Yuma approves its first TND; includes farm

Financing from land owner partly offsets the continuing lack of bank lending for real estate development. Within sight of Interstate 8, which carries nearly 9 million vehicles a year, the Tanimura & Antle Inc. lettuce-farming enterprise has obtained permission to convert some of its agricultural land into what will be the first traditional neighborhood (TND) in Yuma, Arizona. “We are looking to establish a ‘farm stand’ early this year” to generate public awareness of Yuma’s “first truly walkable/new urbanist project,” says Keith McCoy of Urban Community Partners. During the national crash of homebuilding and real estate development, Tanimura & Antle (T&A) hired Urban Community Partners to act as project manager for the 220-acre development, which is expected to include well over 1,100 housing units, a 40,000 sq. ft. main street retail and office area, a 90,000 sq. ft. business park, and a 250-room hotel and spa. T&A, one of America’s larger lettuce producers, is — for the time being — overcoming the scarcity of bank lending during the current economy by internally financing the predevelopment and entitlement stage, McCoy says. Urban Community Partners, a development and consulting firm which recently moved its main office to downtown Monterey, California, is made up of McCoy and President Ian Gillis. “We are now looking for developer/builder/financial partners to do the physical improvements and build the community out with us,” says McCoy. “This part is not yet financed, and it may be awhile because obtaining conventional institutional financing is very difficult in today’s market, and much of the money available is chasing ‘distressed’ projects that are approved and under development. Financing for land acquisition and development is mostly being done with private capital these days.” “T&A has owned the property for a while and is patient about developing it,” McCoy says. “They understand the value of obtaining entitlements in a down economy and waiting for market recovery to begin construction. They also want us to find a partner who definitely ‘gets’ the whole TND concept of Laurel.” Laurel is anticipated to have 1,169 housing units, including detached and attached houses, condos, courtyard homes, apartments, and “shopkeeper units.” In addition, 225 accessory units are expected to be built. Part of the existing lettuce fields will become a community farm, providing residents with locally grown food. The city, which is allocated 50,000 acre-feet of water a year from the Colorado River, recently entered into landmark agreements with local water districts and the Bureau of Reclamation. The agreements will allow water traditionally supplied to agriculture to be converted to municipal and industrial uses. Consequently, Yuma, which gets less than 3 inches of rain a year, reportedly has the capacity to deliver more than 49 million gallons of water per day. Laurel is the first project approved under the city’s new Smart Growth Overlay designation, which provides greater flexibility in designing projects that adhere to smart-growth principles. Urban Community Partners collaborated with the city and with Urban Design Associates in drafting the overlay document to make sure it would be practical in application. The developers envision “sidewalks on all streets and a landscape palette that responds to the desert climate and desire for shade.”