1,160-acre master-planned community Lakeview breaks ground in Waller County

By Florian Martin, Houston Business Journal

Rooted Development, based in the Katy area, broke ground this week on a 1,160-acre master-planned community in Waller County, a few miles south of Hempstead.

The first phase of Lakeview, at FM 362 and Herbert Road, will include 107 one- and two-story estate homes on 1- and 2-acre lots, ranging in price from the mid-$400,000s to $1 million or more, according to the developer.

Utility and infrastructure work should be finished by the third quarter and the first homes completed by early next year, said Peter Houghton, CEO of Rooted Development. Sales are expected to begin in July or August.

Of the three manmade lakes in Lakeview, the central one will be 45 acres and include a fishing pier, park, pavilion, community garden, new trees and some mature oak trees.

Future phases will depend on the market, and there is potential to expand the development up to 4,000 acres, Houghton said. The land, which is currently used to grow rice and corn for grazing, has belonged to the Pfeffer family for more than 50 years.

“The family brought us in early on to plan this large piece of land as a master-planned community instead of just dividing off small tracts and selling,” Houghton said.

He and partner Christopher Gilbert have decades of residential real estate development experience, including with Houston-area communities such as Bridgeland, Cinco Ranch, Woodson’s Reserve, Greatwood and the Reserve at Katy. Before Rooted Development, Houghton previously held vice president roles related to master-planned communities at The Howard Hughes Corp., General Growth Properties, Newland Communities and other companies. Gilbert held land development and project management roles at Ryland Homes, Toll Brothers, Friendswood Development Co. and more.

“There are very few competing communities out there, in terms of 1-acre lots and greater,” he said. “That’s why we chose to start with those larger lots and make it a first-class development.”

Future phases could also include some smaller, half-acre lots, depending on demand, Houghton said.

The future community is rather far from major freeways — about 15 minutes from U.S. 290 and 25 minutes from Interstate 10 — but as more people have been working from home during the pandemic and demand for larger homes and country living has increased, Houghton said the location seems ideal.

“The builders that signed up all told me that they felt like they had buyers in Bridgeland and Cinco Ranch that would come further west and that those communities were generating a market of people looking to have larger lots and less density,” he said.

The Signorelli Co. is also getting ready to break ground on a 365-acre master-planned community in Waller County, just a few miles south of Lakeview.

Other communities in this general area west of the Grand Parkway include Land Tejas’ 1,039-acre master-planned community Sunterra and LGI Homes Inc.’s (Nasdaq: LGIH) 840-home Freeman Ranch.

Farther north, at U.S. Highway 290 near the city of Waller, Wolff Cos. is developing the 564-acre Beacon Hill community. And Johnson Development Corp. is building a 1,258-acre master-planned community just north of Fulshear in Fort Bend County.

Lakeview will be zoned to the Waller Independent School District, but more communities with thousands of homes are in the works for Royal ISD. The district is preparing for a major increase in its population in the coming years, Superintendent Rick Kershner previously told the Houston Business Journal.