A new community is coming to Richmond and Sugar Land, and Meristem Communities developers Clayton Garrett and Scott Snodgrass are promising to do things differently.
Located directly off the Grand Parkway, just north of Hwy. 90, Indigo is a new 235-acre, 750-home community by Meristem Communities. The entire development is located within the Richmond extraterritorial jurisdiction.
Indigo will feature a 25-acre lake and 42 acres of agriculture while offering a holistic living space for everyone from single-family renters living in 400-square-foot “micro-apartments” to deep-rooted families in 3,000-square-foot homes, said Snodgrass, managing partner at Meristem Communities.
“We started from a position of, 'How do we create a complete community?’ and ran with it,” Snodgrass said.
Snodgrass and Garrett, the co-managing partner, explained in a March 9 interview that one of the core intentions behind the community is to create an environment where residents “can accomplish much of their normal daily business by foot or bike within a quarter-mile distance.”
Unlike traditional phased developments, the new community will feature homes of varying densities and tiers in a mixed environment. Of the 750 purported homes to be in the community, 100 are multifamily structures that Snodgrass said will be situated right next to single-family homes of varying sizes.
“We want to avoid the ‘us versus them’ mentality that you see in some developments,” he said. “If we’re going to build a true community, then we need to mix in the multifamily residential with the single-family.”
Early renderings of the development show a dense community with a high ratio of green space that Snodgrass said will be managed by the community’s homeowners association.
The development is also reported to include an artificial 25-acre lake, which Snodgrass said is intended to have a “natural ecosystem” for swimming, fishing and kayaking, and a working 42-acre farm that will be used for productivity as well as teaching experiences.
“Our goal is for people to have an authentic experience where they can engage with a community in a deep way,” Garrett said.
In addition, the complex will include roughly 40-50 retail businesses upon completion, a Meristem Communities spokesperson said after the interview.
In total, the project represents around $65 million in investment for Meristem Communities and $350 million in assessed value for Fort Bend County, Snodgrass said. The development will come in three phases, with the first phase—which includes 265 cottages and detached single-family residential homes—completing later this year. A groundbreaking for the first phase was held in February, while the second phase is projected to break ground in early 2024, and the third and final phase will break ground in 2025.
Homebuilding in Phase 1 will be completed by David Weekley Homes, Highland Homes and Empire Communities. Architects for the project include Dahlin Architecture and CultivateLand.
Unlike many developments, homes will not be available for presale, and residents will be able to apply once Phase 1 completes later this year.