"Today's buyer rewards developers who preserve the environmental integrity of their communities and also offers them access. As long-term developers of large-acreage parcels, it makes good business sense to be committed to the long-term environmental sustainability of the land we own and develop."
LANDMARK has extensive experience working in environmentally sensitive sites and in finding solutions to protect important habitats.
A few examples:
Low-density plan minimizes impact on area's infrastructure and sensitive environmental character. No drainage or irrigation water flows into resort's mile-long frontage on the Carmel River, an ecologically sensitive waterway and a protected habitat for spawning steelhead trout.
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The Ocean Course has long been recognized as a model for the development of an environmentally friendly golf course. Most of the holes are integrated into a diverse coastal environment of freshwater pond habitats, brackish and saltwater marsh areas, and maritime forest. In addition to safeguarding the barrier reef island's fragile dune system, a loggerhead turtle habitat was also preserved during course construction.
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Arguably the best example in Europe of enhancing a site through quality environmental management. While the 400-acre oceanfront parcel had pristine examples of dune habitat, the site overall had deteriorated from years of sand extraction and overgrazing. Working with government agencies, environmental groups and the local community, Landmark developed a management plan to both protect and enhance the site's environmental quality. A 51-acre parcel of dune land in the center of the links was set aside as a habitat for the narrow-mouthed whorl snail, a protected species.
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One of the lowest density luxury residential communities in Europe, this new development was recently named to the "Top 50 Worldwide Golf Resorts" list by the Telegraph, one of London's leading newspapers. Arcos Gardens received a special commendation in the "Most Sustainable" category. Cited were the development's sensitive relocation of more than 2,000 century-old olive trees around the golf course; a state-of-the-art water treatment plant that continuously recycles all water used to irrigate the golf course; and central heating by solar panels.
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After relocating the original corridor for the par-four 14th hole to preserve nearly 50 mature royal palms, the Landmark team successfully transplanted a specimen mahogany tree from the new corridor to the left side of the revised fairway. This move was accomplished by digging a long, deep trench, filling it with water, and slowly sliding the 3.5-ton tree through the mud to its new home. Other holes were carefully grafted onto rolling meadows, dropped into former quarries, or shoehorned into thick jungle. Two-thirds of the club's acreage has been permanently set aside as open space.
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