Construction is underway for more than 200 homes in a Magnolia community that is expected to have nearly 5,000 homes at completion.
The Audubon subdivision near Magnolia High School will see 233 homes added to its Creekside South neighborhood, said Sam Yager III of Sam Yager Inc, the developer of the community. By year’s end, a total of 950 lots will have been added since the community opened, he said.
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“We’ve closed on all lots, except about 97,” Yager said. “Those 97 lots will be purchased between now and the end of the year.”
The community has about 400 homes already, he said. Another 400 to 500 homes are in their design phase, he said.
“It’s coming fast,” Yager said, noting all that is currently being built in the community, including a recreation center that will sit next to a new Magnolia ISD elementary school
Club Audubon is expected to have a resort-style pool, an amenity center, an area for food trucks, and hiking and biking trails, according to the community’s website.
The new community center is nearly finished with its design phase and is expected to enter its bidding phase by the end of the year, Yager said.
Magnolia ISD’s Audubon Elementary School is also being built in the community, expected to open in 2024. Developers worked with the district to purchase the land in 2020. The land where the elementary school will be built was purchased through the district’s $92 million 2015 bond.
Developers have built two parks in the community that include playgrounds, gardens and trails. The 700-acre Audubon Park will be built in four phases. The first phase has been completed, Yager said.
The Audubon development is not affected by the building permit moratorium Magnolia started in December, which denies permits for new residential and commercial development projects. The city also told developers with on-going projects that they were limited in water connections.
City leaders told developers that they were not able to keep pace with demands for water connections. In August, the moratorium was extended for a third time for 120 days.
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To address the water connection shortage issue, city leaders said additional water wells would be built. Two wells were expected to be built in 2023. Additional wells are expected to be built in the following years to keep up with demand.
City officials planned to have an additional water well built by May, but said more work is needed for the well to be fully operational.
Earlier this year, Yager met with city council members to enter an agreement to build a well in the Audubon subdivision to assist the city with the water connection shortage. In the agreement, developers would be able to build a well to exclusively supply the community with water while city officials build their own well.
The Audubon well was built in July, Yager said.
“We have put ourselves in a position to make sure that we have water capacity going forward,” he said. “While we still rely on the city system for some of our water, we also have some amount of self sufficiency.”
