Upscale communities springing up on rice fields in Fort Bend
By BETTY L. MARTIN
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
From the sounds of jackhammers to the sight of posted placards announcing master-planned communities, the Katy prairie south of Interstate 10 and west of the Texas 6 Energy Corridor is full of signs that it’s fast becoming home to more than birds and rice farms.
In just over a year since Jefferson Development of Houston began building the Firethorne residential community, $130,000 to $800,000 homes, several other developers have followed suit on what was prairie, farm or prison land in the Katy school district within Fort Bend County.
“When we started Firethorne, we were really the only big project here. Now, there’s a lot of big projects. that just indicates how strong the market is,” said Wayne Meyer, Jefferson Development’s vice president and Firethorne’s general manager.
Firethorne
Jefferson Development, which has spearheaded several Houston-area communities including Coles Crossing at Barker Cypress, chose to put Firethorne in Katy “because it was obvious that that was the direction the market was going,” Meyer said.
So far, 391 homes in Firethorne have been sold of the 418 that have completed or started. Construction is spread out on about 1,100 acres west and 340 acres east of FM 1464, about a mile and a half south of Interstate 10 from Crossover Road to Willowfork Creek.
Susan Farb Morris of Susan Farb Public Relations said people enjoy client Firethorne’s location and resort-like amenities — such as a multilevel swim center, 150 acres of parks, sports fields, playgrounds and 12-acre lake — combined with Fulshear’s “neighborly spirit” and Katy schools.
Tamarron Lakes
South of Firethorne and a mile west of FM 1463, Tamarron Lakes is in the planning stages, the first of about five phases over five to seven years that the 747-acre master-planned residential community will see before its last house is sold.
“We’re probably about a year away from having actual houses,” said Bob Shelton of Bob Shelton Developments in Denton.
Several factors went into the company’s decision to target Katy for his company’s first foray into the Houston area, Shelton said.
“From our perspective, we have to look at a combination of location, pricing and, obviously, market analysis — how many existing lots, is the area overbuilt or underbuilt?” Shelton said. “There was a need for another nice, master-planned community there, near Interstate 10 and the Energy Corridor.”
As planned, a 30-acre entry park will lead to the residential sections of $175,000 to $500,000 homes, areas with recreational amenities including pools, splash parks and several lakes. The first phase, said Shelton’s Houston representative, Kerry Gilbert of Kerry Gilbert and Associates, will include three sections totalling about 300 single-family lots.
“As soon as we get final plat approval, construction will begin … My guess is that, hopefully, it will be another two to three months,” Gilbert said.
Cross Creek Ranch
Already an avid developer familiar with the Katy area, Trendmaker Homes has turned dirt on its 3,200 acres centered roughly at FM 1093 and FM 1463, with plans to start building Cross Creek Ranch’s 7,000 homes in the first quarter of the new year.
The community of $175,000 to $500,000 homes will be similar in price and multiple amenities to Trendmaker Homes’ development at Grand Lakes, just completing its final construction phase off the Grand Parkway, said Collin Pier, engineer.
Pier said the community “will be technology-oriented with fiber (optic cable) to the premises,” as well as a fitness-and-wellness center with cardio and exercise equipment and weights. Other amenities will include a multipurpose and banquet room for residents’ use.
Outside features will include a large-scale water park for swimmers, plus a creek for operators of small craft such as kayak or canoes.
“We’ll have a corridor linear park system that runs probably 2.5 miles, with hike-and-bike trails,” Pier said.
A big attraction, he said, will be the proximity of a Katy school district junior high and high school for which the district has already purchased land.
He said that Trendmaker Homes has been in the Katy area since the mid-1990s, when the development company built Green Trails near Barker Cypress, then started Grand Lakes in 1998.
“It’s a growth corridor and we’ve had very good success here,” Pier said.
Aliana
Another large subdivision named Aliana has been proposed for the Fort Bend County area on former prison land just outside the Katy school district on FM 1464 at U.S. 99.
The proposed subdivision that Revalen Development Co. purchased for $47 million — and plans to turn into a $1.8 billion luxury, mixed-use real estate. As planned, it will feature three polo fields and upper-end real estate on estate-sized lots “for people who are financially able to pursue polo,” said Gail Parker, president and chief officer of the Roseberg-Richmond Area Chamber of Commerce.
Homes, including a retirement community, will range from a half million to several million dollars, Parker said. In addition to the International Polo Club, other amenities under discussion include a full-sized, resort-like hotel. There also will be a golf course and country club, possibly in partnership with neighboring Shawdowhawk Golf Club or the Houstonian Golf and Country Club, Parker said.
Though located in Houston’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, residents will have a Richmond address, she said..
“My understanding is that it will have 2,000 contiguous acres, 6,000 homes, a million square feet of office space, a town center — and it will be fabulous,” Parker said.
