Can an eco-community revitalize a hard-hit city?

A rendering of the Stockton Preserve.

Pummeled by foreclosures, plummeting home prices and towering unemployment rates, Stockton, Calif., may seem an unlikely site for a planned eco-community. But the companies behind a proposed development say the 1,800-acre Stockton Preserve project could be  a sustainable development model for the rest of California. 

Announced in mid-2009, the $2 billion project—expected to include an anchor of a new hospital, plus residential and retail space—is expected to create up to 12,000 jobs and generate more than $15 million in annual revenues for the city. Meanwhile, the project’s creators plan to design the Preserve to produce less than half the greenhouse gas emissions of a typical development, according to Stockton-based building and development firm A.G. Spanos.

Key to the project will be reducing vehicle miles traveled, says Michel St. Pierre, director of planning and urban design for Gensler, the San Francisco-based firm designing the project. By providing daily needs close by and creating public transportation links, the development could impact the rest of the city, as well, he adds.

Almost half of the project’s space is slated for wetlands, parks and agriculture, which could meet up to 10 percent of the community’s food needs. In addition to water recycling and renewable power, the project will also likely pursue some green building certification, Nelson says.

Project developers are working with BioRegional, a London-based environmental organization, to create a sustainable action plan, following the guidelines of BioRegional’s One Planet Community initiative, says David Nelson, senior vice president of land development for A.G. Spanos.

The project, which is slated for property that currently includes a golf course and agricultural land, is still a long way from breaking ground. The project is currently moving into the environmental review stage and Nelson says he anticipates the phased development will be a 15-year project, though the first phase could break ground within three years.