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| Friendswood Development began planning the Kingwood community in the late 1960s in a patch of forest more than 20 miles northeast of downtown Houston. Friendswood, which was then a subsidiary of Exxon, was working with the King Ranch, owner of the land, to determine whether a master-planned community would work. The answer was yes. The first house was built in Kingwood in 1971, and the remainder of the project turned out to be 14,000 acres of solid gold. Kingwood is now home to more than 60,000 residents, shopping centers, office buildings and a lot more. The only problem is, Kingwood has almost run out of land. Friendswood believes it will solve that problem with the acquisition of the Bentwood property, adjacent to a western section of Kingwood. Friendswood has contracted to buy the 700-acre Bentwood project from Nauru Phosphates Royalties. Bentwood was begun by Nauru a few years back, but the project sputtered after fewer than 100 homes were built, said John Hammond, president of Friendswood. Bentwood, off U.S. 59, has an 18-hole golf course, and a number of lots bordering the course are available for home construction. Some of Bentwood already has been carved into lots, but 420 acres of undeveloped land remains. The purchase of Bentwood will create about 1,500 new home sites for Friendswood to sell to builders and increase the size of Kingwood to about 15,000 acres. It also should provide several more years of Kingwood home-building activity. |