Riverstone opens three new neighborhoods

After a year of strong sales, Riverstone is ending 2010 with more big news — the opening of three new neighborhoods.

Model homes are opening soon in Sweetbriar, an enclave of 55-foot homesites. Perry Homes and Newmark Homes are building in the neighborhood, with prices from the $250,000s. In addition to the model homes, several inventory homes also are available, with several more nearing completion.

Nearby, Trendmaker Homes and David Weekley Homes are building on 80-foot wooded homesites in The Orchard neighborhood. Model home construction is starting in the neighborhood, which will have only 24 homesites in the first section. Prices are from the $400,000s.

Additional wooded homesites will be available soon in the Nandina neighborhood. Darling Homes will be the exclusive builder in the section, which will feature patio homes on 65-foot homesites.

Each of the builders expanding into the new neighborhoods has enjoyed success in Riverstone, as have the community’s other existing builders: Ashton Woods Homes, Coventry Homes, Highland Homes, Meritage Homes, Plantation Homes and Westin Homes. Also in Riverstone are The Manors townhomes and custom builders Bayou Bend Homes, Christopher Sims Custom Homes, Peterson Homebuilders, Sterling Classic Homes and Westport. New builders will be introduced this fall.

Riverstone enjoyed its strongest first-quarter home sales in the community’s history this year, with more than double the number of first-quarter sales posted in 2009. The surge in sales activity helped propel Riverstone to a No. 5 ranking among master-planned communities in the greater Houston area, according to national housing market research firm Metrostudy.

Helping Riverstone achieve that goal is its location in Fort Bend County, the fastest-growing county in Greater Houston. This year, Fort Bend was named the “Best Place to Get Ahead” by Forbes magazine. The publication cited the county’s diversity of industries, higher-than-average incomes and number of Forbes “Best Big Companies” headquartered there. Home values are strong, with Fort Bend the only county in the area to post a noticeable increase in median home value, according to a Crawford Realty Advisors study commissioned recently by the Houston Chronicle. In addition, Money magazine ranked Missouri City as one of the top 25 best places to live among the nation’s small cities (population 50,000 to 300,000).

A 3,700-acre community, Riverstone is slated for 6,000 homes during the next eight years. Residents enjoy impressive amenities, with two resort-style swimming complexes, a fishing pier, miles of trails and pedestrian walkways, the area’s first “bark park,” and more than 200 acres of lakes and waterways.

Riverstone is conveniently located at Highway 6, three miles south of U.S. 59, and offers easy access to several major thoroughfares, including the Fort Bend Parkway. Abundant dining and shopping choices are just minutes away, including First Colony’s booming Town Center.