The Town of Livingston will soon get well.
The Madison County development’s expansion will be among the first “well-certified” projects in the world, said Paul Scialla, founder of New York-based real estate firm Delos Living, which specializes in well-certification.
What that means is that the commercial portion of Livingston scheduled to open this spring will have things like Posturepedic flooring, water purification systems, sound-dampening interiors, windows that block the sun’s UV rays and lighting meant to increase energy and decrease mental clutter.
“There’s so much focus on green building standards,” Scialla said Tuesday at the site at the intersection of highways 463 and 22. “We thought we could push that farther.”
Delos Living has been involved with individual buildings that have been certified in New York and Los Angeles, Scialla said. The Town of Livingston will be the first full-scale development to earn the certification.
David Landrum, who developed Livingston’s existing farmers market, said construction started about five months ago on the expansion. The concept dates back to 2007, but languished as zoning ordinances were changed and the national recession hit.
The 44-acre town square will include a mercantile store, a restaurant, men’s barbershop and an office building, Landrum said, built in the same style as the 1880s, when Livingston served as Madison County’s first county seat. The restaurant – named “The County Seat” – will honor that heritage.
Forty-four Charleston-style cottages are planned, as is a 400-acre subdivision called Chestnut Hill. Individual owners can have their homes well-certified. Walkability will be a primary component of all of it, Landrum said.
“That’s such a popular thing now, for people to be able to either walk or ride in a golf cart in their neighborhood to go get a cup of coffee,” he said.
To contact Clay Chandler, call (601) 961-7264 or follow @claychand on Twitter.
