The Indio, Calif. City Council has unanimously approved Family Development and Presidio Residential Capital’s Virada community, an environmentally responsible, mixed-use development plan for 1,300 townhomes, condos, apartments and single-family homes on 660 acres.
“The Coachella Valley has never had a sustainable community, let alone a sustainable master-planned community of this size and diversity,” says Vincent Barbato, principal of Family Development. “We’ve created Virada to promote a healthy, active lifestyle with special significance on embracing the environment and forging community pride.”
Over one third of the Virada site – 284 acres – will be set aside as open space and public parkland. The community will also feature a clubhouse, pool, and two-and-a-half acre commercial center, all located within a five-minute walk for every resident. The community’s loop road will feature wide sidewalks and paths for bikes and neighborhood electrical vehicles, and a dedicated solar field will power the community’s street lights and other electrical needs.
“If we can sell electricity back to the grid, we can greatly lower HOA fees,” Barbato says. “Affordability is a huge part of sustainability, so that’s another way of creating value while also being environmentally responsible.”
Virada’s single-family homes are set on smaller-than-average lots, and build to be wide rather than deep. About 85% of the lots have north and south exposure, which allows for passive energy conservation in a desert climate.
The Virada plan was recently honored with the “Award of Merit for Comprehensive Planning” by the Inland Empire Section-American Planning Association (IES-APA). Its qualifications included its use of the latest community design standards, including sustainable design techniques that prioritize water and energy conservation, and its encouragement of healthy and active resident lifestyles.
“People need a compelling reason to move,” says Barbato. “As residents of this Valley, we understand that it is imperative to design and build a community that lives better than any other – a community that incorporates amenities and technology that enhance the way that people want to live today. We have accomplished that goal at Virada.”
