<< Back to News Listings BALDWIN PARK CAPTURES TWO ENVIRONMENTAL AWARDS   Orlando, FL – October 6, 2008 – Baldwin Park received top awards for environmental excellence on two consecutive days in late September.  On September 24, the Orlando District Council of the Urban Land Institute presented Baldwin Park with its inaugural Land Use Excellence Award at the annual Champions of Sustainability ceremony. The organization citied extensive recycling and remediation efforts undertaken by Baldwin Park Development Company in redeveloping the former Orlando Naval Training Center site into an 1,100-acre sustainable community where nearly 35% of the property is devoted to parks and lakes. The following day, the Florida Association of Realtors bestowed its 12th annual Environmental (ENVY) Award to Baldwin Park, rating it as the one residential development that best preserves Florida’s natural quality of life.   Though there were few environmental treasures left when the Navy closed the base in the late 1990s, the developer worked with Audubon of Florida to create new ecosystems and restore water quality of the lakes on the property.  Just seven years ago, the site was a huge pile of rubble resulting from demolition of 256 buildings, 25 miles of roads and 200 miles of underground utilities.  Onsite recycling of debris into new road beds and water filtration systems saved an estimated 30,000 dump truck trips to the landfill.  More than 100 live oaks and other large specimens were successfully transplanted and integrated into the landscape development, and over 4000 new street trees have been planted.  Today, Baldwin Park is home to more than 6,000 residents and generates an estimated $30 million annually in property taxes to local governments.   ###   << Back to News Listings     Back to Top