Daybreak wins national community of the year and smart growth honors
The Daybreak Community received coveted industry honors yesterday as the National Association of Home Builders awarded them with the 2010 Community of the Year and a Platinum Award for a Suburban Smart Growth as part of the Best in American Living Awards (BALA). The awards recognize developers, builders and architects from around the country who create enduring communities that reduce environmental impacts.
Daybreak’s Smart Growth planning adopts many of the early twentieth century building principals by creating communities that are self-sustaining with jobs, retail spaces, recreation and other life essentials within its space. This approach to community development has proven to withstand the test of time in Utah and around the country as many of these types of neighborhoods such as Sugar House, Harvard/Yale, and the Avenues district in Salt Lake City continue to be popular with home buyers and consistently retain their value over time. Placing schools, shops, restaurants, parks, and transit options closer to home reduces dependence on cars and is part of Daybreak’s smart growth plan. Additional components of this plan include bringing the Mid-Jordan TRAX light rail line to Daybreak with service beginning in August 2011, and the 2009 opening of the SoDa Row retail district featuring 10 locally owned and operated merchants. Additionally, University of Utah Healthcare will open the South Jordan Health Care Center this fall – a 208,000-square-foot multi-specialty clinic adjacent to the south TRAX station. “It’s gratifying to be acknowledged as being in a position to deliver on our vision,” said Ty McCutcheon, Vice President of Community Development, Kennecott. “We have found that the decisions we made early to construct homes that save energy and water, offer transportation choices, and provide homes and yards that free up time to enjoy nearby parks, are all things that resonate with home buyers in the current economic environment where we are defining a fullness to life while living within our means.”
These awards come on the heels of other milestones for the mixed-use planned community in South Jordan. The community has seen strong growth during the past few years in retail, commercial, and residential sectors amidst a challenging economy. Since opening six years ago, Daybreak has grown to more than 2,500 households and nearly 9,000 residents. In 2009, Daybreak was ranked as the sixth best selling master planned community (volume) in the U.S. by RCLCO (Robert Charles Lesser & Co., LLC) a leading independent real estate advisory firm. During the past four years, Daybreak has been the top selling community for new homes in Utah with one in five new homes sold in Salt Lake County located in Daybreak.
