Rhonda Scott Brewer is a woman of vision. She has a knack for envisioning how thousands of acres of undeveloped land will someday evolve into family-friendly, master-planned communities.
As vice president of operations for Newland Communities in Tampa, Fla., the 33-year-old leaves her fingerprint on the shared community amenities of these developments. Brewer, '95 BS Landscape Architecture, oversees the planning and construction of community centers, aquatic facilities, parks, trails, and urban parks.
"I work with a project from the ground floor throughout its construction," says Brewer, who in 1997 earned a master's in landscape architecture from North Carolina State University. "We look at the site and determine its layout.
"I also help determine the design of vertical design features — the clubhouses, lighting, hardscape, softscape, and amenities — as well as the overall theming of the project. Landscape architects, architects, and engineers all work with me on that vision."
"In addition to the amenities, we (Newland) construct the roadways, neighborhood entries, and pedestrian parks. And then home builders come in and construct the actual homes."
This year alone, Brewer is managing $12 million in projects at the 4,000-acre FishHawk Ranch community, the 7,000-acre Bexley Ranch development, and the 800-acre Covington Park, all located in the Tampa area.
To Brewer, the development process is as important as the outcome. A prime example is FishHawk Ranch, a community located in a wooded area. Instead of bulldozing the existing trees and starting anew, the nationwide developer opted to relocate trees. These efforts earned the National Arbor Day Foundation Award of Excellence in 2003 as well as the Trees Florida state award.
"It was a team-led effort, and I think having a landscape architect like myself on that team helped. It's a heavily forested area, and we made the decision early on that instead of clear-cutting trees and filling, we'd drop the roads down and save the trees. We moved and replanted trees that were up to 24 inches in diameter and were able to save thousands of trees," says Brewer, who joined the company in 2000 as a project manager and has climbed the ranks to become its youngest vice president.
"When you move trees like we did, the development looks more 'mature' because you don't have small, stick-like trees. Our land development is very 'green,' it sells, and it is the right thing to do."
Planning beautiful communities is not Brewer's biggest challenge. Instead, it is keeping an eye on the bottom line.
"You have to manage the expectations of those around you while managing the costs. It's really fun to sit around and dream up big projects, but to transform them into reality while managing the costs is a challenge. So you are always trying to create a project that is aesthetically pleasing and functions well, but you have to live in economics," she says.
Fortunately, Brewer says, her education equipped her to handle both the design and business functions of her job. "There are a lot of developers who come in with a financial background, but they don't know design. And that's where I think landscape architects can help. Landscape architects can come in and manage the design as well as the actual project. Through our education, we are given the tools to look at projects on a much larger scale."
