FEATUREZ
Southern Sector Housing Boom By Ashley Festa TWO NEW SOUTH SCHERTZ developments are well into construction, creating more housing for newcomers while preserving the community’s country feel that longtime residents have come to love. The Crossvine, the city’s first master-planned community, encompasses more than 500 acres not far from the Interstate IH-10 corridor. Willow Grove and Willow Grove Estates subdivisions also will provide additional highend housing options for residents looking for a small but growing city. “Most people in the market, when they think of Schertz, they
22 22
think of the IH-35 corner,” said Chris Price of Schertz 1518 Ltd., The Crossvine’s developer. “But the residential portion of it is fully absorbed. “The only place Schertz can go is the IH-10 corridor. That’s where a lot of buyers want to be, and that’s where Schertz can continue to go,” he said. “Our project will set the tone for what the I-10 corridor is going to look like.” Builders broke ground on the first phase of The Crossvine development in August, and the project is already ahead of schedule. Drainage is being cut in the greenbelt area, and sewer lines and utilities are next on the list,
Price said. Of 121 lots planned for Phase 1, the first homes should be available by end of 1st Quarter 2014 and the amenities center is scheduled to be ready by next summer. The center will feature a pool, amphitheater and a community pavilion. Phase 2 of the project, which will have about 170 lots, will get underway when the first phase is halfway complete. Price expects 10-12 phases, which will see construction as earlier phases are complete, though the time frame will depend on the housing market.
NOVEMBER NOVEMBER 2013 2013 SCHERTZMAGAZINE.COM SCHERTZMAGAZINE.COM
“From the moment we got involved and went to the city and tried to reinvent the project, the city got on board and became our partner,” Price said. “What we ended up with is better than what we started off with.” The original plan, when Price took over the project, was a traditional grid subdivision with a typical retention pond drainage system. However, Price and his team suggested a different, more useful approach, which would also be less expensive than the original drainage plan. “We felt pretty strongly that we should take this retention pond and make it a meaningful component of the project,” Price said. The solution: Build a greenbelt with pocket parks and 12 miles of hiking and biking trails snaked through the development. With this plan, residents will be able to walk the two or so miles from one end of The Crossvine to the other.