Hudson Farms, Montgomery, AL
Dover, Kohl & Partners, Andropogon Associates, and Jeff B. Speck
IIn the face of rampant suburban growth across the country, some landowners are putting a different kind of stake in the ground. They’re exploring new and better ways to realize benefit in their land by adding value to the place and the people who inhabit it.
Montgomery’s Hudson family is one such landowner, with 2,100 acres southeast of the urban core and in the direct path of the city’s growth. Together with Urban Villages, the Hudson family decided against conventional suburban development, tossing aside a previously approved PUD. Instead, these partners chose to create a vibrant new community encompassed by 1,300 acres of protected open space and woven into the surrounding region.
As partners, Urban Villages and the Hudson family have co-crafted a vision for the town that incorporates the best thinking and practices of urban planning, ecological design, community building, and restorative land management. Urban Villages has assembled a team of unparalleled excellence to design this vision, including town planners Dover Kohl and Partners, ecological designers Andropogon Associates, and city planner Jeff Speck.
Hudson will establish a new model for the built environment by simultaneously creating value for residents, environment, and financial investors. Beyond minimizing impact to the land and region, the systems-based development approach now being implemented will create a community to last, and to be loved, for generations.
Natural Systems Utilities and its partner, Natural Systems International, are contributing a large scope of work to the Hudson Development Project, including a water master plan, wastewater and reuse design, stormwater design, and water supply. NSI developed the water balance and water master plan as well as plans for the wastewater treatment and reuse, and stormwater management systems. NSU will own and operate the water supply and wastewater treatment systems, including the integration of water reuse systems with on-site agricultural projects. The Hudson Project is a significant undertaking, driven by an ambitious client and a talented integrated design team. The project has the potential to set a benchmark for sustainable development in the State of Alabama.