INFORMATION ABOUT THE CINCO RANCH SUBDIVISION:
Cinco Ranch Developers Optimistic
Formal Opening Today
By Carl Hooper
Houston Post Real Estate Writer [Early 1990's]
The Cinco Ranch developers say they are under no illusions about the Houston economy but remain confident they can capture their share of the local market when residential construction starts next year for the $2 billion development involving a 5,416 acre site west of Houston.
The Cinco Ranch project is set to formal opening at 11 a.m. today on a Mason Road site adjoining the Great Southwest Equestrian Center.
And a ribbon-cutting will be held for a Mason Road extension running 3.8 miles across the Cinco Ranch from the Katy Freeway to Farm Road 1093.
Project Manager John Potts expects the Cinco Ranch to compete with such other planned communities as The Woodlands, Kingwood, First Colony and Clear Lake City.
He admits the current softness in the local economy and real estate market but also predicts the new development will succeed because of high quality and sound values.
"About 7,000 houses were sold locally last year despite the soft economy," he says. "We can sell 1,000. That's a substantial share in the annual total for all of Houston."
The Cinco Ranch is billed as the biggest development of its kind in the Houston area except for the 10,000 acres being developed at First Colony, 14,000 acres at Kingwood, and 25,000 acres each at The Woodlands and Clear Lake City.
Potts says the property is being zoned by its private management for a well-planned and orderly development offering extensive landscaping and other amenities.
"We have the tightest zoning ever seen in Houston," he says. "About 800 acres in the first phase have been sold strictly for commercial development. And 1,500 acres remaining in the first section may be used only for schools, churches, and houses, including patio homes."
The Cinco Ranch is being developed under a master plan that calls for 4,306 homes on 2,800 acres in Phase I and 3,606 homes and an undetermined amount of commercial construction on 2,300 acres in Phase 2.
A 10-year development and construction program calls for several million square feet of office and retail space as well as thousands of houses priced between $75,000 and $350,000.
The Cinco Ranch lies 24 miles west of downtown Houston and 10 miles southeast of Katy and is bounded on the east by Barker Dam and on the south by Barker Dam and Westheimer Road, also known as Farm Road 1093.
The property was purchased from Robert Mosbacher, Josephine Abercrombie and others for $86 million in 1984 by the Mischer Corp. in partnership with subsidiaries of the American General Corp. and Homecraft Development Co.
A 788-acre section of the property was later resold for $70 million and includes 387 acres to be developed by Dempsey H. Watson and United Savings Association, 126 acres by the Land Investment Department of Shell Oil Co. and 283 acres by three groups acting through W.. M. Wheless, III.
The Mischer Corp. and Atlas Realty Co. bought out the Homecraft Development Co. interest in the Cinco Ranch only last month for about $45 million and also noted that a 190-acre site on the ranch property has been acquired by U. S. Home Corp.
From Wikipedia is this information:
The Cinco Ranch community goes back to before Texas became a republic. In the 1820s, pioneer Moses Austin was granted by the Spanish government the authority to settle 300 families in the valleys of the Brazos and Colorado rivers. He died before he was able to accomplish this, but his son Stephen F. Austin was able to complete his father's wishes, even under the newly established Mexican government. One of the men who moved into these 300 slots of land (each one over 4,000 acres/16 km2) was Randolph Foster, whose land spread across Fort Bend and Waller counties and upon which wild horses, deer, Native Americans and buffalo lived.
Foster's daughter married Thomas Blakeley, cattleman and future sheriff of Fort Bend County. Their son, Bassett Blakeley, took after his father and grandfather and soon grew into a cowboy and cattleman. Bassett Blakeley owned 15,000 acres (61 km2) of land and 14,000 head of Brahman cattle, along with his grandfather's land. The cowhands of his Blakeley Ranch annually drove 10,000 head of cattle to the railheads in Kansas.
In 1937, Blakeley sold the working ranch to William Wheless, who convinced four of his friends, J.S. Abercrombie, W.B. Pryon, H.G. Nelms and L.M. Josey—all, like him, wealthy from oil—to become his partners at the ranch. In a nod to its Spanish roots perhaps, they called it Cinco Ranch (cinco means "five" in Spanish). Only the Wheless family lived on the ranch, but all of the families visited on many holidays and weekends, making use of a huge clubhouse complete with two bedroom wings. The ranch was not merely involved in cattle—it also had several acres of rice—for years, the main output of Katy, Texas—and peanut production.
In February 1984, the largest raw land transaction in the history of Houston took place when Cinco Ranch Venture, consisting of U. S. Home, the Mischer Corporation, and American General Corporation, purchased Cinco Ranch for a 5,000-acre (20 km2) master-planned development. American General eventually bought out the other partners. In 1997, Cinco Ranch and other American General land development assets were purchased by Terrabrook, a wholly owned subsidiary of real estate investor Westbrook Partners. In 2003, Cinco Ranch and other Terrabrook developments were purchased by San Diego-based Newland Communities. Also in 2003, Newland Communities purchased 1,828 acres (7.40 km2) west of the Grand Parkway and contiguous to Cinco Ranch. This acquisition along with several smaller parcels that were subsequently purchased by Newland Communities ultimately increased the size of Cinco Ranch to approximately 7,600 acres (31 km2). In 2010, Newland Communities purchased an additional 492 acres (1.99 km2) for future Cinco Ranch expansion. This land is located at the intersection of FM 1463 and Corbitt Road, and is not contiguous with the rest of Cinco Ranch. Cinco Ranch now totals 8,092 acres (32.75 km2) and is expected to have over 14,000 homes at build-out, which is currently projected to be around 2016.
"Cinco Ranch Is Katy History In The Making"
Article compiled by Terri Bieber, Katy Heritage Society
"Back When... Katy Lifestyles & Homes/August 2009
I looked for a link to this information so that it could be accessed that way. Couldn't find that Katy Lifestyles & Homes had provided one.
Let me know if I need to take this down! I just think it's of great interest to those who live in the Cinco Ranch.
The site of an expansive working ranch from 1947-1985, Cinco Ranch is currently owned by Newland Communities.
Cinco Ranch lies in portions of several original land grants including the Thomas Hobermaker, E. M. McGinnis, Morris and Cummings, and the Henry Looney surveys. The Thomas Hobermaker Survey was granted as a first class headright in the 1850's.
First class headrights were given to the earliest settlers of Texas and to colonists living in Texas prior to the Texas Revolution. Heads of families were entitled to a league and a labor of land, a total of 4,605 acres. Single men were entitled to a labor of land, 1,280 acres.
Thomas Hobermaker traveled to Texas prior to the Texas revolution to settle on this land. Henry Looney was given a third class headright as a settler who came to Texas after the Texas Revolution and prior to October 1857. His family received 520 acres patented on April 4, 1839. This included the property where the Cinco Ranch clubhouse and original information center now sit.
In 1897, E. M. McGinnis acquired property that was originally owned by a man named Mr. Symes who purchased the land from the State of Texas around 1876.
Bassett Blakely, a prominent Texas rancher and businessman, was known to have purchased several thousand acres of land in West Houston during the early 1900's. Blakely also purchased the Henry Looney survey, and it became part of his ranch. The Hobermaker survey was purchased by Blakely in 1918.
THE CINCO RANCH FAMILIES
In the mid 1930's, five prominent Houston businessmen joined together to form the Cinco Ranch Company. William "Fishback" Wheless bought 4,000 acres of the Bassett Blakely ranch in 1937. At the time, Blakely was one of the largest cattle ranchers in Texas. Wheless then encouraged four close friends--J. S. Abercrombie W. B. Pyron, H. G. Nelms and L. M. Jose--to become partners in the working ranch. William Wheless and Walter B. Pyron both worked for the Gulf Oil Company where Pyron was vice president. J. S. Abercrombie was president of the J. S. Abercrombie Company and Cameron Iron Works. L. M. Jose was president of the Circle W. Oil Corporation, Pine Lodge Oil Company and vice-president of Windsor Oil. The five notable oil families created Cinco Ranch; cinco is the Spanish word for five.
In addition to being a working ranch, all of the families used the property as a holiday and weekend retreat. They built and shared a huge clubhouse that had an expansive living room with a fireplace that separated two wings of bedrooms. With Buffalo Bayou meandering through the center of the property, the ranch was the ideal spot for the five families to enjoy duck, deer, quail, dove and goose hunting.
With the passage of time, the title to the original ranch passed to Cinco Ltd.-Cinco Ranch Ventures, formed by American General, Homecraft Homes and an entity of the Mischer Corporation. The group purchased the 5,416 acre Cinco Ranch in 1984 in what became the largest raw land transaction in the history of Houston. The Cinco Ranch development was born and the first new "settlers" began moving into the neighborhood in 1991.
Katy ISD opened its first school in Cinco Ranch--Edna Mae Fielder Elementary, located on Greenway Village Drive--in 1993 to serve the 800 families then living in the area. This fall (2009) Katy ISD will open the doors to Stanley Elementary, its 15th campus serving the Cinco Ranch area. The number of families living in Cinco Ranch today is 9,715.
(The historical facts here are courtesy of the Katy Heritage Society.)
(https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/headright
Definition of headright. 1 : a grant (as of money or land) formerly given one who fulfilled certain conditions relating especially to settling and developing land (as in Virginia in 1619 and in Texas in 1839)