Inside Hunt
Hunt Communities To Build City's First Smart Growth Master-Planned Development
January 1, 2007
EL PASO, TX - (April 27, 2007) - Hunt Communities, an El Paso-based affiliate of Hunt Building Corporation, is set to launch the beginning phase of Cimarron, the largest master-planned community of its kind in the El Paso area. To be located in the foothills of the Franklin Mountains on El Paso’s west side, Cimarron is unique in that it will be master-planned, from concept to construction, and will follow the principles of Smart Growth - including environmental protections and covenants not found in traditional residential developments.
Subject to approval by the city, Cimarron will be built on 850-plus acres, and will feature approximately 1,800 residential home sites, 15 parks, over seven miles of jogging/walking/biking trails, one elementary school, and approximately 225 acres of open space . The three core components of Cimarron consist of retail and commercial properties, urban properties, and mountain residential properties.
Cimarron’s retail and commercial properties will be located primarily on the corner of Resler Drive and Paseo del Norte Boulevard, with access to Interstate 10. Plans for this component include shops, restaurants, entertainment venues, offices, and other commercial venues.
The urban properties will offer a mix of residential choices in diversified neighborhoods, including town homes, condominiums, patio homes, and other single-family living options.
The residential properties will feature lower-density, mountain home sites that will follow Cimarron’s adherence to the natural landscape and environmental features of the development. These homes will have strict covenants for indigenous architectural integrity and visual appeal.
The master-planned community will offer all residents wide-open views of both the Franklin Mountains and the Rio Grande Valley. Residents will also have access to a six-acre park, mixed-use town center, and walking, hiking, and biking trails throughout the entire Cimarron community. The entire development will feature landscaped medians, paths to nature trails and parks, and simpler, easy-to-use pedestrian flows.
Woody Hunt, Chairman of Hunt Building Corporation, said that the Cimarron development will be a first for El Paso, and a step up in making the City competitive with other southwestern cities. "This master-planned development is the first 'Smart Growth'-inspired development in El Paso,” said Hunt. He added, “Those principles demand that all development is executed for humans and nature – to preserve what is there, but at the same time to enhance the quality of life for El Pasoans.” Hunt said other southwestern cities are ahead of El Paso in true master-planned communities of this kind, and it’s a competitive disadvantage in attracting business and labor to the area. “We hope that Cimarron is something that all El Pasoans will be proud of,” said Hunt. “We feel it has short- and long-range potential for making El Paso a better place – a city to be positively considered for relocation or for visiting.”
For the planning and development of Cimarron, Hunt has contracted and is working with the Santa Fe office of Design Workshop, an award-winning, international firm specializing in land planning. Sites Southwest, a recognized landscape architecture firm, will design all parks, entry signage, and trail systems, and El Paso-based CSA Consulting Engineers, will provide engineering services for Cimarron.
“We are very excited to announce the launch of Cimarron,” said Doug Wright, President of Hunt Communities. “Of course, our master plan must be approved by the city, but we are confident that we are moving in a direction that City Council, City Staff and the citizens of El Paso desire. It is a big honor, as well as a big responsibility, to be El Paso’s pioneer in the true, master-planned concept of residential and commercial developments. Cimarron will be the result of years of planning, requiring a full understanding of our natural landscapes and the means to preserve our environment.”
Wright said these tenets are part of new processes and technologies that are widely termed as ‘Smart Growth’ principles. “What these principles call on us to do is to design a community with amenities such as open areas, preserved arroyos, mixed-use components, and other design elements for better living. We must also respect and protect what already exists,” he said.
Cimarron’s first residential lots are expected to be delivered in the summer of 2007.
About Hunt
Hunt Communities is an affiliate of Hunt Building Corporation. Founded in 1947, Hunt Building Corporation and its affiliated companies provide a full range of development, design, construction, investment, and asset/property management services. The companies have been headquartered in El Paso and operated by the Hunt family for four generations. Other Hunt affiliated companies are Hunt Development Group, Hunt Building Company, Hunt Administrative Services, and Hunt NR.
About Design Workshop
Design Workshop is a landscape architecture, land planning, urban design and tourism planning firm. It combines principles of Smart Growth, sustainable design and environmentally-sound planning to reconcile economic needs with the preservation of scenic, cultural and community values. Design Workshop has been providing these services for almost four decades to developers, property owners, government agencies and other clients engaged in improvements to the land. In addition to the Santa Fe Office which is working with Hunt on the Cimarron Master Plan, Design Workshop has six other offices throughout the United States.
Subject to approval by the city, Cimarron will be built on 850-plus acres, and will feature approximately 1,800 residential home sites, 15 parks, over seven miles of jogging/walking/biking trails, one elementary school, and approximately 225 acres of open space . The three core components of Cimarron consist of retail and commercial properties, urban properties, and mountain residential properties.
Cimarron’s retail and commercial properties will be located primarily on the corner of Resler Drive and Paseo del Norte Boulevard, with access to Interstate 10. Plans for this component include shops, restaurants, entertainment venues, offices, and other commercial venues.
The urban properties will offer a mix of residential choices in diversified neighborhoods, including town homes, condominiums, patio homes, and other single-family living options.
The residential properties will feature lower-density, mountain home sites that will follow Cimarron’s adherence to the natural landscape and environmental features of the development. These homes will have strict covenants for indigenous architectural integrity and visual appeal.
The master-planned community will offer all residents wide-open views of both the Franklin Mountains and the Rio Grande Valley. Residents will also have access to a six-acre park, mixed-use town center, and walking, hiking, and biking trails throughout the entire Cimarron community. The entire development will feature landscaped medians, paths to nature trails and parks, and simpler, easy-to-use pedestrian flows.
Woody Hunt, Chairman of Hunt Building Corporation, said that the Cimarron development will be a first for El Paso, and a step up in making the City competitive with other southwestern cities. "This master-planned development is the first 'Smart Growth'-inspired development in El Paso,” said Hunt. He added, “Those principles demand that all development is executed for humans and nature – to preserve what is there, but at the same time to enhance the quality of life for El Pasoans.” Hunt said other southwestern cities are ahead of El Paso in true master-planned communities of this kind, and it’s a competitive disadvantage in attracting business and labor to the area. “We hope that Cimarron is something that all El Pasoans will be proud of,” said Hunt. “We feel it has short- and long-range potential for making El Paso a better place – a city to be positively considered for relocation or for visiting.”
For the planning and development of Cimarron, Hunt has contracted and is working with the Santa Fe office of Design Workshop, an award-winning, international firm specializing in land planning. Sites Southwest, a recognized landscape architecture firm, will design all parks, entry signage, and trail systems, and El Paso-based CSA Consulting Engineers, will provide engineering services for Cimarron.
“We are very excited to announce the launch of Cimarron,” said Doug Wright, President of Hunt Communities. “Of course, our master plan must be approved by the city, but we are confident that we are moving in a direction that City Council, City Staff and the citizens of El Paso desire. It is a big honor, as well as a big responsibility, to be El Paso’s pioneer in the true, master-planned concept of residential and commercial developments. Cimarron will be the result of years of planning, requiring a full understanding of our natural landscapes and the means to preserve our environment.”
Wright said these tenets are part of new processes and technologies that are widely termed as ‘Smart Growth’ principles. “What these principles call on us to do is to design a community with amenities such as open areas, preserved arroyos, mixed-use components, and other design elements for better living. We must also respect and protect what already exists,” he said.
Cimarron’s first residential lots are expected to be delivered in the summer of 2007.
About Hunt
Hunt Communities is an affiliate of Hunt Building Corporation. Founded in 1947, Hunt Building Corporation and its affiliated companies provide a full range of development, design, construction, investment, and asset/property management services. The companies have been headquartered in El Paso and operated by the Hunt family for four generations. Other Hunt affiliated companies are Hunt Development Group, Hunt Building Company, Hunt Administrative Services, and Hunt NR.
About Design Workshop
Design Workshop is a landscape architecture, land planning, urban design and tourism planning firm. It combines principles of Smart Growth, sustainable design and environmentally-sound planning to reconcile economic needs with the preservation of scenic, cultural and community values. Design Workshop has been providing these services for almost four decades to developers, property owners, government agencies and other clients engaged in improvements to the land. In addition to the Santa Fe Office which is working with Hunt on the Cimarron Master Plan, Design Workshop has six other offices throughout the United States.