A 270-acre development proposal in Lake Park, Florida,

A 270-acre development proposal in Lake Park, Florida, may be the first new urbanist extension of a neighborhood designed by the Olmstead Brothers, great town planners of the early Twentieth Century. The plan, designed by the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council, has been the subject of a series of successful negotiations with Town Council since approval in the spring of 1998, resulting in the reduction of a central 6-lane county thoroughfare to a four-lane boulevard with on-street parking. The plan also features mixed-use residential neighborhoods of 1,200 to 1,800 residential units, a linear park along the banks of a canal, mixed-use avenues to link the new and old sections of Lake Park, and a natural land preserve. Civic buildings, Main St. retail, and other businesses are planned, as well as a possible elementary school or community college site. The MacArthur Foundation, which owned 80 percent of Lake Park, recently sold the parcel to Westinghouse Communities Inc., and Tolte Inc., a Michigan-based developer. The new landowners have not confirmed plans for the land.