Like driving on a tire with a bubble, it’s bumpy and annoying at first. But the farther you drive, the smoother it gets.
That’s how Duane Heckmann, Houston adviser at Land Advisors Organization, described developing master-planned communities in Houston amid rapid growth, rising costs and municipal pushback.
Panelists at Bisnow’s 2026 Houston Master-Planned Communities event, held on Thursday at the Embassy Suites Houston Energy Corridor, said that despite increasing challenges, the region remains one of the country's best places to develop, with special-purpose districts helping to ensure returns.
“Houston is the land of opportunity. It’s the safest real estate bet in the United States,” Heckmann said.
The Houston metropolitan area added more than 1.5 million residents from 2010 to 2023, and the Houston-Galveston Area Council projects another 3.6 million by 2050. This has led development to sprawl across a larger area, and master-planned communities help make counties like Liberty and Montgomery among the fastest-growing in the country.
“It will continue to go as it has gone,” Heckmann said of the growth. “Will it be a little bit more challenging? Yes. Houston is full of entrepreneurs, smart people who will figure it out.”
All the easy land has already been developed, but that has been said for 30 years, according to panelists.
Developers continuously expand their site options, sending them to previously rural cities to inquire about building. But that will never work in some cities, panelists said, stopping short of naming names.
