The first phase of the Town Centre project included the offices at 62 Forum Lane.

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Located on Grand Cayman, the largest of the three islands that make up the Cayman Islands, Dart Realty (Cayman) Ltd. has created a 500-acre, mixed-use, master-planned community that offers residents and visitors a multitude of options to live, work and play.

“Camana Bay has a contemporary style inspired by traditional Caribbean architecture and is landscaped with mature, native plants and trees to give it a distinctly Caymanian character,” the company describes.

“With shops, restaurants, offices, homes and a school all within easy walking distance, the Town of Camana Bay is Grand Cayman’s newest community.”

The Town of Camana Bay was first conceived in 1995, when Dart Realty purchased 238 acres of land. The company chose Moore Ruble Yudell (MRY) of Santa Monica, Calif., to become the master-planners behind the project, and Philadelphia landscape architect OLIN joined the team, as well.

Ten years later, after the company acquired roughly 262 additional acres of land and celebrated the town’s groundbreaking, MRY won the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) National Firm award and OLIN won the American Society of Landscape Architects’ Landscape Architecture Firm award.

Both MRY and OLIN were awarded the highest accolades in architecture due in part to their work on Camana Bay.

All-Star Team
Shortly after the project swelled to 500 acres, stretching from the Caribbean Sea to the North Sound, AECOM, one of the largest design, engineering, consulting and project management firms in the world – which specializes in waterfront developments – joined the Camana Bay design team.

“Camana Bay has been meticulously designed to feel completely organic to Grand Cayman,” Dart Realty says.

“The masterplan team has drawn on the expertise of leaders in many different disciplines from town planning, architecture and landscape design to lighting and water features, as well as the local knowledge of Cayman-based firms.”

The company says the development was designed to foster a sense of community, with public spaces and parks that encourage people to gather together, and miles of trails and paths suitable for a variety of outdoor activities.

To manifest the company’s vision of a town square into a reality, Dart Realty’s sister company DECCO, which provides construction and project management services, served as general contractor and worked hand-in-hand with program manger Fluor Daniel Caribbean Inc.

The end result is “absolutely fantastic,” Dart Realty Vice President Justin Howe says. “It’s been a privilege to work on a project where quality and attention to detail were demanded at every level. It’s a beautiful place that will add to the quality of life for people living in the Cayman Islands, without any doubt.”

Town Centre
The first objective for Dart Realty was to build the Cayman International School, which the company made a top priority and the forerunner of the multiphase development.

The $20 million education campus was completed in 2006. The 13-acre campus, designed by Spillis Candela, caters to four age groups – kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school. Each group has its own building and courtyard designed to be age-specific.

A professional soccer field, two tennis courts, two basketball courts and a large swimming pool were opened in 2009. With 360 students already enrolled from pre-kindergarten through grade 12, the school will eventually accommodate more than 400 students.

In December of the following year, the team completed the first phase of the Town Centre, with the opening of Hollywood Theatre, Books & Books and the offices at 62 Forum Lane. It then broke ground on a 129,000-square-foot office building called 89 Nexus Way.

In 2008, Dart Realty brought aboard Duany Plater-Zyberk (DPZ) to enhance the original master plan designed by MRY and OLIN and to define the residential areas. “They are the gurus of new urbanism,” Howe remarks.

“Because the property grew in size, we had to add new elements to the design,” he says. “As we were exploring how to integrate the residences into the development, we relied on Duany Plater-Zyberk’s expertise to help us layer them in with our marina village concept and around the Town Centre.”

In addition to the 60 modern loft apartments and town houses now located at the heart of the town, Dart Realty is in the process of developing residential properties that will be for sale.

“We were fortunate that we did not bring these new residential offers to market earlier, as the economic downturn would have negatively impacted us,” Dart Realty Senior Manager Justin Grimes notes.

“Now, as the residential market is recovering, we find ourselves in a good position, and are able to move forward to develop these new homes.”

Today, the Town Centre encompasses some 550,000 square feet in total, with several retail shops, residential leased apartments, restaurants and a successful movie theater.

Favorable Weather
Dart Realty also had good luck and timing with respect to climatic conditions that often threaten to deter progress on the construction of waterfront developments. “The biggest unknown that we have outside of our control is hurricanes,” Howe says. “All you can do is make the best plans you can at the start of hurricane season and keep your fingers crossed.”

Hurricane Ivan devastated the Cayman Islands prior to the project starting in 2004. “But fortunately,” Howe says, “since then, we haven’t had any major storms in Grand Cayman to cause any delays on the construction of the Town Centre phase, which we are just completing now.”

All of the buildings on Camana Bay were designed and built to stringent Miami Dade County hurricane specifications, with the highest wind loads possible.

“All of the elements that form our building envelopes have been tested in a lab to ensure they actually do perform as engineered,” Grimes says. “We want to make sure we have good, resilient buildings that will last for many generations.”

Environmentally Friendly
In addition to being structurally sound, the buildings in Camana Bay are environmentally friendly. “The primary goal is to create buildings that will last, in terms of both design and construction, which means recognizing the specific conditons of Grand Cayman and making plans for the long-term,” Dart Realty says.

“In doing so, Camana Bay has drawn on historic precendents for inspiration. Study of Caribbean island architecture and how buildings have successfully responded to the climate in the past provides a template for creating appropriate, contemporary responses to environmental conditions.

“We use cutting-edge, green building technology in an environmentally sensitive approach to both building design and operation,” the company continues. “Energy-efficient, environmentally friendly materials and appliances are used whenever possible.”

“At the beginning of the project, the LEED standards for outside of the United States had not been written,” Howe says.

“However, we went ahead and ensured that we designed our structures to a number of the principles of LEED. Now that LEED provides standards for international projects, our next phases of development will feature LEED-compliant buildings, and we expect the target will most likely be a silver rating.”

“We have begun to introduce photovoltaic systems in Camana Bay,” Grimes notes. “We found it challenging to install solar systems. New laws have passed that have made them more feasible from a legal perspective. “However, we’re hoping the regulations will change so that they can become more financially viable, as well,” he says. “Regardless, we ensured that we incorporated a fair amount of shade in the designs, and the buildings feature high-performance glazing to keep the solar heat out. Overall, we found these choices are working quite well.”

When the team performed a cost benefit analysis on what would be the best way to air-condition the buildings, it decided to construct a chiller plant and piping system that runs chilled water underground throughout the Town Centre.

According to Grimes, although this was a more expensive alternative than installing air-conditioning units in every building, it was more environmentally friendly and will become less expensive over time.

“As the town grows, we’ll be able to get our chiller plant to run even more efficiently as the demand increases,” he says.

Goals for the Future
Dart Realty’s objective for 2010 is to bring in a spectrum of housing options, ranging from apartments and condominiums to single-family residences. In addition, it will build a third commercial office building that will measure 100,000 square feet and contain retail components. “We’re also looking for the best time to bring hotels online based on the current economic conditions,” Grimes says.

“We’d also like to bring online a large community park that is open for everyone. This is not an exclusive club type of situation that only the rich can enjoy. We want everyone to be able to enjoy Camana Bay.

“We have placeholders in our master plan for other civic buildings and would love to see the function of the Cayman Islands government to move to Camana Bay and be integrated into the community as a whole.”

He says developing the entire 500 acres of the Camana Bay property is expected to take decades to complete. “I think the most important thing about Camana Bay is that it brings something completely new and fresh to the island that is also a long-term commitment,” Howe says.

“The town is growing and will continue to grow and develop over the next several generations. We hope the products that we’ve been designing and building fit in with the culture and the sophistication of the Cayman Islands and will endure the test of time so that they are not only a good investment for the developer, but a good investment for the country as a whole. To that end, the firms that we have selected throughout the course of our work have been nationally recognized as leaders in their fields.”