Five model homes should be ready in time for Christmas at Cleveland’s new premier community, Grand Oaks Reserve. The homes are the first of roughly 976 single-family houses and 256 condominiums that comprise the 615-acre subdivision located at SH 321 at the SH 105 bypass.
“It’s a very special time for us because we are finally able to see the project take shape. We are able to walk into the blueprints we’ve been working on for some time,” said Amanda DeRosario, vice-president of McKinley Home Builders. “We are hoping these homes will be completed by the end of the year. Hopefully December is when people will be able to tour our completed homes.”
The five model homes, which are being built by Huffman-based Poteet Construction, range in size and price with all starting in the mid-200,000s. The largest of the five houses will serve as an office for the McKinley sales team as they meet with potential residents.
Homebuyers will be able to pick their cabinet color and styles, flooring types and other finishes based on their price point, DeRosario said.
“We are trying to add more. We have studied our competition and want to be sure we provide just a little more in our homes,” she said. “We are putting in a lot of flooring options that most other builders don’t offer. Plus, we plan to offer a better quality of flooring options.”
Though construction on the condominiums has yet to begin, it hasn’t stopped people from expressing an interest in owning one.
“We already have a waiting list for the condos,” DeRosario said. “Those will be priced in the $230,000 and up range.”
Condo owners, like the homeowners, will pay a nominal fee to a property owners association that provides access and upkeep to all the amenities in the community, like pools, parks and a lake. Residents and the public will have access to the golf courses and clubhouse.
The proximity to Houston, coupled with transportation improvements that include the widening of US 59 and construction of the Grand Parkway, make Cleveland a more attractive place to live.
“From downtown to Cleveland, it’s like 46 miles from point to point,” DeRosario said. “When you are from Houston, you already anticipate that everything is going to take an hour to get around. I live in downtown Houston and it takes me just 50 minutes to get to Cleveland and Grand Oaks takes five minutes less time.”
Many of the people who have expressed interest in the homes are from the Cleveland area. DeRosario believes once people from outside the area see the homes and get to know the community, they will not want to live elsewhere.
“The number one thing about the development is that it’s in Cleveland. I think the people who move here are not only going to love their environment, but they are going to see the host city is really a community in itself,” she said. “It’s not just Grand Oaks Reserve they will be buying. They will become part of a community.”
By Vanesa Brashier, editor@bluebonnetnews.com