Nestled just northwest of Houston’s downtown, the community known as Acres Homes is in the process of becoming a complete community, a term used by urban planners to describe a place that meets the basic needs of its residents.
The predominantly African American Acres Homes was established during World War I as one-acre homesites, large enough to contain small gardens and raise chickens or farm animals. The City of Houston annexed the land in 1967. Over all those years, the community has lacked an essential component—a town center where residents can gather, shop and establish businesses.
During NAR NXT, The REALTOR® Experience, which took place in Houston Nov. 14–16, members of NAR’s Smart Growth Advisory Board learned how that’s changing—and the role that REALTORS®, members of the National Association of REALTORS®, played in the process.
In early 2022, the Houston Land Bank began working with Acres Homes to facilitate the process for creating a town center.
Founded by the city of Houston in 1999 as the Land Assemblage and Redevelopment Authority, the Houston Land Bank was renamed in 2018 with a new mission to support comprehensive community development.
HLB takes land that’s not in productive use—perhaps because of clouded title or because it is abandoned or contaminated—and gives it a new life. The land bank handles property ranging from 3,000 square feet to three acres, and it relies on public-private partnership: Its primary role is to get this property ready to be redeveloped.
REALTORS® Played an Essential Role
In late 2022, HLB joined with the Houston Association of REALTORS® to complete a crucial step in the process: gathering the collective vision of the Acres Homes residents. For that, HAR contributed $30,000 to support a design “charrette”—an interactive, iterative process by which community input is gathered to define and, through several cycles, refine a vision for development on a piece of property.
The HAR-sponsored charrette was aimed at identifying the various needs for the Acres Homes town center space. Community members wanted small commercial spaces, with businesses such as a bike shop and a coffee shop. They also sought multifamily housing—one-bedroom and studio units—for people who wanted to live in Acres Homes but didn’t have the desire or ability to live in a single-family home.
Smart Growth Advisory Board members at NAR NXT heard an update on the process.
Guest speakers Christa Stoneham, president and CEO of HLB and Lindsey Williams, director of community development at HLB, said the town center concept has been refined over a series of community tours, meetings and input sessions. With HLB involved, the cost of the land is removed from the overall development cost: Thus, the community’s vision—and not development return on investment—becomes the primary driver.
The Acres Homes town center project supports the community’s participation in Houston’s Complete Communities Initiative, which aims to ensure that residents of a community can walk to some of their daily needs and have access to fresh food and medical care. The effort was started under the late Sylvester Turner, mayor of Houston from 2016 to 2024. Turner’s goal was to help Houston communities such as Acres Homes close the life expectancy gap. Life expectancy in these underserved communities is dramatically lower than in other parts of Houston, Stoneham said—as much as 20 years lower.
Stoneham said progress on the Acres Homes town center is slow but steady: A market study is currently being created to determine feasibility for the community vision.
Land Banks vs. Land Trusts
Note that land banks are not to be confused with land trusts, which hold and manage property once it is developed and often.
Often, a land bank works hand in hand with land trusts. So it is in Houston, where the Houston Community Land Trust (HCLT) has been delivering homeownership opportunities at a very affordable price, making homeownership a reality for many people who may not have thought it possible. Tom McCasland, board chair of the HCLT, discussed the organization’s recent activities at the Housing Opportunities Committee meeting at NAR NXT. Mr. McCasland told the audience that HCLT manages 201 homes and maintains ownership of the land but sells the structure to income-qualified purchasers. The purchaser’s annual increase is the structure’s value is capped at 1.25% per year. Thus, the owner does gain some capital appreciation, but the impact is capped so that the structure is affordable to the next purchaser.