Award-Winning Urban Planning Comes to Life in Southwest Ohio
Vibrant, watercolor images depict the work of Town Architect Michael Watkins, who earned the 2015 Urban Planning John Russell Pope Award for the Union Village master plan. This year, the drawings will be brought to life with the construction of Union Village’s first 30 homes. The home designs are influenced by historic architecture found in nearby towns including Lebanon and Mariemont.
The 1,230-acre development in Warren County is built on new urban planning principles: walkability, connectivity, mixed use housing diversity, quality architecture and urban design, traditional neighborhood structure, sustainability and quality of life. The combination of these elements makes the development unique to southwest Ohio.
Site development began in July 2018 and new home construction will begin late summer 2019. The project is anticipated to build out in 40 to 50 years. The plan includes walkable access to a main village and several smaller villages in addition to a 200-acre greenway system of meadows, woodland parks and pathways to connecting to nearby Armco Park and the new Warren County Sports Park. More than 25 percent of the development will be green space.
Watkins is the founder and principal of Michael Watkins Architect, LLC, an urban design and architecture firm dedicated to designing and implementing communities that are beautiful, diverse and lasting. He also serves as the Town Architect for Norton Commons in Louisville, Kentucky and Whitehall near Wilmington, Delaware. He is a member of the Congress for the New Urbanism, the American Institute of Architects, the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art, the New Urban Guild and the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP). In 2016, he was inducted into the College of Fellows of the AICP, which is awarded for excellence in professional practice, teaching and mentoring, research, public and community service, and leadership in urban planning..
Watkin’s firm was the recipient of the 2015 John Russel Pope Award for the Union Village master plan. The award is bestowed by The Institute of Classical Architecture and Art, the leading national nonprofit dedicated to advancing the practice and appreciation of the classical tradition in architecture and the allied arts.
Union Village Development Company was founded in late 2015 as a wholly owned for profit subsidiary of Otterbein Homes. New Urban Development Partners, LLC, renown for award-winning New Urban Projects will manage the development of Union Village.
MEDIA CONTACT: Sara Cullin (513) 383-5627