Whether it is former farmland or covered in trees, or with significant topographic variations, the natural topography is incorporated into an organic design that enhances aesthetics and reduces earthwork.  Generally, the methods adapt to any site, the more difficult the site to make numbers work for conventional subdividing, the better these new methods work.

Historically, our Prefurbia planning methods have achieved a demonstrated average of 25% infrastructure savings in street and utility main lengths compared to conventional suburban subdividing.  When compared to New Urbanism or Traditional Neighborhood Design (TND), savings can reach 40% to 50%.  When an initial layout has been provided to us, these reductions are based upon using the same unit mix and existing regulation minimums.

Yes – and no.  Our LandMentor technology incorporates more advanced technology than CAD, offering precise design and materials analysis. However, no software can design a subdivision, it can only automate.  The foundation of all our work is land surveying, and the technology reports and identifies errors that a CAD-based software will miss.  It’s the only precision spatial technology specific to land development.  LandMentor facilitates quicker transitions from concept design to interactive 3D and Virtual Reality. 3D and VR are provided at no extra charge.

A topographic survey and the boundary from a licensed land surveyor. 

We typically avoid using free on-line data or GIS data because in our experience we have found the data to be unreliable.  If GIS or ‘free’ data is unavoidable to meet an initial deadline, we tell our clients to budget the plan twice, once using unreliable data and then again when the actual boundary and topography is known.  We can import .dwg (CAD) or .shp (GIS) data.

The typical development we design is approximately 250 lots/units (excluding Master Planned Communities and Mega-sites).  Depending upon current workload, on a typical 250-unit site there would be a one week turn-around. Deliverables include a highly detailed site plan set to land surveying precision, PDF color rendering, spatial data analysis of every manmade improvement, 3D video flyover and interactive 3D and VR files.  To take advantage of the interactive 3D, the client should have a gaming-capable laptop with an XBOX 360 gaming controller; and for VR, a VR-ready laptop with headsets.

No.  We would work with the client’s choice of Civil Engineer, assuming the firm is open to new design models.  On most sites, we design a draft of the proposed grading, as it is essential for the creation of the 3D iteration.  Many times, we would also balance the earthwork on topographically difficult sites to ensure our design is also efficient from an earth volume perspective.  Please beware that some engineers charge a percentage of construction costs and if we significantly reduce infrastructure, the engineering consultant might not be on board.