April 22, 2008
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080422/CABJ/804220303/1132
'A sense of place'
By David Zaslawsky
MONTGOMERY - In so many ways, on so many levels, Hudson is unlike any other residential development in Montgomery.
Its size is imposing: 2,100-plus acres, which means that you could fit the entire site of Hyundai's manufacturing plant in Montgomery on Hudson land and still have nearly 360 acres left over.
Its projected cost of $2.5 billion is the equivalent of the Hyundai plant and its expansion of a second engine plant ($1.4 billion) and the cost of the Kia plant in West Point, Ga., on the Alabama border ($1 billion).
Hudson will feature 1,300 acres of undeveloped land, which is larger than The Waters' 1,250-acre residential development and nearly as large as the 1,400-plus acre New Park residential development.
Over a 20-year period, 10,000-15,000 people are expected to live at Hudson's 3,000-plus units in East Montgomery, which is situated between The Waters and the 416-acre Hampstead residential development, which will have 1,800 units.
But what truly sets Hudson apart from other developments is not size or capital investment. Hudson is being developed as a town, formed by a series of neighborhoods as well as farm facilities, cattle facilities, equestrian facilities, school facility, recreational facilities and nearly 7 miles of trails throughout the community.
What other residential development in the River Region is a working beef cattle ranch or will offer farm-to-table food at an upscale restaurant at an inn?
"The site is big enough so we are able to design a town comprised of neighborhoods that demonstrate the full progression from a small, urban village center to rural farm estates and open woodlands, pastures and restored prairie lands," said Nick Murray, project executive for Denver-based Urban Villages, who is guiding the project along with Chad Adams, director of land development for the firm.
Urban Villages has "pulled together one of the strongest teams of town planners and ecological designers ever assembled to work on a new town," Murray said.
That team includes town planners Dover Kohl & Partners, which also was responsible for downtown Montgomery's revitalization plan; Andropogon Associates, an ecological design firm in Philadelphia; and Jeff Speck, a former director of town planning for Duany Plater-Zyberk and former director of design of the National Endowment for the Arts.
Those heavy hitters along with Urban Villages are transforming the 3.3-square-mile property into something unique not only to Montgomery, but has caught the attention of Yale University's graduate School of Forestry and Environmental Studies as well as Auburn University's College of Agriculture, Design and Construction. Both the universities are using Hudson as "an ongoing case study," according to Murray.
"What we're selling is community and place," Adams said. "We are trying to create a real place. We are not doing 'Dreamy Acres Farm. We've tried to plan as much as possible - why would a place grow here? What would be the triggers -- economical, cultural and physical aspects that would shape and inform how you would do it?
"The real goal here is to create place because so much of the country is placeless. How can we bring out what is best about the place and reveal it, amplify it and accentuate it? We see this as a way to really put Montgomery and Alabama on the world stage in terms of forward thinking and planning."
It has been a painstakingly approach. The town of Hudson was designed around the land - the critical component of the development. The idea was to preserve the surroundings.
"All of the design and planning work pursued to date has been with the intent of a pretty extensive understanding of the site conditions - trying to understand the topography, the hydrogeology, vegetation and habitat corridors," Murray said.
"The entire town of Hudson is designed around all of the distinct vegetation and greenways that are here. Furthermore, it's designed in such a way that it can strengthen and even restore the landscape."
The land was so carefully studied that a helicopter with laser sets was used. Adams said the result was a 6-inch topography of Hudson instead of viewing one-foot or two-foot contour intervals.
The measurements were so precise that "we know where every little undulation is," Adams said. "We have the heights on all vegetation on the property. We know that if a drop of water ends up on the property - we know what direction it's going to go - anywhere on the property."
That attention detail led the team to plan neighborhoods, roads and buildings "in a way that they are best fitting with the existing land," Adams said. "We are fitting the town into the place rather than just making it a moonscape and that allows us to protect just about every tree that's on the property. The plan is to minimize the amount of disturbance that we do on the site."
Of course, that attention to detail will also be applied to the homes at Hudson. Construction on the first homes will be in 2009, Murray said, but infrastructure work will begin this year.
Murray said that the homes "will incorporate intimate and private outdoor spaces," modern floor plans and conveniences, energy-efficient and "be rooted in timeless architectural styles."
Home prices will range from the high $100,000s to close to $1 million. Single-family detached homes will range from 1,300 square feet to 3,700-plus square feet with prices from the mid-$200,000 to $750,000-plus. Murray said there will be townhouses, lofts and apartments from 1,000 square feet to 1,550 square feet and prices from the high $100,000s to $300,000. Hudson will also offer apartments for rent, ranging from 800-1,200 square feet.
Each neighborhood will feature elderly living accommodations. Murray said the development is focusing on "age-in-place housing designs." He said the current trend is for people to want to age in their home.
"We want dignity for the aging population," Adams said. "We don't want to send someone off to a home - we want them to be part of the community as much as they want to be. That's part of the town fabric. As long as they are able to walk, they can walk down to the corner store with dignity and get what they need for their daily needs."
Murray and Adams stress that the town of Hudson will be multigenerational with an aging population mingling with children walking to an elementary school on the property.
"(Hudson) is a place where you can live throughout different life stages and it is equally suited to someone with young children," Murray said.
"The neighborhoods will have distinctive size, shape, character and feel," Adams said. "One thing we've seen in traditional neighborhood developments is that too much of a good thing is too much. You have to diversify the density and the form in order to create a real place."
The neighborhoods will feature key civic buildings, meeting halls, parks and amphitheaters, according to Murray.
He said there will be corner shops, live-work units, small commercial spaces in the neighborhoods and retail space for restaurants, banks and boutiques.
"We will have all the amenities of any good urban center," Adams said. "In terms of quality, it will be very high across the board and the relationship to nature will be such that you will have access in close proximity, but you don't have to be a part of it if you don't want to. We are not forcing it upon the people. We are providing it as an opportunity."
Murray said one of the first construction projects at Hudson is the farm compound: barn and farm manager's house. But don't get the wrong impression.
"To be clear, this is not meant to be hokey rustic," Adams said. "We are going to have world-class restaurants - real high-end stuff. It's just that we're working with the place to create the meaning for the town."
Murray explained what Hudson is all about.
"The more we looked at the Montgomery community, we realized that it's rapidly losing its rural lands. We thought the opportunity with this land is how do you really design a community that allows through the sales of homes - allows the Hudsons to harvest value in the land - but at the same time preserve and enhance the landscape here in a broad community sense and connect people with the heritage of the land. That's in a nutshell of what we're trying to do."
Murray said that after Fitz Hudson's father, Jerry Hudson, died the family was reviewing their options.
"Our firm began working with them to evaluate whether there was an opportunity to pursue a legacy development project. They've had a really long ownership of this land and it is a beautiful site and something they feel very passionately about.
"While they want to harvest some value in the land, they feel passionately about preserving what they see as a beautiful piece of land and also doing some great for the Montgomery community.
"So we began working with them to evaluate whether there would be an opportunity to pursue a legacy development approach here: How could they create something of enduring value and perhaps something of real good for the broader community?"
David Zaslawsky is editor of the Central Alabama Business Journal. You can call him at (334) 230-2225 or e-mail at
[email protected]
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I am very glad they have saved that old building. Has anyone heard anymore about the fourth hotel?
It was ok... I guess.
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