Architects Visit Beachtown
Recently, Beachtown was visited by The Duany Plater-Zyberk Team and a number of New Urban Guild Architects - notably Andres Duany, Eric Brown, Steve Mouzon and Susan Henderson, four nationally recognized architects and master planners whose innovative and elegant designs are featured prominently throughout the community:

· Andres Duany, Beachtown Town Planner and founder of Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co., is a widely recognized leader of New Urbanism, an international movement that seeks to end suburban sprawl and urban disinvestment. His firm designed Seaside, Florida, and has since completed designs for close to 300 new towns, regional plans, and community revitalization projects.

· Eric Brown, a celebrated architect based in South Carolina, has several homes under design for Beachtown. He has been involved in planned communities such as Habersham in South Carolina.

· Steve Mouzon, of South Beach, Florida, master architect for TND communities and author of Traditional Construction Patterns, who is designing a unique "green" home for Beachtown. Steve is a founding member of The New Urban Guild.

· Susan Henderson, Director of Design for PlaceMakers, was the Architectural Team Leader for the Mississippi Renewal Forum rebuilding effort after Hurricane Katrina, the largest planning effort in the last 100 years. She is also one of the designers of Katrina Cottage II for Louisiana.

 

Annual AIA Sandcastle Competition
Every year for two decades, the American Institute of Architects has staged the world's largest sandcastle competition on Galveston's East Beach. The contest site is next to Beachtown, which sponsored the event in June. Eighty teams of engineers, architects, contractors and students from across Texas vied for the Golden Bucket award, taking their artwork beyond traditional castles to imaginative designs of all kinds. Among the sand sculptors was Keiji Asakura, founder of Asakura Robinson Company, Beachtown's landscape architect.

Proposed Nature Preserve Ideal for Birdwatching
Galveston is one of the best locations for birding in the U.S., with more than 500 species living, wintering or migrating in the area. The City of Galveston, along with county authorities and the Coast Guard, is working on the establishment of a 600-acre lagoon preserve that would include a nature center and a walking trail system. The preserve would extend from Seawall Boulevard to Apffel Park around East Beach. Beachtown developer Tofigh Shirazi is a potential corporate partner in the project. "I would like to see this happen," he said. "I love the idea of the preserve." Beachtown birders, both novice and veteran, will enjoy this natural amenity.

Signs of Good Taste
No detail of Beachtown goes unplanned. New decorative signage - white with Beachtown blue lettering - will blend beautifully with the architectural environment. Even the decorative mounting poles complement Beachtown's traditional neighborhood design. Beachtown, with the assistance of The City of Galveston, is excited to showcase the exclusive new signage.

What People Are Saying (and E-mailing) about Beachtown

"Texans Find Their Own Hamptons Equivalent"
(click here to view the article)

On March 18, 2007, the esteemed New York Times published an article about new development trends in Galveston, likening the island's East End to the Hamptons. The article described Beachtown as 'a New Urbanist community of pastel-colored shorefront homes.' The Wiseman's, one of the first families to call Beachtown home and Town Founder Tofigh Shirazi were featured throughout the article.

"Looking for an old town feel to raise a family and invest for a lifetime in high quality construction. Congratulations on what looks to be a very well thought out concept in town/oceanfront lifestyle." ~ Brian & Susan, Maryland

"A native Texan always wants to come home. This looks like a nice place to retire." ~ Debbie, Connecticut

"Please send all available information on Beachtown. We are actively looking for a beach home in Galveston. Beachtown appears to be made for us." ~ Marie, Texas

"We often visit Galveston to recharge as we enjoy running and cycling thru the city. We monitor the progressive development of Beachtown with keen interest. We are very interested in housing opportunities." ~ Kenny, Louisiana

"We have cherished our recent vacations at Seaside and were excited to hear about the creation of Beachtown in nearby Galveston. We would like to receive more information." ~ Blair & Amy, Texas

"We love Seaside FL and have been there the last 10 summers. However if we considered buying a beach property we would like it to be closer than Seaside. That's what is intriguing about Beachtown." ~ Marc, Texas