A Houston-based developer has plans to build up to 2,800 homes in a master-planned community in the Houston suburbs.
Johnson Development is partnering with Plow Realty, a real estate investor affiliated with billionaire Jeffrey Hildebrand’s company, to develop more than 1,000 acres located 35 miles west of downtown Houston in Katy, the Houston Chronicle reported. The still-unnamed master-planned community will rise north of Interstate 10 near Morton Road and FM 2855.
“We have seen a slowdown in home sales and expect it to continue over the next 18 to 24 months,” Michael J. Smith of Johnson Development told the outlet. “The Houston market is still strong when compared to the rest of the nation, and this west Houston corridor has fared better than other parts of the region.”
Set to break ground in the second quarter, the planned community will be located within the top-ranked Katy Independent School District.
Also in Katy, Long Lake Ltd. in November bought 494 acres at the northwest corner of West and Katy Hockley roads for a planned residential community. The development will rise across the street from the Howard Hughes Corporation’s master-planned Bridgeland community.
While master-planned communities have been popular throughout the Lone Star State, home sales within most of them dropped in 2022, compared to the previous year, according to a report from RCLCO.
“The second half of the year, in particular, saw significant declines, correlated with rising interest rates, as top communities sold about 13 percent fewer homes than in the first half of the year,” Karl Pischke said in the report.
Tamarron, Meridiana, Cross Creek Ranch, Woodforest, Elyson, Sienna and Sierra Vista/Sterling Lakes are among the master-planned communities that saw home sales drop. Meanwhile, two Friendswood communities, Tavola and Becker Crossing, sold more homes in 2022 than the year before, according to the report.
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