An early neotraditional town designed by Duany Plater-Zyberk

An early neotraditional town designed by Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company, Amelia Park, finally received financing in November, and is scheduled to begin construction in January, 1998. Designed in 1992 and redesigned in 1997, Amelia Park was financed “not due to philosophical reasons or the excellence of the design,” says, town founder Joel Embry, but because of strong conventional inducements, including developers’ equity, value of land and revenue projections. The $2.5 million bank loan from First Union, supplemented with substantial developer equity, pays for purchase of 60 acres, or 57 percent of the 106-acre site in Fernandina Beach, Florida. It also pays for infrastructure development on 25 acres, including a central avenue, two village greens and a church site. The first unit of development consists of 37 single homes, 28 townhomes and a YMCA. The second and third units, scheduled simultaneous-ly, include more single homes and townhomes, 35,000 square feet of neighborhood retail and live/work buildings. Later development units will include senior living residences and more single homes. Amelia Park Development is a partnership of Embry, Michael Antonopoulos, William Howell, Shepherd College and Duany Plater-Zyberk (DPZ). Amelia Park is DPZ’s biggest venture into development yet, although the firm has a small share in Prospect, a DPZ-designed town in Longmont, Colorado. Brylen Homes of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, was selected as the lead builder.