Huckelberry Creek

Worldwide Participation Sought for the Creation of a New Florida Town

Huckelberry Creek to Embrace New Urbanism Concepts While Remaining Sensitive to the Environment

A global audience is encouraged to share their individual thoughts and perspectives on the creation of a new town, Huckelberry Creek, during a week-long community and web-based charrette in Panama City, Florida August 8 - 14. World-renowned new urbanism design firm Duany Plater-Zyberk (DZP) will facilitate the intensive planning session for citizens, government leaders, designers and others to collaborate on a vision for development.

Soon to be developed by the Epoch Corporation, Huckelberry Creek is a 2,132-acre site located in the woodlands just north of downtown Panama City in Bay County near Highways 231 and 390. The property gets its name from the creek that naturally winds throughout the uninhabited pine forest and the huckleberry bushes that grow in the area.

The Epoch Corporation's President and CEO Antonio J. Cabrera Jr. anticipates heavy local, national and international interest during Huckelberry Creek's developmental process because it rests in the epicenter of the region's growth.

“Panama City must expand to the north since it is landlocked by the Gulf and neighboring municipalities,” said Cabrera. “By the time Huckelberry Creek begins construction in 2010, the city will have annexed land adjacent to the property and the first U.S. international airport approved in the last 10 yrs will be built just a few miles away.”

“We envision an environmentally sensitive new urban community that provides desirable housing for working families, relaxing solitude for retirees, and unique experiences for foreign visitors,” said Cabrera. “I believe this charrette will allow every person who participates to be mutual author of the plan and give immediate feedback to the designers.”

Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk of Duany Plater-Zyberk (DPZ), a major leader in the practice and direction of urban planning, having designed more than 300 new and existing communities in the United States and overseas, who is leading the team of design experts and consultants said many goals would be accomplished during the charrette.

“First, everyone who has a stake in the project develops a vested interest in the ultimate vision,” said Plater-Zyberk. “Next, the design team works together to produce a set of finished documents that address all aspects of design. Since the input of all the players is gathered at one event, it is possible to avoid the prolonged discussions that typically delay conventional planning projects.”

“Finally, the finished result is produced more efficiently and cost-effectively because the process is collaborative,” she said.

Since its founding in 1980, Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company (DPZ) has designed new resorts, towns, community revitalization developments and regional plans. The firm's designs have had a major influence on the practice and direction of town and urban planning in the United States.

The firm's early project of the town of Seaside in the Florida panhandle was the first authentic new town to be built successfully in the United States within the past 50 years. Seaside garnered numerous awards and international recognition for its incorporation of environmental conservation, sense of place and community, and a new approach to development economics. A significant aspect of DPZ's work is its innovative use of planning regulations, which accompany each design project. Other noteable developments include coastal new urbanism towns Rosemary Beach and Alys Beach, Fla.

Andrés Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, co-founders of DPZ, have dedicated their careers to proposing beautiful and practical alternatives to suburban sprawl and urban deterioration. They have produced regional conservation and development plans for counties in Florida and New York, as well as new traditional neighborhood and rebuilding plans throughout the country and abroad. Abroad, DPZ projects are underway in Scotland, Spain, Canada, Germany, Belgium, Australia, the Philippines, Mexico, India and Turkey. Urban redevelopment plans for existing communities include: Baton Rouge, Louisiana; West Palm Beach, Naples, Sarasota, and Fort Myers, Florida; and Providence, Rhode Island. In addition, the firm is rewriting the entire City of Miami zoning code in the groundbreaking Miami 21 project. You can learn more about the firm at http://www.dpz.com.

The Epoch Corporation specializes in combining a diversified range of investors and real estate professionals to identify and develop unique opportunities. The visionary team creates significant commercial and residential projects in key locations that often open an undervalued area to future growth.

The Epoch Corporation has acted as general contractor or developed and sold an array of successful real estate projects since 1986. Each project is conceived and carried out with consummate expertise, due to the team's deep, first-hand knowledge of construction management, general contracting, real estate financing, marketing, and a wide-ranging network of distinguished business and professional contacts.

The principals have carried out major projects in Florida for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Miami-Dade County, and private companies. Award-winning work includes the Regions Bank building in Coral Gables, Fla., designed by Arquitectonica, and the Ocean Bank building in Miami Beach, Fla. The company developed the Development of Regional Impact (DRI) project that includes the Ocean Bank headquarters and office building on LeJeune Road in Coral Gables, Fla.

The Epoch Corporation's largest concept is the 2,900-unit River Front development along the north bank of the Miami River, which encompasses six condominium towers of 41 to 51 stories, 120,000 feet of commercial space and 80,000 square-feet of retail. Riverfront's first two buildings Ivy and Wind are slated for completion in 2008. You can learn more about the company on its website: http://www.theepochcorp.com.