life's a beach

Houston's newest lagoon community makes a splash with massive beach and crystal-blue water

Saint Tropez will boast more than 1,000 acres of lagoon-anchored land.

Rendering courtesy of Megatel Homes

Houston’s newest lagoon-locked community has broken ground. Saint Tropez, dubbed a “world-class lagoon community” developer by its developer Megatel Homes, will bring white sand beaches and crystal blue water to northeast Harris County.

Specifically, the $2 billion Saint Tropez project will boast more than 1,000 acres on a site located at Grand Parkway and Huffman Cleveland Road. Phase one is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2023, per a Megatel press release.

As for that lagoon life, future residents can look forward to paddleboarding, kayaking, a swim-up bar, FlowRider surf simulator, a water slide tower, a playground, cabanas, a soundstage, a splash park, and more.

Residentially, the community will include 4,500 single-family lots and multifamily units. Single-family homes will range in size from 1,500 square feet to 4,000 square feet and will run between $350,000 to $700,000 each.

Pre-selling of the first phase of Saint Tropez is expected to begin within the next 60 days, per a release.

Multifamily rental units will also be available. These will include one-, two- and three-bedroom options with rental rates expected to begin at $1,200 per month.

Citing Houston’s “exponential” growth and sixth-largest growth in employment in the U.S. over the past year (according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics), the company notes that the project primes them for entry into our red-hot market.

“Megatel Homes has been searching for the optimum opportunity to gain re-entry into the Houston housing market,” said Zach Ipour, co-founder in a statement. “We are excited to bring this revolutionary residential experience to the Houston area.”

Why the area? Megatel adds in a release that it procured the land at a “reasonable” price, which helps to offer buyers “luxurious amenities and a superior residential experience” at an attractive price point — even offering financing, towards that end.

Saint Tropez marks one of 12 master-planned lagoon communities with resort-style amenities in development by Megatel.

“Lagoon communities have proven to be an extraordinarily popular residential option throughout Texas, with heavy demand for these amenity-rich developments,” Ipour added in the statement. “As a result of this significant demand, Megatel is pursuing the development of a dozen such communities throughout Texas and expanding to other states.”

As CultureMap has reported, few phenomena have been buzzier than lagoons, of late, as evidenced by the success of Lago Mar in Texas City. The Crystal Lagoon development there saw some 80,000 visitors to the shimmering waters and Lagoonfest activities last year alone.

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rent report

2 Houston suburbs had the priciest rents in the metro in November

Photo by Jeswin Thomas on Unsplash

Asking rent for a single-bedroom apartment in Houston came out to $1,210 in November, Zumper said.

After American shoppers spent $11.5 billion on Black Friday this year, it's safe to say everyone is watching their wallets this holiday season, including renters. And a new Zumper report is shedding light on the Houston-area cities that are shelling out the most for their rent.

The report analyzed active listings from the previous month across all cities in the Houston metro. It tracked the most and least expensive rent prices for one- and two-bedroom apartments, and determines the cities with the fastest growing rents. Listings were aggregated by city to calculate median asking rents.

Sugar Land had the highest rent prices in the Houston area in November, the report found. The median rent price for a single-bedroom apartment came out to $1,480 last month. That's $30 higher than the median asking rent for the same apartment in June.

For two-bedroom units, median rent prices in Sugar Land rose 4.3 percent from October to $1,940.

Pearland had the second-highest rents in the metro last month. Single-bedroom units had a median asking price of $1,370 per month, while two-bedroom units had a $1,700 price tag in November.

Residents in both Pearland and Sugar Land are expected to spend more than $3,100 on their holiday presents this year, a recent WalletHub study revealed, which means they may be keeping a closer eye on their budgets than other Houston-area residents.

Meanwhile, Houston proper had the third-priciest asking rents in the entire metro area in November. Median asking rent for a one-bedroom unit totaled $1,210 in November, and two-bedroom units had a $1,480 price tag.

These are the median rent prices for one- and two-bedroom apartments around Houston:

League City – $1,180 for one-bedroom units; $1,410 for two-bedroom units
Spring – $1,170 for one-bedroom units; $1,530 for two-bedroom units

Houston-area cities with affordable rent compared to the statewide median
Zumper found the statewide median rent for a one bedroom apartment came out to $1,126 last month.

Huntsville, a city 70 miles north of Houston, had the most affordable rent for a one-bedroom unit in the region, with median prices adding up to $880. The report also found that Huntsville's single-bedroom rent costs are surprisingly 6 percent more expensive than they were a year ago. However, the median cost for a two-bedroom unit in Huntsville – $1,000 – is the same asking price as it was in November 2024.

Six more Houston-area cities had more affordable single-bedroom rent prices than the statewide median:

Galveston – $1,110
Conroe – $1,100
Baytown – $1,000
Lake Jackson – $920
Pasadena – $910
Texas City – $890

rent rent prices real estate housing report houston