It’s hard to believe that we are past the halfway point of 2023. Since our last news round-up DPZ has been busy with new projects, updates to master plans that are underway, plus various conferences and events. The three offices have been conducting charrettes and active with several CNU activities, including a strong presence at this past May’s annual conference in Charlotte, NC. The well-attended conference hosted over 1,000 New Urbanists, many of them enthusiastic new faces.
And speaking of new faces, this summer DPZ has been also excited to host several interns at our offices in Miami and Puerto Rico. The annual tradition not only offers useful assistance and fresh eyes with our projects, but also an opportunity for the firm to help teach and nurture the next generation of New Urbanists.
CNU 31 – Charlotte, NC
At CNU-31, DPZ went to listen, present, and reconnect. The reconnection occurred at our #NotABooth, a hub for coffee, conversation, and networking between sessions. Old friends and new interacted with DPZ team members over Cuban cafecito at what quickly became a favorite spot on the booth floor.
Andrés Duany participated in no less than 6 sessions, including his Learning from the Future and Urbanism for a Difficult Future, both featuring some of his innovative community design counter-proposals to recent high-profile, smart city projects that attempt to address global challenges. Not far behind CNU Board member Matt Lambert contributed to 5 sessions, including a couple where he helped present climate migration studies and other research by PLACE Initiative, a group he helped found with young CNUers dedicated to exploring the intersection of climate change and equity issues. At another session Marina Khoury and Galina Tachieva presented several of our recent corridor projects from Saudi Arabia to South Florida demonstrating innovations in coding and climate change response.
In between, DPZers visited several of the great Charlotte-area neighborhoods like Myers Park, Dilworth, and South End. Venturing north of the city, some of our attendees checked out two vintage DPZ projects from the 1990s: the village of Vermillion in Huntersville, and the town center neighborhoods of Cornelius.
As we admired the volume of research and wealth of New Urbanist built projects that was put on display in Charlotte, DPZ was also proud to witness the participation and recognition of talented DPZ alumni. Frequent collaborator and co-author, Jeff Speck was the recipient of two Charter Awards, while Demetri Baches and Mallory Baches, directors/ co-founders of the former DPZ-Pacific affiliate, were honored with a Charter Award as well.
We will also take this opportunity to belatedly congratulate Mallory on being appointed as the new CNU President earlier this year. Meanwhile, another former DPZer, Mike Lydon, was named to the CNU Board.
Lastly, we also celebrate the hard behind-the-scenes work of current DPZer, partner Matt Lambert, for not only contributing to the success of CNU 31, but especially on being named the new Chair of the CNU Board.
The 5-Minute Neighborhood, 15-Minute City, and 20-Minute Suburb
30 years ago the New Urbanism first proposed a neighborhood of a quarter-mile radius, known now as the “5-minute neighborhood”. More recently, the “15-minute city” began receiving much attention and gave sustainable community design renewed vigor. Despite media controversy earlier this year concerning fears about restricted car usage, the focus of this concept remains on walkability and compact development. Worth including in this conversation is the reality of sub-urban distances to retail and community amenities. This inspires a new term: the “20-minute suburb”.
Click here to read more.
Office Hires
2023 DPZ Summer Interns
DPZ has been excited to work with four interns this summer. We want to acknowledge the energy and contributions they brought to our work.
Soon to be completing his Master of Urban Design at the University of Miami this month, Jayvil Patel hails from India where he is a licensed architect.
Jan Deion (JD) Pagarigan came to DPZ after graduating this past May with a Bachelor of Architectural Science from Andrews University where he was president of the AIAS chapter.
Meanwhile, Karla Fidalgo is a rising third-year student at the University of Miami who plans to receive her Bachelor of Architecture (and French) in May of 2026. She is a member of Students for Classical Architecture.
Finally, also returning to school this fall, Puerto Rico native Charlie Crawford hopes to complete his Master of Architecture degree at Tulane University next spring. He has been interning this summer with our DC office’s outpost in Puerto Rico while researching his hometown of Aguadilla for his thesis project.
Project Updates
Arches Bayfront – Fort Myers Beach, FL
This April saw a productive and successful charrette process in Fort Myers Beach with the newly branded Arches Bayfront project. The clients, the Freeland family, have been in the area for over 6 generations and have operated a marina in the downtown since the 1980s.
Moss Marina was among the many businesses and homes that were devasted by Hurricane Ian last year. Seeing an immediate need to restore the economy, the family seeks to reimagine the marina as a mixed-use hotel development highlighted by a 1000 ft.-long public bayfront park.
The project is located at the north end of Fort Myers Beach’s Main Street, Old San Carlos Boulevard. The redevelopment consists of 2-3 hotels with restaurants and shops that will overlook the new waterfront park. The redevelopment also provides a new seawall, expansion of wet slips, a kayak launch, and a new Bayfront pier.
Click here to read more about the project.
Three Corners – Vero Beach, FL
After nearly 4 years of planning, a public charrette, numerous meetings, and a citywide referendum, the steps are in place to move forward with the development of the Three Corners site in Vero Beach, FL.
Last November, the city’s residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of revising the city charter to allow commercial use on this piece of municipal waterfront land that will also include public park space.
A real estate development consultant has been retained to help market the developer RFP that was just issued this month.
Click here to learn more.
Aria – Sandy Springs, GA
As Aria nears a decade of development, it is time to honor the admirable implementation that has been underway by our client homebuilder Ashton Woods, Builder magazine’s 2023 “Builder of the Year”.
Begun in the spring of 2015, this 75-acre community in the Atlanta suburb of Sandy Springs is in the vicinity of several employment centers near GA-400 and I-285, including the Mercedes-Benz US Headquarters.
Click here to read more.
In the Press
Local Now Feature
Andres was interviewed on Local Now’s “This and That” podcast to discuss the importance of urban walkability and the popularity, as well as recent skepticism and backlash, surrounding the “15-minute city” concept.
Click here to watch the feature
Atlanta Real Estate Forum Podcast: Pam Sessions
Pam Sessions, President of Hedgewood Homes, interviews for an episode of the Atlanta Real Estate Forum Radio podcast. Hedgewood hired DPZ over 20 years ago to master plan their Vickery Village north of Atlanta.
Click here to listen to the full interview.
Santa Fe New Mexican: Aldea de Santa Fe
With global warming, skyrocketing real estate prices, and housing shortages coming to the forefront of many municipal discussions, it is time to acknowledge the solutions and benefits that New Urbanism can offer these challenging times.
This editorial from the Santa Fe newspaper cites DPZ’s Aldea de Santa Fe community designed in the mid-1990s as just such an example of sustainable development that rejected the suburban sprawl practices of the past.
It highlights the mix of uses and amenities within the walkable Aldea master plan and how, now that most of the residential component is built, it is time to complete the vision with the hospitality, live/work, and other health-related commercial ventures once promised.
Click here to read more of Chris Webster’s comments on climate change and New Urbanism.
Mt Laurel Celebrates its 25th Anniversary
DPZ-planned community Mt Laurel (Birmingham, Alabama) celebrates 25 years since its founding.
The master plan was completed in 1998, and since then Mt Laurel has prospered into a thriving community with coffee shops, restaurants, and civic spaces.
Read Grace Thornton’s feature here.
Awards
Outstanding Smart Growth Project Award
Longtime DPZ friend and client Buff Chace is the recipient of the 2023 Outstanding Smart Growth Project Award from Grow Smart Rhode Island.
The award is specifically honoring his Westminster Street Revitalization efforts, a primary focus of DPZ’s 1991 Downcity Providence Master Plan and follow-up charrette in 2003.
Buff and the company he founded, Cornish Associates, are being recognized for 30 years of innovative and adaptive re-use techniques to save and restore key portions of this historic downtown.
“Now comprising twelve separate projects, the critical mass redevelopment represents more than 300 new residential apartments, 40,000 square feet of retail space, and 27,000 square feet of office space that have systematically catalyzed the central core of Downtown Providence.”
DPZ congratulates Buff and his team on this much-deserved honor.
Watch the full video feature here.
Westhaven
Congratulations to Southern Land Company and Westhaven in Franklin, TN, on being selected as a winner of the NAHB Best in American Living Awards.
DPZ designed the master plan for the community in November 2000. We are delighted to see this recognition for Tim Downey and Southern Land Company.
The Prince’s Foundation
The Prince’s Foundation honored Tornagrain and Chapelton in their annual awards this year. Tornagrain won The Landowner Award for guiding and delivering the conservation area of tomorrow, while Chapelton received a bronze award for Outsanding Contribution to Community Activities. Congratulations!
Seafront Residences
Congratulations to Seafront Residences for receiving the FIABCI Philippines’ Property & Real Estate Excellence Silver Award in the Environmental Category.
The award aims to highlight developments for their commitment to conservation of their respective community’s natural environment.
Yale Honorary Degrees: AMD & EPZ
Congratulations to Lizz and Andres for receiving honorary DFAs (Doctorate of Fine Arts) from Yale University.
“For renewing our concept of the urban environment, and for advocating ‘smart growth’ and walkable cities over unsustainable sprawl, we proudly present you both with your second Yale degrees, Doctor of Fine Arts.”
Click here to read more from Yale.
From Andres Duany
This year, DPZ also contributed to several local CNU chapter events.
Codes, Marketing Green & The Public Process – CNU FL Summit
At the CNU-FL Summit that took place in February in Orlando, Lizz spoke on the topic of Form-Based Codes. Andrés gave two presentations. One was an update on his Marketing Green; and the other was his Public Participation (The Multiple Publics) keynote on the public process.
Density Without Urbanism / Urbanism Without Density – CNU DC Council
In late March, the CNU DC Chapter hosted a council on the Density without Urbanism / Urbanism without Density Council to discuss the delicate relationship between climate mitigation and typical urban design.
This series of lectures and discussions was organized by Matthew Bell, Andrés Duany, and Dhiru Thadani.
At the opening, Andrés presented the ideas that inspired the council topic in comparing the low-density urbanism of Williamsburg, VA, and the high-rise density of Shenzhen, China. He underscored the importance of distinguishing between net and gross densities and being realistic about transportation and transit options. Lizz gave a presentation on urbanism and housing based on the principles of “defensible space” defined by architect, planner, and urban theorist Oscar Newman. Both DPZ and the University of Miami were among the event sponsors.
Click here to view the full lecture series.
