Sandy Point - DPZ

Key Facts

2003
Designed
939 ac.
Project Size
Sam Young, The Fund for Sandy Point
Client

About Sandy Point

Designated a “New Urban Waterfront” by North Carolina’s General Assembly and inspired by the neighboring colonial capital of Edenton, Sandy Point on Albemarle Sound aspires to join the region’s tradition of great coastal towns. In 2003, an eastern North Carolina economic development organization encouraged development of this site as a traditional, integrated community as opposed to a conventional, isolated suburban enclave. The 939-acre farmstead flanking the northern terminus of the Albemarle Sound Bridge is well positioned to draw visitors from Washington D.C., Virginia and North Carolina. With convenient access to culture and commerce, this community offers a small town lifestyle in a rural setting.

Historically known as “Sandy Point,” this location will serve as a downtown for the upper Albemarle region. The more urban West Side village features 1100 single to multi-family dwellings, a 41-acre upland harbor, and a Main Street of shopfronts that leads to the harbor’s Wharf and 268-slip marina. The more rural East Side village consists of 500 larger, single-family lots around an 18-acre lake. Permitted for a destination resort, its plan also envisions a range of garden plots for continuing the property’s food-production history.

Development Approach

Advantageous location: 1-hour drive from NC Outer Banks, 2 hours from Raleigh/Durham, NC, 3 hours from Richmond, VA, and 4 hours from Washington, DC
Self-sustaining & light imprint program: locally-run, tourist-oriented businesses + community farm + greywater reuse + catchment and storage greenway strategies
Nature protected: new harbors sensitively inserted + waterfront buffer preserves and restored vegetation along the Sound
Incremental, phased growth: The commercial downtown plan anticipates gradual increases in population and provides for intelligent developmental growth over time

Defining Design Details

Two Villages: smaller lots, more urban West Side + larger lots, more rural East Side
NC waterfront traditions recovered: return to coastal settlement patterns abandoned in favor of 20th Century enclave
Harborfront living: West Side’s 143 waterfront homes, each permitted with a private boat dock under a porch that extends out over the harbor
Difficult to obtain coastal permits: the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers entitlement and authorization for the 2 harbors and the marina
Local-serving food harvested across the transect: village fields + orchards + vineyards + meat and dairy from small livestock yards + seafood from the Sound
Recreational & health amenities: wellness center affiliated with the East Carolina Medical School + sports field + equestrian center + swimming pools + beaches + tennis courts