Artist Damien Hirst has emerged as the mystery developer behind 500 proposed eco-homes in Ilfracombe, Devon.

He will partner architect Mike Rundell, with whom he worked to create Pharmacy, a restaurant in West London, in 2006, and who more recently worked on a new East London studio for another Turner Prize winner, Tracey Emin.

Winsham Farm in Ilfracombe, owned for 10 years by Hirst, as well as Channel and Bowden Farms, will provide the land for the development, a council meeting was told by Rundell this week.

"I’m a representative of Damien Hirst. He owns 40% of the land we are talking about,” he said, adding that a planning application will be submitted this summer for the site at Winsham Farm and construction will start in 2013.

"As you know, he is a very successful artist and has very high ambitions for this project. He has a horror of building anonymous, lifeless buildings. He wants these houses to be the kind of homes he would want to live in.

"Damien is a local developer. He lives locally, shops locally, owns local businesses and his children go to local schools.

"He cares about Ilfracombe and wants this project to have a positive effect on the town.

"He wants these buildings to be landmarks that will stand the test of time and create a blueprint for quality, environmentally sustainable developments across the country. Ilfracombe will be a pioneer and Damien is incredibly excited about it."

Photovoltaic panels, concealed wind turbines in the roofs and increased insulation are among the environmentally-focused promises made by Rundell, who underlined Hirst’s conviction that the eco-homes planned for the south must complement existing buildings in the town itself, where Hirst also owns a restaurant.

"We are not expecting to make retirement homes for rich people coming down from London," he said. "We want these houses to attract young, creative families as well as people who already live here.

"This is a very ambitious project only made possible because Damien is a local developer who truly cares and wants to create an exemplary development.

"If we are committed to doing this as Damien wants it, it will happen.  Damien is a man who gets things done."

Rundell also emphasised that the success of the development would depend on the level of cooperation from North Devon Council in terms of a section 106 agreement.

He said: "If the council insists on a very high level of affordable housing within the development, the overall quality of the homes will drop.

"We believe that if you bring wealth, energy and business to a  town like Ilfracombe, it will have far wider social benefits than  simply, say, introducing a youth club.

"You have to ask yourself the question do you want cheap housing or do you want to attract business and money to allow the town to grow?"