Hines acquires 528 acres for master-planned community near Waller
By Florian Martin, Houston Business Journal
Hines is the latest residential developer to set its sights on the U.S. Highway 290 corridor near the city of Waller.
The Houston-based real estate giant — along with Vancouver-based Trez Capital; Southlake, Texas-based Caravel Ventures; and Tokyo-based Sumitomo Forestry — acquired 528 acres on the southwest corner of Castle and Binford roads, on the northwestern tip of Harris County.
The plan is to develop a 1,400-home master-planned community with a 4.7-acre recreation center with a clubhouse, resort-style pool and large playground, as well as hike-and-bike trails and more than 130 acres of green space.
The yet-to-be-named community will also include a school in the Waller County Independent School District, Hines said.
Construction on the first phase of the development is slated to start by the end of the year with lots to be delivered by summer 2025. The first phase includes 350 lots varying in size from 40 to 60 feet wide to be sold to Highland Homes, Chesmar, Drees, Brightland, Tri Pointe, Ashton Woods and Castlerock Homes.
“Waller is expected to see a major increase in population over the next five years, as growth continues to push northwest and limited vacant land remains in the surrounding submarkets,” Carson Nunnelly, managing director at Hines, said in a statement. “This poses an appealing opportunity for us to deliver a high-quality master-planned community with diverse product offerings. We look forward to working alongside our partners to meet the demand for high-quality, yet cost-effective housing options in this prime submarket.”
Hines declined to name the seller. According to the Harris Central Appraisal District, the parcels that make up the acquired land last belonged to KSA Industries Inc. and Bud Adams Ranches Inc., which is an affiliate of KSA Industries. The land deal closed in September, according to Hines. Bill Byrd of Colliers represented the seller and worked closely with both parties on the transaction.
The community is less than 2 miles north of Waller High School and a little more than 2 miles from Highway 290.
Growing 290 corridor
The 290 corridor has gotten on the radar of a growing number of both commercial and residential developers as the area northwest of Houston is experiencing fast population growth, helped by the recent widening of the freeway and by the Grand Parkway.
A few miles west of its planned community, in Waller County, Hines owns just under 78 acres, which it bought from Houston-based Wolff Cos. in late 2021 for industrial development.
In 2018, Wolff Cos. purchased the original 521-acre property along Highway 290 for its Beacon Hill master-planned community and later added 43 acres. In 2020, it sold 270 acres to Long Lake Ltd., which is building around 870 homes on the land.
Other residential development in the area includes Howard Hughes Holdings Inc.’s Bridgeland, the 1,327-acre Dunham Pointe on the southeastern corner of 290 and the Grand Parkway, and Johnson Development Corp.’s 1,622-acre Jubilee, which recently started construction near Hockley.
Industrial development along 290 outside the Grand Parkway includes a 4.3 million-square-foot Daikin manufacturing and distribution facility, a 1.3 million-square-foot facility at Kermier Road developed by Houston-based The Avera Cos., a 500,000-square-foot distribution center in Waller by Houston-based Pagewood, and a 2.5 million-square-foot development by Houston-based Parkside Capital and Vigavi in Prairie View.
Other Hines residential communities
Meanwhile, Hines continues to focus on residential community development.
In April, the company announced it will develop a 954-acre community near Iowa Colony in Brazoria County, since dubbed Creekhaven, its largest Houston-area community since First Colony in Sugar Land.
During the economic recession in the 1980s, Hines abandoned single-family residential development and focused more on commercial projects in Houston, but it returned to single-family development in recent years and has completed 26 communities in the Southwest since 2005.
In the Houston area, Hines has since developed two other single-family-home communities: the 338-home Laurel Glen in the Spring-Klein area and the 180-home Grayson Woods in Katy. It has also developed Somerset Green, a 550-unit townhome community on Old Katy Road near Memorial Park.
In Tomball, Hines is developing the 390-home Raburn Reserve with homes built by Taylor Morrison. And last September, the company announced it will develop Brookewater, an 850-acre, 2,400-home community in Rosenberg.
Hines has partnered with Trez Capital for all those projects.
Overall, Hines has 21 communities under construction across its Southwest region.
For the complete article, please go to:
https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2023/11/01/hines-to-develop-1400-home-community-near-waller.html