First homeowners move into Babcock Ranch community

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Babcock Ranch, the nation’s first solar city–years in the making–is celebrating a major milestone.

The community’s first residents will be moving in Thursday.

There’s been a lot of progress made in Babcock Ranch, but despite the construction, only now that the first homeowners are moving in does it actually feel like a real city, according to developers.

A vision more than a decade in the making will finally become a reality for founder and CEO of Babcock Ranch, Syd Kitson.

“There were a lot of critics who said it would never happen,” Kitson said.

Babcock Ranch homeowners Richard and Robin Kinley say for them it was an easy decision to pack up their lives in Atlanta and settle in America’s first solar-powered city.

When the real estate market plunged in 2007, it delayed the project’s timeline. Since then, construction crews have finished multiple projects within the community, including Founders Square, a restaurant, retail store and neighborhood school.

Babcock Ranch spans across 18,000 acres, and eventually will be home to thousands of homeowners.

The Kinley family will get the opportunity to meet more of their future neighbors who will be moving in within weeks at a celebration Thursday night.

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