SWA provided comprehensive master planning services for a new 4,700-acre community located near the foothills of California’s San Joaquin Valley. Envisioned as a sustainable, “smart growth” town located on less productive agricultural land, the community is designed to provide an internal balance of jobs and housing to mitigate traffic impacts. Working for the master developer in coordination with County agencies, SWA assisted in organizing a Community Services District to finance infrastructure for the new town. The major planning objective was to establish a true town, comprehensively planned to support a viable mixed community. The concept offers the following opportunities: • A balance of jobs, housing and community services, and a financial structure to pay as it grows. • A better way to manage growth and protect agriculture. The project resulted in a compact pattern of community development located on less desirable farmland, and serves as a fiscal relief valve to the County. • A location near existing transportation facilities and job centers on poorer quality farmland, making Mountain House a superior location for a planned community within the region. Mountain House Metrics • 4,700-acre new community • Accommodate 45,000 people in 16,000 units • Provide 13,100 jobs Mountain House Elements • Town center square and lake • Three village centers • Twelve neighborhoods each with K-8 school & neighborhood • Affordable family housing • Pedestrian oriented shopping • Full range of civic uses • Commercial and industrial zones • Conservation Corridor along Mountain House Creek • Bikeways and shelterbelts • 400-boat marina • Riverfront park on Old River • Golf course
Cross Creek Ranch
The Cross Creek Ranch acreage was worn-down pasture land when Trendmaker Homes bought the ranch, located about 30 miles west of Houston. The curves of the land’s natural creek had been straightened, the grass was pounded by cattle and the property was barren, without trees. Sediment filled the creek, which no longer supported wildlife. SWA devised a plan to re...
Shady Canyon
Shady Canyon is a 1,070-acre residential community and land preservation project in the heart of bustling, master-planned Orange County. The project carefully integrates the natural environment into every aspect of the community which consists of 400 custom and builder homes, a golf course that preserves important biological resources, swim center, recreation ...
Quail Hill
This mixed-use planned community of over 6,000 people features over 2,000 dwellings in a broad mix of single family detached dwellings, and over 500 multifamily dwellings, complemented by a retail center and 800,000 square feet of flexible development. . Prominent natural landforms such as the Southern Ridge and the three knolls have been preserved and incorpo...
Santaluz
This planned community 30 minutes north of San Diego is a testament to the collaboration of a visionary client, talented land planner, and creative designers and marketers. Set gracefully on its rolling site and preserving over half its acreage as open space, Santaluz is both a model of environmental planning and a financial success, out-performing all its loc...