Housing Demand is on Fire East of Dallas

ROYSE CITY, TX—Developer Huffines Communities recently purchased an additional 120 acres for more than 400 new homes that will make up phase four in its master-planned community, Waterscape. Located east of Dallas, Waterscape will now span in excess of 400 acres with more than 1,500 homes in this new tract.

The development has all necessary master-planned community zoning and entitlements in place, enabling the release of land to builders in late 2022. New homes in this community start in the low $200,000 range up to $380,000, averaging 1,400 to 3,000 square feet. Upon completion, Waterscape is expected to have a tax value of more than $420 million.

Waterscape has more than 250 families currently living in the community, which is just a short drive from Rockwall, located at the intersection of FM 548 and Crenshaw Road. Phase 1 of Waterscape was comprised of 275 lots and phase 2 brought an additional 350 lots, which completed in 2019. Phase 3 includes 400 additional lots ranging in size from 40-foot rear entry to 60-foot front entry. With phase 4, residents of Waterscape will have more programmed open space. The master-planned community development is also within immediate proximity to Anita Scott Elementary, Bobby Summers Middle and Royse City High Schools.

“Housing demand in this area is on fire,” said Donald Huffines, co-owner at Huffines Communities. “Rockwall County and Royse City in particular continue to see explosive growth, and Waterscape is meeting this demand by offering residents quality homes with the quiet comfort of small-town living and community-centered amenities at affordable prices.”

Residents of Waterscape have access to downtown Royse City, which hosts a variety of commercial retail space including a brewery, sports bar, coffee shops and several boutique stores.

“Royce City experienced a tremendous amount of growth in recent years,” Huffines tells GlobeSt.com. “We feel that trend will continue into the foreseeable future. The property was adjacent to our highly sought-after Waterscape community and fit perfectly into our land plan. Water and sewer were available adjacent to the site so no long offsite extensions were needed and we are in the process of paving Crenshaw Road which will bring a new two-lane concrete road to the property. We felt that the acquisition of this property was a natural, given all the growth we see for Royce City.”

Waterscape offers a well-stocked catch-and-release fishing pond, walking, biking and hiking trails, and a $3.5 million amenity center which includes a 1,500-square-foot event center, swimming pools, hammock park, water volleyball court, dog park and kids pool. The amenity center is scheduled for completion later this fall.

“Master-planned communities traditionally are more sought after in both good times and difficult ones,” Huffines tells GlobeSt.com. “Master-planned communities hold their value because of the high degree of amenities normally constructed and for the involved HOA which makes sure that properties are well maintained and property values are kept up.”

Four homebuilders are currently under contract for Waterscape’s phase 2 and will finish building the last homes in fall 2021. Builders in Waterscape include Highland Homes, History Maker Homes, Bloomfield Homes and Impression Homes. New homebuilders are in discussion for the new land addition.

“By selling constructed lots, we give builders better control over their homebuilding operations instead of worrying about the timing of lot development and final details of the neighborhoods they want to build,” Huffines said. “This acquisition gives us the opportunity to help complete the build out of Waterscape.”

Huffines Communities has four active communities under development in the North Texas region and most of the homes in these communities start in the $200,000s to $800,000s.