The concept of smart growth is catching on throughout the United States as developers and urban planners realize what unchecked urban sprawl is costing in land use, resource depletion and quality of life. This realization is revamping the footprint of the modern suburban community.

In Spanish Springs, one such “smart growth” community is taking shape. On the remaining 800 acres of what has been known since the 1930s as the Nevada Hereford Ranch, and more recently, the Kiley Ranch, developer Paul Curtis is working with the Kiley family to materialize an ambitious vision of Northern Nevada’s first example of the smart-growth lifestyle.

“It’s resource conservative,” says Curtis, who has a 20-year background in land acquisition and development; 12 years were spent working with Lewis Operating Corp. to develop the 2,000-acre Damonte Ranch development. This track record supported the Kiley family’s decision to appoint him CEO of Kiley Ranch Communities.

In essence, the goal is to build more structures onto less land, thereby reducing expenses. As planned, this model “is very economically efficient per capita,” says Curtis, adding the design will trim infrastructure costs markedly and save the city of Sparks an estimated $75 million. Curtis says the additional nuts-and-bolts costs of surveying, entitlement and design expenses are ongoing and substantial, but the desirable property’s equity is funding these costs through conventional financing.

In keeping with the philosophy of the smart-growth concept, Kiley Ranch will be a multi-use development, incorporating homes, businesses, retail and recreational facilities into a seamless, diverse and closeknit community that essentially functions as its own town.

Coordinating so many different facets takes a tremendous amount of finesse and reliance on a far-reaching network of professional partnerships. “We have a cast of thousands,” Curtis says jokingly, citing as key players land designers HRP Associates and engineers Wood Rodgers. “We sought out the best people. They are truly experts at what they do.”

Complete materialization of Kiley Ranch’s estimated 11 million square feet of eventual professional, retail and living space will take place over the next decade, with the first phase heralded by Caviata, a Pacific Westbuilt community of upscale town homes for the first Kiley Ranch residents to call home.

“We’ve sold about 550 home sites that are under construction now,” Curtis says. The soon-to-be homebuyers will propel the first phase of the community’s development, spurring the influx of workplaces that will balance the housing developments and serve as the key element differentiating Kiley Ranch from the traditional Northern Nevada subdivision. Providing a wide range of employment opportunities for all professional levels, right down the street from a variety of housing serving all income levels, is the driving force behind the smartgrowth concept.

Finding businesses eager to enter the partnership is the next step of the equation, and so far, Kiley Ranch has been stirring up plenty of interest.

“What businesses are looking for [in Northern Nevada] are knowledge workers and tech support,” says Dick Bostdorf, director of business and development for Kiley Ranch. He says the development will have plenty of both due to a partnership with AT&T that will bring fiber-tothe- premises networking to the entire development.

It will be the first community in Northern Nevada and one of only a handful in the country to offer this state-of-the-art technology to every resident and business. As such, it puts Kiley Ranch in the running for many high-bandwidth-using industries looking to relocate to an area that already boasts an outstanding quality of life. “We frankly have a lot of interest,” Bostdorf says. “We’re working hard [targeting companies] in Silicon Valley.”

Full-fiber access also is anticipated to be a major draw for new residents in a currently competitive buyer’s housing market. Amenities such as high-speed Internet UVerse- enabled service and high-quality television including DVRs, a video-ondemand library and picture-in-picture will be brought to every Kiley Ranch home — something residents will not find elsewhere in the region.

But planners anticipate that Kiley Ranch’s biggest ticket to success will rest not in its futuristic components, but in its appeal to nostalgia for the sense of community many feel has been squandered in today’s world of land-gobbling development that disregards the human need for a fundamental sense of home and place.

“Designing in a fairly small area, you have the ability to have traditional details within walking distance of home,” Bostdorf says. The community’s master plan calls for country lanes, walking trails, pocket parks and a wetland preserve to counterbalance a strategic blend of big-name commercial venues and neighborly cafés and boutiques. An owners association will coordinate town activities such as farmers’ markets and summer concerts. Design standards call for signage, lighting, landscaping and architectural features that speak to a sense of community-wide ranch hospitality. In short, says Bostdorf, “It will feel like you belong to a small community, like you used to.”

Curtis says it’s a winning prescription for success. “Traditionally, the most successful communities from a sales standpoint have a strong sense of place,” he says. “We are Kiley Ranch.”