Kennecott Land's Daybreak community in Utah brings master-planned amenities and sustainability to the Salt Lake Valley.

With all of its open space, Utah might be the last place one would think to look for a master-planned community. After all, such communities are known for their smaller lot sizes, centralized amenities and diverse home styles. It would seem the wide-open spaces of the Southwest would make master-planned communities unpopular with residents who would prefer more land to spread out on, but Kennecott Land's Daybreak development in South Jordan, Utah, is proof that the concept can be a success.

Kennecott Land President Peter McMahon says the company faced a lot of unknowns when first pitching the project more than two years ago. “We were introducing a different concept to the consumer - more diversity, somewhat smaller lots [and] asking the consumer to trade off smaller lot sizes for more central amenities,” he says. Since the development opened in June 2004, however, more than 1,200 lots have been sold to builders, and more than 1,000 families already live there.

McMahon says Kennecott Land is devoted to making Daybreak a sustainable community that respects the environment, preserves open space and conserves energy. He says the company believes Daybreak will be considered a model for future developments by other builders.

Kennecott Land has its roots in Kennecott Copper Utah, a mining company with more than 100 years of history in the state. The company had purchased large tracts of land along the West Bench of the Salt Lake Valley. Out of those 93,000 acres, Kennecott Copper Utah began considering possible uses for the reclaimed portions in the 1990s. In 1999, Kennecott Copper Utah developed a plan for the West Bench that included nearly 4,200 acres for residential development.

In 2001, Kennecott Copper Utah's parent company, Rio Tinto, established Kennecott Land to develop Daybreak and future communities on Salt Lake Valley's West Bench.

Central Amenities
Daybreak will include more than 14,000 units once it is completed, and McMahon expects to sell between 800 and 900 units each year. Lots are being sold to 10 homebuilders, and McMahon says it took some time to bring them up to speed on the type of community Daybreak is.

“We've had to educate some of the builders in the sense of getting them to understand the vision that we had for the community,” he says. “It's worked well, and they love it now, but I think we'd be pretending if we said it wasn't difficult at first.”

Builders were used to building from a subdivision plan, which typically is not as detailed as a master-planned community. Daybreak includes features and amenities such as retail outlets, a community center, an elementary school, community water parks an RV park and a lake that is currently 35 acres and will grow to 85 acres when completed.

McMahon says it was difficult at first to introduce the concept of the planned community to homebuyers, as well. The marketing focused on selling “a place to live and a community, as opposed to the traditional way that people were used to, which was buying a house. “We turned that on its head, in a sense,” McMahon continues. “We're trying to promote an emotional connection with the place.”

Sustainable Homes
Daybreak is intended to be a sustainable community, and McMahon says Kennecott Land's roots as part of Rio Tinto support that desire.

“One of the core values of that company is that all of its business globally be oriented around sustainable practices,” he says. “From a business point of view, we think there is long-term value in building communities that are sustainable or environmentally friendly.” More than 1,200 acres of open space - about 30 percent of the community - will ultimately be preserved in the form of parks and wildlife habitats, the company says. Daybreak is also designed to capture nearly 100 percent of its storm water and snow melt runoff. Water from man-made Oquirrh Lake is being used to irrigate the landscaping in some of the community's parks and open spaces.

As for Daybreak's homes, all builders are required to build them to Energy Star specifications, and low-flow water fixtures are available as options for homebuyers. McMahon says the company took a leadership position in sustainability as a way of making homebuyers more aware of it.

Hopefully, he says, buyers will begin to ask for sustainable homes from other developers. Making Daybreak sustainable may not have an immediate payoff for Kennecott Land, but McMahon says the company wants to set a good example in Utah and at least reduce its own impact on the environment.

It also will provide the company with a solid example to point to for future homebuyers. “People are more comfortable about your doing developments in their community if you can say, 'Take a look at what we did at Daybreak,'” McMahon says.

He says he hopes other builders get the message, too. “My own view is that the one thing I would hope other people get is that you can build a community like [Daybreak] with a strong commitment to sustainability for the whole community.”