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The Johnson Development Corp. Creating a Sense of Place through Master Planning

Real estate agents often tell their clients the business of selling homes is about “location, location, location.” Today’s master-planned community developers say their business is about “lifestyle, community and amenities.” The Johnson Development Corporation, a Houston-based developer, acknowledges that each of its master-planned communities is selling a particular lifestyle. The company was founded in 1975 by Larry Johnson, who is president of the corporation today. It has developed more than 100 projects in Texas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia and Louisiana.  

“We’re not in the business of building and selling houses,” said Doug Goff, Senior Vice President and Director of Land Development for Johnson Development. “We’re in the business of creating a lifestyle where people find a sense of place....a place where they can shop, work, educate, worship and recreate.” 

People are searching for a sense of community. Those who desire social interaction want to find it within their own community. Developers of master-planned communities engineer opportunities for residents to meet their neighbors. In many cases, buyers attracted to master-planned communities are looking for the traditional environment of their parents’ childhood. This was a place where families spent summer evenings on the front porch watching their children play ball in the middle of the street, where every holiday called for a block party, where “everybody knew your name” and was willing to keep a watchful eye on your child and your property. 

In 2005, stateline.org, an online government data and policy-gathering resource, estimated that nearly 52 million Americans live in master-planned communities. These may include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums, apartments and housing for senior adults. The array of amenities these communities offer is often what sells them and sets them apart from basic subdivisions.  

In the past decade, developers of master-planned communities have been forced to become more innovative, especially in prime real estate locations such as Houston, Texas and Atlanta, Georgia. It is not unheard of for a master-planned community developer to add such amenities as themed water parks, entertainment amphitheaters, championship golf courses and major sports complexes in an effort to capture the interest of prospective home buyers. Master-planned communities in Texas and Georgia have a major advantage because there is land for development of communities as large as 10,000 acres or more. 

One of Johnson Development’s newer developments is Woodforest, a 2,700-acre community in southern Montgomery County, Texas. Its amenities and location have special appeal to golf enthusiasts and nature lovers. The community surrounds the Woodforest Golf Club, a 27 hole Steve Elkington-designed championship course. Woodforest’s gently rolling terrain is heavily wooded with hardwood trees and is bisected by several creeks. More than 500 acres of pristine forest land is being preserved for passive recreational uses by residents of Woodforest and area neighborhoods.  

“Future residents will enjoy homesites that are adjacent to lakes, streams, greenbelts, nature preserves and 27 holes of spectacular golf,” said Virgil Yoakum, P.E., Vice President and General Manager of Woodforest. “A vast array of amenities including a major recreation center, walking and nature trails, parks and open space will increase the desirability of the community and the sale of new homes.”  

Another example is Johnson Development’s Sienna Plantation community in Fort Bend County, Texas. It includes the South’s largest private adventure water park, a state-of-the-art fitness center, a 200 acre sports complex, a 5,000 seat performing arts & entertainment amphitheater, a championship golf course with its plantation-styled clubhouse and many other recreational amenities. The entire master-planned community encompasses 10,500 acres.  

“This is the crown jewel of the large-scale projects we’ve initiated,” said Larry Johnson. “We’ve been involved with the development of Sienna since the mid 1990s and, as the community has grown, we’ve responded to the desires of residents and changing lifestyle trends by continually adding an array of new amenities.” 

The community’s adventure water park is part of a 12-acre recreation complex called Club Sienna. It offers 200 feet of twisting slides, three diving wells, a rock climbing wall, a Junior-Olympic competition pool and a zero-entry playscape complete with water guns and dunking bucket. Club Sienna also has a community center with numerous meeting rooms, arts & crafts areas and catering kitchen. Finally, other amenities at Club Sienna include a 75’ high terraced amphitheater with a stage cantilevered over Lake Sienna, a fishing pier, eight lighted tennis courts, a mile-long trail system with exercise stations, a half-acre playground  and a sand volleyball court. 

For golfers, the Sienna Plantation Golf Club offers a challenging 18-hole course designed around sensitive environmental areas that have been preserved in perpetuity, state-of-the-art instructional academy, pro shop, grill and full-service restaurant.  

The 6,000-square-foot Brushy Lake Fitness Center is a full-service facility with workout equipment and large rooms for group exercise classes. Brushy Lake is also home to Sienna’s third pool complex which is designed for lap swimming as well as recreational water activity with a diving well, children’s play area, zero-beach entry, a large “frog’s tongue” slide and numerous water bubblers. 

With 4 miles of frontage on the Brazos River, this has been a wild card for Sienna creating substantial “buzz” about the community. Johnson Development has taken advantage of this opportunity by creating Camp Sienna, a 200-acre sports park along the Brazos River Corridor. This amenity is an example of the city-within-a-city appeal that large master-planned communities can offer.   

The sports park has numerous baseball, softball, T-ball, football and soccer fields; hiking, biking, equestrian and botanical trails; river overlooks; picnic pavilions; community gardens; and an enormous playground designed for a variety of different age groups. Future phases will add a canoe & kayak launch into the Brazos River, a skateboard park, basketball court, roller hockey rink, sand volleyball pit as well as an environmental education area and equestrian trails. Residents have organized competitive youth sports leagues and literally hundreds of children and adults can be seen utilizing the facility 7 days a week.  

The cost to maintain these types of amenities in Johnson communities, including landscaping, street lighting, parks, lakes and recreational facilities, comes from homeowners’ association dues. Surprisingly, because of the large scale of most Johnson projects, this fee typically averages only $700 to $800 annually per home. 

Funding for the development of amenities sometimes come from public-private partnerships. In the case of Camp Sienna, that involved contributions by the developer, the Sienna Municipal Utility Districts and grants from the Sienna Community Services Foundation and Texas Parks and Wildlife. 

“In addition to mainstream communities like Sienna Plantation, we have ventured into brownfield development that would not be possible were it not for private-public partnerships,” Goff explained. ”Redevelopment projects are of vital interest to municipalities for a number of reasons. Typically, they are very well located and for the most part, are non-performing assets. We’ve found that the costs involved with remediation of contaminated brownfields are prohibitive for private developers to take on independently. Public entities are vitally interested in removing this blight from their jurisdiction and turning it into a community that contributes to both the quality of life for its citizens as well as to its tax rolls.”  

The planned community of Edgewater, a 538-acre mixed-use joint venture of Johnson Development and Cherokee Investment Partners, is one where they are restoring the site of a former electrical power generating plant in Webster, Texas. The total cost of redevelopment is approximately $55 million and all materials removed from the former plant are being salvaged and recycled. In this example, the City of Webster is a vital partner with Johnson and Cherokee and is assisting in the funding of remediation as well as portions of the new development. 

In just a few short years, a vibrant new community will spring up on what was once a contaminated site. Edgewater will have single-family homes, a gated enclave of waterfront custom homes, multifamily housing, retail shops, commercial office buildings and a marina surrounded by townhomes and condominiums.  

One of the keys to Johnson’s success in developing large scale communities is to remain flexible when it comes to adding trendsetting concepts.  

For example, residents want to feel connected not just to their local community but also to the rest of the world through the Internet. To meet this need, Sienna Plantation installed a community-wide interactive fiber-optic network, which provides local and long-distance telephone service, cable television service and alarm-system monitoring for security and fire protection. There is even an intranet which is an online destination available only to Sienna residents. Johnson Development was among the first to apply this concept of “connectivity” to a residential community. 

“We’ve found that once someone moves into a Johnson community, the intranet becomes their preferred means of communication with other residents and from the community to residents,” Goff stated. “With information available on all social, civic, sports and school activities, the Intranet is a force that’s become integrated into the fabric of the community.” 

To homeowners, one of the most attractive aspects of living in a master-planned community is the sense of security it provides. For example, in Sienna and most other Johnson communities, all homes are prewired and have computer-controlled security systems that provide immediate assistance from police, fire and emergency medical service personnel. Some communities also have monitored surveillance of facilities, electronic anti-intruder devices and on-site patrol 24/7. “Security is a very important aspect of our business. In fact, it is one of the primary considerations when a prospective homeowner is deciding where to build their dream home and to raise their family,” said Johnson.  

Master-planned communities have deed restrictions as an alternative to city zoning. Developers, not town officials, set the rules regarding desirable and undesirable site improvements, homes and land uses. Deed restrictions, like zoning, help maintain the value of property within the community. With Houston being the largest metropolitan area in the country without zoning, it has many deed-restricted neighborhoods, including the ritzy Memorial Villages and River Oaks, that have some of the highest property values anywhere due to their deed restrictions and protective covenants. 

Many opponents of master-planned communities see them as “exclusive clubs” for a privileged few. However, Goff disagrees. “While it is understandable that one might imagine a master-planned community as an isolated social oasis, that has not been my experience in our communities or others in the Houston and Atlanta markets,” he said. “Every ethnicity is represented in Johnson communities and our demographics include a large percentage of residents from Asian, Indian, African-American and Hispanic backgrounds.” Homes in Johnson developments offer a wide variety of styles, choices and price ranges with many starting in the mid-$100,000s and some running into the many millions of $.

One challenge faced by developers is working with public agencies on a plan that is good for both the community and the area in which it is located. While master-planned communities are typically built in suburban locations, it is still important that employment, shopping, education, entertainment and healthcare venues are easily accessible. To provide even greater convenience for its residents, Johnson Development works with local municipalities to develop a plan that includes all of these venues within the community. “Having shopping, restaurants and all the other life conveniences available without leaving your neighborhood is what planned communities are all about,” Goff remarked.

“Our communities tend to take on a life of their own,” said Johnson. “With so many amenities - including top-rated schools, designer golf courses and recreational programs for every life-stage, we provide an experience with all of the comforts of your own private resort. In essence, we create a sense of belonging to a larger community and people like to know that they are in a place that has meaning and purpose.”