NEWS

By Susan Salisbury Palm Beach Post Staff Writer –

The planned Babcock Ranch development in Southwest Florida has taken a big step forward with an agreement that calls for Florida Power & Light Co. to be the sole provider of its electric service.

Since 2006 Palm Beach Gardens-based Kitson & Partners, headed by Syd Kitson, has been working on plans for the 18,000-acre environmentally sustainable future city north of Fort Myers. Kitson purchased the 92,000-acre Babcock Ranch wildlife preserve, then sold almost 74,000 acres to the state for $350 million. The state has set that land aside for preservation and recreation.