The Trust for Sustainable Development has a track record for generating excellent financial returns via its innovative process of identifying and planning projects that deliver positive social and ecological impacts while generating above-market revenues and lower permitting costs. The cornerstone of this value creation process is “sustainability”, an approach to development that improves quality of life for both present and future generations while preserving natural resources and ecosystems.
Bamberton: A Groundbreaking Model for Sustainable Urbanism
The Bamberton project proposal marked a significant turning point for the developer, the participating team members, local government, area residents and the practice of sustainability itself. Started in 1988, Bamberton was arguably the first major proposal that sought to bring all the elements of sustainability together into one, cohesive plan. At the project’s inception, little was known about this relatively new principle; sustainable development — what exactly it was and what it entailed when applied […]
Civano, Arizona : A Revolutionary Sustainable Community
The Trust’s groundbreaking Civano project stands as one of North America’s most ambitious and successful sustainable community developments. This 850-acre traditional neighborhood development on State Trust land in Tucson, Arizona, transformed desert landscape into a thriving community that has redefined what sustainable development can achieve at scale. Through an innovative public-private partnership with the City of Tucson that began in 1995, the Trust created a complete new town that now houses over 5,000 residents across […]
McAllen Town Centre & Waterways Development, Texas
In 2007, the Trust responded to an enquiry from renowned American shopping center developer Henry S. Miller and, in conjunction with the City of McAllen, Texas, organized a design charrette while acting as Development Manager and Master Planner for the city’s new Town Centre. Recognizing both the aspirations of the community and the practicalities of real-world development, TSD fostered a pre-charrette atmosphere in which virtually every civic group participated, ensuring the plan reflected broad-based input […]
Harbourside Residences, British Columbia
The Trust’s revolutionary Harbourside project stands as one of the most transformative developments in Victoria’s history, turning contaminated industrial wasteland into the city’s premier waterfront destination. Rising from derelict industrial land on Victoria’s Inner Harbour, Harbourside transformed a scarred and contaminated site into a vibrant mixed-use community that has become the defining landmark of the city’s downtown skyline. The development consists of two magnificent towers containing luxury condominiums, the prestigious 132-room Coast Harbourside Hotel, world-class […]
Shoal Point : Brownfield Redevelopment
Shoal Point stands as one of the Trust for Sustainable Development’s most celebrated achievements, a $190 million landmark development that transformed a contaminated industrial oil tank farm into Victoria’s premier waterfront address. This award-winning mixed-use community on Victoria’s Inner Harbour proved that brownfield sites could be reimagined as extraordinary places to live, work, and gather. The Vision When David Butterfield first saw the derelict industrial site at Fisherman’s Wharf in James Bay, others saw only […]
The Villages of Loreto Bay, Mexico
The Villages of Loreto Bay: The Trust’s $3 Billion Masterpiece of Sustainable Development The Trust for Sustainable Development’s Villages of Loreto Bay stands as the most ambitious sustainable community ever undertaken in North America. This breathtaking $3 billion transformation of 8,000 pristine acres along Mexico’s legendary Sea of Cortez became the continent’s largest resort community committed to sustainable development and New Urbanism principles. Invited by the Federal Government of Mexico through FONATUR (Mexico’s tourism development […]
New Town of Spirit Bay, British Columbia
Spirit Bay stands a groundbreaking sustainable development representing a historic $400 million partnership between the Trust for Sustainable Development and the Sc’ianew (Beecher Bay) First Nation. This precedent-setting collaboration was created to transform 100 acres of pristine waterfront land near Victoria B.C. into what was planned as Canada’s first Indigenous-led sustainable new town, proving that reconciliation and development could unite to create extraordinary communities. Unveiled in 2013 under David Butterfield’s visionary leadership, Spirit Bay emerged […]
