops, wellness studios, and curated local brands are taking priority over traditional chains.

This retail mix isn’t just more sustainable—it’s more reflective of the values of the community. In a post-COVID world, residents are less interested in transactional shopping and more drawn to spaces that provide interaction, personalization, and atmosphere.

What Babcock Ranch Means for the Future of Development

For anyone in the business of real estate—whether as a planner, developer, investor, or commercial real estate agent—Babcock Ranch offers a tangible case study in what’s possible when long-term thinking guides every step of a project.

It challenges the assumption that scale and sustainability are mutually exclusive. It proves that affordability can coexist with high-quality design. And it shows that resilience isn’t just about surviving storms—it’s about designing for everyday life in a way that supports health, convenience, and community.

As remote work becomes embedded, as climate change accelerates, and as consumer expectations evolve, more developments will need to follow Babcock Ranch’s lead. The days of maximizing lots and minimizing infrastructure are numbered. The future belongs to those who design with intention.

Takeaways for Developers and Planners

Here are five key lessons from the conversation with Tom Hoban:

1. Lead With Nature: Conservation doesn’t have to be an obstacle—it can be a value-add for both residents and investors.

2. Bake in Affordability Early: Housing diversity strengthens communities and improves long-term economic resilience.

3. Plan for Remote Work: Fiber connectivity and work-friendly infrastructure should be non-negotiables.

4. Design for Mental Wellness: Parks, trails, and shared spaces aren’t luxuries—they’re foundational to modern living.

5. Rethink Retail: Experience and community alignment matter more than square footage and parking ratios.

Final Thoughts

Babcock Ranch is more than a development—it’s a generational reset on how we think about building communities. And as Tom Hoban’s work shows, sustainability and scale don’t have to be at odds. With vision, discipline, and the right team, it’s possible to create places that not only survive the future—but shape it.

 Want More?
Listen to the full conversation with George Carrillo on The Real Finds Podcast. Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.