Last year, Houston recorded 18,366 housing starts,
the most of any U.S. market followed by Metrostudy but still way below its peak
of 48,000 starts in 2006. Demand for new homes in the Houston area is
strengthening, and more than 20,000 new-home starts are expected this year,
according to Metrostudy.
Weyerhaeuser's strategy makes particular sense in a
state like Texas, where it is relatively easy to get entitlements to build on
land. It makes less sense to hold such large tracts, said Paul C. Quinn, an analyst
with RBC Capital Markets.
Tricon joined with Johnson Development Corp., a
Houston land developer, and an unnamed Canadian institution to buy Cross Creek.
Glenn Watchorn, Tricon's chief operating officer, said the master-planned
community was attractive partly because of the amenities and infrastructure
that Weyerhaeuser has already added.
"If you believe the housing market has bottomed
out, there's probably no better place than land," said Mr. Watchorn.
