Fortified...for safer living® program ensures high standards for Beachtown homes
Beachtown is the first community in Galveston to apply the Fortified...for safer living® program to home construction. This national inspection-based initiative has been developed by the Institute for Business and Home Safety and sets exacting standards to make homes better able to resist natural hazards such as wind and water. Fortified homes are rated to withstand 130-mile-per-hour winds as well as water penetration.

The program has been adapted to the Galveston environment for use at Beachtown, where certified fortified East Village beachfront homes in the base zone have robust concrete framing and massive foundationss. They are also built at least two feet above FEMA’s flood elevation standard.

Another first for Beachtown: BluWood® “green” building material
Several homes at Beachtown are being constructed using BluWood, a state of the art, two-part wood treatment product with a distinctive blue hue. It is decidedly green – safe for the environment and sustainable for the life of the home. BluWood resists uncontrolled moisture absorption, mold fungus growth, rot fungi, and wood-eating insects like termites.

The Coastal Living Magazine 2008 Idea House, under construction at Beachtown, is being built using BluWood. In addition to the almost 4,000-square-foot Idea House, BluWood is being used for beachfront and lagoon-front homes and townhomes.

Recently, Brad Pitt and his team of architects chose BluWood for his green housing project in New Orleans, and ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition used BluWood for a new home constructed in South Carolina. Now Beachtown is introducing BluWood to Texas.

Growing dunes naturally
Enhancing the expansive dunes of Beachtown is an “on growing” process – a collaboration between nature and Town Founder Tofigh Shirazi. Beachtown already benefits environmentally from its prized location on Galveston’s only accreting beach (growing three to seven feet per year, according to the Texas General Land Office). But Beachtown has also put a program in place to add natural materials, including sand and vegetation.

Using natural materials eliminates the need to introduce man-made materials such as geo-tubing. Instead, Beachtown uses materials trimmed from the dunes to be replanted along the dune line. Currently, several dunes positioned back to back are already established, with the prospect of additional protective dunes being continually developed well into the future.

Beachtown hosts second annual Mardi Gras party
More than 100 Houstonians attended a private Mardi Gras fete hosted by Tofigh and Shari Shirazi on Saturday, February 2. Guests enjoyed a reception at Beachtown, followed by cocktails at the Strand Theatre, and a VIP viewing of the Knights of Momus Grand Knight Parade. Dinner, catered by the Galveston Yacht Club, was served onstage at the theatre.

Party celebrants waved to revelers on board Beachtown’s parade float, including Texas Children’s Hospital president and CEO Mark Wallace and his wife Shannon, along with Nader Shirazi, and Liana Liberato, the 12-year-old Galveston actress who debuted that week on Fox Network’s House.

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

"Love the planned community look with an eye towards preserving the area. Please send me a package along with prospectus and or home reservation forms."
~ From Thomas in New York

"I'd like pricing on smaller 2 or 3 BR properties. It sounds like a nice, safe community to entertain my grandchildren."
~ From Wendy in Texas

"We would love to be put on your mailing list. We have stayed at Rosemary Beach many times and would be interested in a planned community here in Texas."
~ From Marguerite in Texas

"I'm glad to see such a positive change coming to Galveston. I am a Houston native, my mother was born in Galveston 1917. I wish you much success for what appears to be a positive change and profitable venue . . . something that Galveston has needed for many years."
~ From Suzanne in Georgia

"We have college friends with whom we annually go to the Beach -- Seaside area now....hopefully, Texas soon!."
~ From Sandra in Oklahoma