The Landings Lives Audubon International’s Mission

Withmore than 6,000 acres of sprawling saltmarsh, The Landings near Savannah is breathtakingly wonderful natural habitat. It is home to numerous species of fauna and flora sharing space with some eight thousand residents. The value proposition at The Landings is prodigious and rich with natural wonders – some profound and some tantalizingly delicate.

Since its beginnings, The Landings has recognized its interrelationships with the surrounding marshes and waterways. The Landings’ first homes were built in 1972 when final construction on two bridges connecting Skidaway Island to the mainland was completed.

Those first homes were part of a master plan designed by Hideo Sasaki, the internationally renowned landscape architect and chairman of Harvard’s Landscape Architecture Department. Sasaki’s vision of The Landings was that the streets should resemble limbs of a tree, the houses should blend with forest growth, and the approach to the island from the bridge should resemble a green belt.

Green space was a key design element of the community plan and earned The Landings the designation as the first Audubon International Certified Sustainable Community in Georgia. The community’s commitment to environmentalism ripples through residents’ enjoyment of boating the waterways, playing golf on the six 18-hole golf courses, and cultivating their own vegetables in a community garden. Living harmoniously with nature is a part of everything one can do at The Landings.

Steven Freund is responsible for keeping such a special place…special. Steven is the Executive Director at The Landings, whose duties include the operation of multiple clubs which include golf courses, robust court sports and tennis clubs, swimming amenities, and numerous dining venues alongside some 30 miles of parks and trails. The Landings is featured in this edition of the Audubon International newsletter and with good reason…it is a large community with a small-town heartbeat. This is especially so when one sees the community’s commitment to sound environmental practices.

Drawing on a professional background which is rich in five-star experience with Ritz-Carlton in Michigan, Florida, and Georgia, Steven recognizes the critical importance of environmental stewardship. “Our Club exists on a barrier island, bordering one of the largest salt-water marshes on the eastern seaboard. While six championship golf courses and accompanying recreational and social amenities are critical to our club and community’s sustainability, it is the coastal environment, the maritime forest and the wildlife that roams our undeveloped areas and lagoons that sets our club apart. While we believe preservation of the environment is noble without other motivating factors, we also have compelling business interests to ensure the environment that makes being a member of The Landings Golf and Athletic Club unique is protected and remains a competitive advantage for our club.”

With his finger-on-the-pulse understanding of his members’ attitudes, Steven emphasizes how homeowners and members at The Landings value the “naturalness” of the community, “With great respect to communities and clubs woven into major urban areas, a critical deciding factor to move to The Landings and join our club is the sense of seclusion and separation, without being remote. Our developer was prescient in choosing famed land planner Hideo Sasaki to establish the way our community would evolve. Sasaki paid attention to how island roads flowed (there isn’t a straight road over a quarter mile), established guiding principles on preservation of the tree canopy and generally how the community was integrated into the coastal environment. Those plans laid the foundation for a community and club that each year becomes a better version of the original vision as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of our club.”

It is no surprise that Steven and his management team embrace the mission of Audubon International, joining with us to create environmentally sustainable environments where people live, work, and play. The Landings, its management team, residents, and club members clearly put the AI mission to work and bring it to life…every day.

Henry Delozier, Chairman of the Board