Riceland master-planned community in Mont Belvieu has first residents, amenities

April 15, 2025

Today, what used to be the heart of Mont Belvieu in Chambers County, east of Houston, consists almost exclusively of refineries.

Its roughly 10,000 residents have been living on the eastern side of the Grand Parkway since the late 1980s, when the town had to be rebuilt 2 miles east of its original location due to being threatened by a salt dome after a plant explosion.

Since that time, the town has been trying to find its soul, and it’s finally making progress, thanks to a master-planned community that promises to transform Mont Belvieu and give it back the feel and charm it has lost.

Three years after breaking ground, the first phase of Riceland is taking shape, and the first residents have moved in.

Houston-based McGrath Real Estate Partners is developing Riceland on about 1,500 acres around the small town’s recently updated municipal complex at the intersection of FM 565 and FM 3180.

As of early April, homebuilders have sold more than 150 homes. About another 180 houses are under construction in the 144-acre first phase, which includes a total of 417 lots.

The community’s first amenity, Sweet Gum Park with a playground and trails, opened recently for the more than 50 families who already live here.

During the Houston Business Journal's recent visit, workers were busy building new houses next to occupied homes with cars and trucks in the driveway.

“We're adding 15 to 20 a month in construction,” said Randy Hopper, vice president of development at McGrath.

Builders Highland Homes, Perry Homes, Chesmar Homes and David Weekley Homes have nine model homes with floor plans ranging from 1,480 to 4,900 square feet. Lots range from 42 to 70 feet in width, and the houses sell from about $340,000 to $800,000, according to the builders’ websites.

Meanwhile, the 138-acre second phase is only waiting for city approval and platting before its 311 home sites can be sold to builders. In that phase, Perry Homes will offer some houses on 80-foot lots by the city’s Eagle Point Golf Course.

Speaking of golf, the city recently designated Mont Belvieu a golf cart community, Hopper said, meaning golf carts can be driven on certain public streets. That fits well with the vision for Riceland to be a well-connected community, whose residents can easily move around the neighborhood. Overall, the plan is to have about 30 miles of trails.

“We feel like that's a great amenity where you can leave your house, you can come eat at a restaurant at Town Center or go up to the city's facilities or to the city park,” Hopper said. “And you can do it by bike, on foot or in the golf cart.”

When finished, Riceland will stretch across much of the town, along FM 3180, curving around Mont Belvieu City Park, to the Barbers Hill Independent School District campus.

Crews also have finished digging out the stocked 8.5-acre Eagle Lake and are slated to begin work this week on a connecting trail-lined canal with a square park to include pickleball courts, wiffle ball fields and a kids play area. Overlooking Eagle Lake, the Lakehouse amenity center is in permitting now with hopes to get underway in June and open in time for summer 2026. It will include a community and fitness building, pool, playground and picnic area.

Work is also underway on the nearly 19-acre Otter Lake next to Eagle Lake.

Riceland Town Center

Meanwhile, the 30-acre Mont Belvieu Town Center is designed to bring back the town’s long-lost downtown area. The city finished its new two-story, 30,721-square-foot City Hall and new fire station in 2023. In between the new buildings, McGrath plans to develop restaurant space on each side of an event lawn.

A 16,956-square-foot retail building called Mill House is awaiting building permits, and McGrath expects to build and complete it by the first quarter of next year.

“We think that will start changing the landscape of Town Center,” said Barrett Kirk, chief investment officer at McGrath. “It's sometimes hard to see a vision, but having our first building on the ground, I think it will go a long ways to helping residents and future buyers see the vision come together.”

The Mill House so far has one pre-leased tenant, the Riceland Development Homeowners Association, which will take up 2,275 square feet on the building’s second floor. McGrath is also in talks with a restaurant concept for some of the first-floor space.

More commercial buildings will follow over time, Kirk and Hopper said.

The land for Riceland has been in the hands of Hopper’s family since 1824, when Texas was still part of Mexico. The development will be the first master-planned community in Mont Belvieu, which currently consists of scattered neighborhoods built by different developers. Unlike those developments, Riceland closely aligns with the city’s long-term thoroughfare and drainage plan, Hopper said.

“If I only develop a piece of this, then where do I move utilities when I develop the next piece? Where does drainage happen? Where is the water flow and our detention?” he said. “When you start cutting 50, 100 acres off at a time, all those questions become big issues 10 years into the future, because now you’re trying to go back and refit.”

At full build-out, Riceland is expected to have 4,500 homes, which would more than double, maybe triple, Mont Belvieu’s population.