Core Communities. Leadership in Design and Development
Core Communities has received a number of awards over the years in recognition of our efforts in land planning, outdoor lifestyles and landscaping to help create a total community environment for our residents:
• F.A.M.E. (Florida Association of Managing Engineers) Award 1997 for Land Planning, Lake Charles in St. Lucie West, as a planned community with multiple products – St. Lucie West Development Company.
• F.A.M.E. (Florida Association of Managing Engineers) Award 1997 for Outdoor Lifestyles, Lake Charles in St. Lucie West – St. Lucie West Development Company.
• Treasure Coast Builders Association – Developer of the Year 2004
• American Society of Landscape Architects – Florida Chapter – Award of Excellence 2006 for Tradition Residential Landscape and Site Design Guidelines
Many of our projects, specifically St. Lucie West, are responsible for some environmental “firsts” on the Treasure Coast:
• First community to have successful, large-scale, on-site wetland mitigation. Prior to re-allocation of land vs. credits, we achieved a 76% success rate on pre-established areas over the life of the 4600-acre project. After re-allocation of land vs. credits through South Florida Water Management District permit modification, we achieved 100% mitigation success and permit compliance.
• First large-scale community developer to hire full-time professional forester.
• First community to acheive successful Sandhill Crane nesting in a man-made mitigated wetland (1991).
• First community to include planting of Villisneria Americana (Tapegrass) in newly-constructed lakes as part of routine lake maintenance activities. This resulted in greater absorption of runoff nutrients, added oxygen to the water and greatly enhanced total water quality throughout all the drainage retention lakes in the community.
• First community to harvest native aquatic plants from wetlands permitted for destruction and use them to establish new wetland mitigation areas from raw land. We achieved 80-100% coverage within 2-3 years.