Starkey Ranch exemplifies a new model in greenfield development. Wishing to avoid conventional land development practices that too often have resulted in placeless strip-center shopping and tract housing, the Starkey family donated a large portion of their ranch land to create a permanent wilderness preserve. They then engaged a design team, Dix.Hite + Partners, that embraced their vision: to develop an adjacent master-planned community that honors the land’s history, connects people to nature, and creates a sense of place celebrating a ranching character.

Coastal Oaks Preserve is located within one of the most biologically diverse estuaries in North America – the Indian River Lagoon. The Indian River Land Trust (IRLT), whose mission is to preserve, protect, and provide access to the Lagoon, collaborated with Dix.Hite to create a Vision Plan that celebrates the IRLT's mission through restoration, education, research, and experience. The team performed site inventory and analysis to map areas most suited for preservation, restoration, or development.

Creating an environmentally progressive and context-sensitive, luxury, multi-family development in Central Florida is not the norm. Lakewalk at Hamlin leads by example to show developers, design consultants, and the public that eco-friendly and pedestrian-focused designs can be beautiful, functional, and economically viable. The landscape architect artfully integrated low-impact development stormwater interventions, local materials, and native plantings into common spaces, making them part of the everyday experience

EcoGENESIS is bringing the firm’s depth of experience with a large-scale ecological restoration/mitigation banking to bear in the execution of this project involving permitting and regulatory liaison services for a +1300 acre, multi-phased mitigation bank in Hendry County, Florida. The bank will be converting citrus groves back into historically occurring wetland habitats such as hydric pine flatwoods, wet prairie, freshwater marsh, pond cypress, and mixed hardwood wetlands.

SUMMARY: Historically, gardeners obsessed over their lawns, using a variety of methods including treatments, fertilizers, and pesticides to keep “life” out of their landscapes. In the past 20 years, “we have seen a positive shift in the way we look […]

Florida is the third most populous state in the United States (21.5 million in 2019) with an increasing demand for water for an ever-growing population. According to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), “Water conservation is the most important action we can take to sustain our water supplies, meet future needs and reduce demands on Florida’s water-dependent ecosystems such as springs, rivers, lakes, and wetlands."

Wilson’s Landing Park created a "bioretention" area which reduces erosion and also collects and treats the stormwater runoff from the park. It is located in northwest Seminole County, adjacent to the Wekiva River. It is a part of the Wekiva River Recharge Area, Wekiva River Riparian Habitat Protection Zone, and Wekiva River Protection Area.

SUMMARY: With American residential lawns totaling over 49,000 square miles, environmental scientists and landscape architects are looking toward turning lawns into “miniature modular bio-reserves.” These wildlife gardens have the ability to develop biodiversity while simultaneously reducing water, petrol, and lawn […]