Article from Puget Sound Business Journal
By Elaine Porterfield

Housing developments in the shadow of the Cascade Mountains are hardly anything new in the Northwest. And sure, increasing numbers of home builders are incorporating at least a few green practices in their craft.

But how about a major development that holistically considers not only environmentally sensitive materials, but the placement of homes in a way that encourages community interactions? Or how about a development intended to be so inspiring that backers hope it will encourage residents to attend symphonies and plays and read Thoreau? Maybe not so common.

"A good lifestyle, and a sense of happiness, that's what people are looking for," said Patrick Kuo, developer of Cascadia, the largest planned community in Washington.

Located on about 4,700 acres of land near Bonney Lake, 12 miles southeast of Tacoma, the development is envisioned to eventually be the home of 16,000 or more people. Kuo and his backers hope that Cascadia will likewise be home to companies in a high-tech business park providing up to 10,000 jobs.

"Cascadia, even though it's a real estate platform, is a platform on which we can address many issues and take it all the way down to the community level, so we can create the right kind of partnership between public sector and the private sector," Kuo said.

The first homes are scheduled to open at Cascadia in 2008, and the first elementary school, part of the Sumner School District, in 2009. Ruth Winbauer, marketing director, said home plans are currently undergoing an architectural review process; no price ranges are available yet nor exact dates for the homes to be finished.

"This is the first of four elementaries, two junior highs and a high school," said Chuck Lappenbusch, Cascadia director of development said of the first school to be built. "And we're proceeding forward with the village core. That's probably taking place in late 2009 ... We're moving forward at full speed."

Some onlookers might add "finally" to that assessment. The development has been in the works for upward of 16 years, Kuo said. He isn't worried; it takes a long time to get it right when planning a development with such scale and ambitions, he said. The project has been funded from Kuo's own money and with funding from Taiwanese investors. He estimated earlier that costs have topped $30 million thus far.

Winbauer said the recent softening in the real estate market around the country does not worry the Cascadia developers. It's been only minor here, and they don't believe it will be a problem for their sales, she said.

"There's a lot of fear being put out in the media, but we are very, very lucky to be living here," Winbuer said. "There is some softening in the market (but) things are going to be picking back up ... We're feeling good about our timing."

A corporate lawyer, Kuo began thinking about an enlightened development during his work with the Seattle Discovery Institute, a think tank that sponsored a project to come up with comprehensive solutions to Northwest transportation woes.

In addition to the planned residences, Cascadia will eventually encompass a major conference center, the business park, a town square built with pedestrians in mind, a performance hall, a think tank focused on international understanding -- the Cascadia Institute -- a culinary school, a hotel and an outdoor sculpture park. If Kuo's vision is fully realized, it will draw on green-development principles that include the use of sustainable power and water recycling. Open space, parks, ponds and 20 miles of trail are carefully dispersed through Cascadia. Preservation of wildlife, scenic areas and the environment in general is paramount, Kuo said.

"This is the most extensive plan I've seen" for a planned community, said Sonja Riveland, a spokeswoman for Windermere Real Estate. "It's pretty amazing."

It's difficult to know yet how buyers will embrace the development, she said, but other such developments are also incorporating similar lifestyle concepts, albeit with different focuses. One is King County's Woodinville Village, which will feature a retail and restaurant core themed with the sophisticated ambience of a rural Napa Valley community, including several wineries. That development is slated for a 2008 opening.

Kuo hopes Cascadia will be a place where residents delight in both nature and the nature of society. He frequently quotes Henry David Thoreau's writing on the environment when explaining his vision for Cascadia.

"We're passionate about it," he said. "We're focusing on clean water and the reuse of water and renewable energy resources. We can build clean homes, clean neighborhoods ... Cascadia has so many possibilities."