Southwest Florida was tagged by homebuilding business strategists and observers as one of the nation’s more difficult and listless markets in 2025.
On the other hand, Babcock Ranch – a master-planned, solar-powered community located near Fort Myers – defied gravity, carrying on in better-than-expected fashion.
While the region’s homebuilding market grappled with priced-out entry-level buyers and hesitant home seekers in other segments, Babcock Ranch recorded 1,066 net sales – an all-time high, and a 34% increase over 2024. John Burns Research and Consulting ranked Babcock Ranch the fourth-highest-selling master-planned community nationwide last year.
Lucienne Pears, VP, Economic and Business Development at Kitson & Partners, the master developer of Babcock Ranch, credited the community’s sustainable and resilient design for attracting buyers amid a depressed regional housing market.
The community – currently home to 15,000 residents and on track to reach roughly 60,000 at full build-out – is the nation’s first entirely solar-powered community. Beyond its sustainable design, the emerging new town has numerous safeguards in place to protect residents from hurricanes and flooding.
Based on last year’s results, buyers are taking notice.
The first solar-powered community in America
Babcock Ranch is entirely powered by an 870-acre, 150-megawatt solar field with about 685,000 solar panels. Many of the community’s commercial buildings and public spaces also draw on sol.
The idea for Babcock Ranch dates back to 2006, when Kitson & Partners purchased the 91,000-acre Babcock Ranch property, which had been a working ranch. Shortly after, the developer sold 73,000 acres to the state for preservation, the largest land preservation transaction in Florida’s history. The community is built on the remaining 18,000 acres.
In 2015, Babcock Ranch secured permission from the Florida Public Service Commission for its large-scale solar partnership with Florida Power & Light. The developer broke ground on the infrastructure and solar utility in 2016, and opened the town a year later with a school, a goods and provision store and a health and wellness facility.
Babcock Ranch welcomed its first residents in 2018. Lennar, D.R. Horton, Toll Brothers, PulteGroup, Dream Finders Homes, Meritage Homes, and a handful of regional builders have ventured with Kitson to build their homes in the project.
Babcock Ranch is at only about 25% of its projected population capacity, but there is already enough solar power to accommodate all future growth, Pears said.
“It powers the whole community and beyond,” she explained. “This solar is scaled to build-out. Only 25% of the homes exist right now, so the majority of the power that’s generated goes out into the grid and goes to the rest of the state of Florida.”
An 870-acre, 150-megawatt solar field with about 685,000 solar panels. (Photos courtesy of Kitson & Partners)Resiliency as a feature
In Southwest Florida, designing a community to be resilient to hurricanes is a necessity, not an option. Kitson & Partners selected the Babcock Ranch site because it is an inland location about 30 miles from the coast, providing a buffer from the most severe storm impacts.
Development began with rehabilitating wetlands and reversing hydrologic damage caused by years of ranching. Kitson & Partners intentionally placed most planned development on previously impacted land, thereby minimizing further disturbance and protecting intact ecosystems.
As a result, natural areas now flow through the community, integrating nature into the town’s design. Residents have access to restored landscapes, numerous lakes and an extensive trail system.
When hurricanes and heavy rain hit Babcock Ranch, the town’s stormwater system defends the town’s buildings and residents. The master stormwater system connects every stormwater pond and incorporates real-time gauges to monitor capacity. When necessary, the town can use pumps to redistribute water across Babcock Ranch, providing relief for any areas that become overwhelmed during heavy rainfall.
Preserved wetlands also act as a natural safeguard for the stormwater system. During heavy rain, overflow moves into the wetlands, where natural filtration removes particles before release.
“That water overflows into the wetland areas, which is what Mother Nature intended. They are designed to be the sponges and the filters for water quality. So the preservation space, while it was extremely respectful of the natural environment, was also utilizing the natural environment as that backup plan,” Pears said.
Beyond the stormwater management system, Babcock Ranch homes are also elevated 18 inches above road level, providing additional protection in case of flooding. Utilities are buried underground and buildings exceed state code requirements for wind resistance and energy efficiency.
The solar grid also reliably provides power to residents, even during hurricanes. After a brief outage during Hurricane Irma in 2017, the town strengthened its grid reliability and has since maintained power during all other major storms.
Buyers clearly understand the value of these design features.
“When you think about the cost of evacuation, the cost of repair, the cost of schools being closed and the cost of not being able to access your job, those are really exponentially large costs to a family. So one of the things that we’re very proud about in the resilience story is that it eliminates a lot of those costs for any residents,” Pears explained.
The outlier’s edge
The Southwest Florida home market was arguably the nation’s most challenging new-home selling arena last year. Punta Gorda, located just northwest of Babcock Ranch, had the sharpest decline in home values between January 2025 and 2026, falling 7.97%, according to Realtor.com. Nearby Cape Coral and Fort Myers were also hit hard with declining home prices.
Population growth surged in the region during and after the pandemic but slowed dramatically during 2025, leaving an oversupply of new homes.
Pears credits the Babcock Ranch’s appeal to its resilient design, as buyers in the area are well aware of how damaging hurricanes can be. Hurricane Ian tore through the area in 2022 and destroyed thousands of homes across the state.
In 2024, Category 4 Hurricane Helene caused widespread damage in the Tampa and St. Petersburg areas. Less than two weeks later, Category 3 Hurricane Millton made landfall northwest of Babcock Ranch. Both storms left a stark reminder that nowhere in the region is safe from hurricanes, but Babcock Ranch stands out for its resilient design and secure location.
Florida isn’t the only state affected by devastating natural disasters. Many states in the West are prone to wildfires, while others in the Great Plains and Midwest are susceptible to tornadoes, for example. As these natural disasters seem to worsen, communities in vulnerable areas may need to increasingly differentiate themselves through smart, resilient design.
“Collectively, this country understands that disasters are occurring more frequently, and they’re occurring everywhere. So homeowners are starting to look for, ‘When something happens here, how am I going to be impacted? What here is inherently built to protect my family?’” Pears said.
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