The Complete Package
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OCTOBER 2000 Homebuying PUBLICATION 1426 A Reprint from Tierra Grande, the Real Estate Center Journal By Jennifer S. Cowley and Steve Spillette n the past, many master-planned communities of- housing is intended to provide a stable residential base from fered limited residential products. Developers tended to which employers can obtain workers. I focus on neighborhoods of single-family, detached homes EDS, the developer of Legacy, also focuses on commercial for upper-middle income or more affluent two-parent families components. Initial projects have taken the form of expansive with children. Neighborhoods within a community were often office campuses for corporate headquarters, including those of differentiated by income level. EDS, Frito-Lay and JCPenney. Ron Mills, vice president of Hunt Valley Development, the At Circle T Ranch, a project by Hillwood Development in developer of Sharyland Plantation in Mission, believes that Westlake, near Fort Worth, the first major building is the master-planned community developers have become more regional campus for Fidelity Investments. Plans call for more aware of what consumers want and can afford. Today’s housing than 600 additional acres of office and industrial uses, plus market is highly fragmented, and consumers are demanding intensive retail development such as a regional mall and more variety in housing products. other shopping centers. Master-planned communities are responding by including The Woodlands, long known primarily as a bedroom com- housing for a variety of ages, incomes and lifestyles. The munity, has begun to intensively develop its Town Center Woodlands, a development that pioneered housing diversity, section, which will include a 30-story headquarters for has always mixed housing types and incomes, even within Anadarko Petroleum. The Woodlands Operating Company neighborhoods. The community’s developer has identified 26 ultimately anticipates 41 million square feet of commercial housing market segments to which the community caters, and industrial development. including first-time buyers, singles and empty nesters. It also offers active adult neighborhoods for older residents desiring an age-restricted environment. In addition to single- family detached homes, The Woodlands incorporates entry- level single-family patio homes, townhomes, condominiums and gated luxury enclaves. Master-planned communities have long provided educa- Newer master-planned communities exemplify the trend tional, social and recreational amenities for residents. The Del toward housing diversity. At Sienna Plantation in Fort Bend Webb Corporation was a pioneer in this regard. Sun City County near Houston, Johnson Development targets single Georgetown has a Village Center with physical fitness facili- women by including low-maintenance housing, such as patio ties, meeting rooms, a ballroom and other social areas offering homes and townhouses. The company also plans housing ap- a variety of special-interest programming. Other Texas de- pealing to multigenerational families, such as homes with dual velopers are borrowing the concept and taking amenities to master bedrooms. Developers of projects like Sienna and The new levels. Woodlands intend for community residents to be able to live Developers have often provided sites for primary and sec- there throughout their lives, not just in their prime earning ondary schools within their projects, and now higher education and family-raising years. also has a place. The Woodlands created the University Center, Other projects have targeted niches considered nontradi- a complex of facilities for extensions of four-year colleges such tional for master-planned communities, including active se- as Texas A&M University and a campus of Montgomery niors. Sun City Georgetown, patterned after other such devel- College, part of the local community college system. It also opments in the southwestern United States, is an age-restricted includes the John Cooper School, a private school attracting community offering a variety of housing sizes and styles. children of highly educated parents working in the community’s Sharyland focuses on affordable hous- research park. ing for the workers of the community’s Southern Methodist University has industrial employers. Plans even call located an extension campus at Legacy for the inclusion of manufactured hous- to serve the local business community ing. Legacy, in Plano, targets young pro- with undergraduate and graduate courses fessionals, who prefer a higher-density, in business, engineering and liberal arts. less family-oriented environment, by EDS officials are considering the devel- providing upscale garden apartments opment of a Center for Global Leader- and urban-style housing in its Town ship, designed to assist companies in Center area. learning how to conduct business glo- bally. Marilyn Kasko, marketing direc- tor for Legacy, believes higher educa- tion facilities conveniently located Several newer master-planned com- within the community help boost em- munities have created identities focus- ployer productivity and attract employ- ing on their roles as employment cen- ees who are seeking more integrated ters as opposed to residential neighbor- lifestyles. hoods. In fact, some of these projects Social and recreational facilities treat their residential components as within master-planned communities amenities within commercial environ- have historically consisted of golf ments. Sharyland, with an anticipated courses, community pools, greenbelts commercial buildout of 38 million and walking trails and community cen- square feet, is aimed at international ters. Over time, however, developers commerce and high-tech manufactur- have added more impressive amenities. ing firms benefiting from the North The Woodlands blazed the trail with the American Free Trade Agreement and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, a plans for an international bridge. concert amphitheater that is the sum- In fact, it is the sister project of a mer home of the Houston Symphony. development across the Rio Grande in Today, other master-planned communi- Reynosa. Hunt Valley Development has THE CYNTHIA WOODS MITCHELL ties feature prominent regional cultural planned the residential component to pavilion in the Woodlands is a popular and sports facilities. optimize Sharyland’s attractiveness to venue for concerts and other cultural events. Sienna Plantation’s anticipated 70,000 businesses. Its affordable and attractive residents will be able to cool off at Club Sienna, a 12-acre water-themed recreation park. The park will guided by new urbanist principles and resemble small-scale include large pools, a water tower with 200 feet of slides, master-planned communities. synchronized fountains and a 100,000-square-foot amphithe- ater extending out over the water. The community association runs the club. Susie Mahoney of Johnson Development, the project’s de- velopers, considered it important to open the club early in Sienna’s development to show residents the company keeps inancially, master-planned communities are complex its promises. Developers also are enhancing the community’s projects. Much non-income-generating infrastructure appeal and long-run vitality by ensuring that residents of all F is required up front each time development begins on a ages have recreational and social opportunities. “The Den,” new component of the community. Many master-planned a recreational facility designed for teenagers, was created to communities have undergone several changes of ownership provide such opportunities for this often-neglected age group. because of financial considerations. However, some developers At Sharyland, developers are building Plantation Grove, a have devised effective strategies for keeping projects finan- massive complex featuring the Mission Sports Center, a 50- cially strong throughout the development timeline. acre sports park including softball and baseball fields, sand and The Woodlands Operating Company maintains cash flow hard volleyball courts, an in-line hockey arena and soccer not only through land sales to home builders and utility fields. Other planned facilities include a marketing center and district reimbursements but also through lease revenues from bank, office pavilions, restaurants, an amphitheater, apart- commercial development, in which the company generally ments and a hotel. The complex will specialize in high-level retains at least a partial interest. This revenue is directed to training for young athletes from all over the Rio Grande Valley, community improvements. Despite the effectiveness of this and will provide a unique recreational amenity for Sharyland strategy, Steve McPhetridge, commercial vice president at The families. Woodlands Operating Company, states that early carrying Even commercially oriented master-planned communities costs would still make it almost impossible to implement a have begun to offer “soft” programming. Community-based project the size of The Woodlands today. organizations spearheaded by EDS in its Legacy community Hunt Valley Development has found a means to generate include the Legacy Sports League, traffic education programs interim income from Sharyland. The project’s property is a and the Legacy Community Partners, a volunteer organization productive farming area, so the company has continued farm- that performs community service. ing operations and is able to fund its Sharyland activities from The Legacy Community Association publishes a newsletter this cash flow, necessitating