In off-market deal, Long Lake buys 494 acres next to Bridgeland for new community

 

By Florian Martin, Houston Business Journal

The Howard Hughes Corp.’s master-planned community Bridgeland is getting another neighbor.

In an off-market deal, Houston-based Long Lake Ltd. — under its development arm Woodmere Development Co. — has purchased a 494-acre tract across the street from Bridgeland’s western edge to develop a residential community there.

James Kadlick, Harrison Kane and Chris Hutcheson of Colliers Houston’s land advisory group represented Long Lake in the sale from an unnamed local landowner, who was represented by Matthew Herring of Houston-based Rockspring Capital.

The site will be developed into a single-family home community, but Aaron Alford, executive vice president at Woodmere Development Co., said the company was not ready to announce specific plans.

Kadlick, senior vice president at Colliers’ land advisory group, pointed to immediate access to 1,100 acres of Harris County parks, the top-rated Katy Independent School District and proximity to the Grand Parkway as factors making the location desirable for homebuyers.

He said he had been working to help acquire the land for several years, including for Long Lake previously.

“It was actually a deal that they had made an offer on, I want to say, probably two years ago, and the deal never came to fruition,” Kadlick said. “And so, this past year, when they re-approached it, we were able to work the deal out.”

Rural land prices have risen fast in the past few years in Texas. The median price in the Gulf Coast-Brazos Bottom region, which includes the Houston area, went up 21.6% year over year to $9,157 per acre in the second quarter, according to the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University.

The Katy Prairie area, west of the Grand Parkway, north of Interstate 10 and south of U.S. Highway 290, is attracting growing interest from developers.

Long Lake’s future community will join a number of current and future residential developments in the area, including Land Tejas’ 1,039-acre Sunterra further south as well as Johnson Development Corp.’s 1,620-acre Jubilee and Archie Dunham’s Stone Creek Ranch closer to Highway 290.

Long Lake builds in at least 26 communities in Greater Houston, according to its website. It was ranked No. 8 on the Houston Business Journal’s 2022 Largest Houston-Area Homebuilders List based on its 1,051 new home closings from the fourth quarter of 2021 through Q3 2022.

In northwest Houston outside the Grand Parkway, Woodmere Development Co. communities include a 270-acre single-family development inside Wolff Cos.’ mixed-use community Beacon Hill on Highway 290 outside Waller as well as Morton Creek Ranch along Morton Road just west of the Grand Parkway.

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