Balmoral’s Amenity Village — anchored by Texas’ first Crystal Lagoon® amenity — took home a trophy for Best Community Amenity during the 2020 Texas Association of Builder’s Texas Star Awards on July 23.
The prestigious awards program recognizes leading builders, remodelers, architects, designers, sales professionals, marketing professionals and construction professionals across Texas and surrounding areas. Companies submitted a record-breaking 624 entries from 54 cities across the state this year.
“Our crystal clear lagoon is one of the most unique amenities in Texas,” Tim Johnson, Director of Community Sales and Marketing for Land Tejas. “We are thrilled that industry professionals agree.”
It also has been a driver for home sales in the community, with Balmoral recently ranked No. 2 in Houston on the Robert Charles Lesser & Co (RCLCO) mid-year list of the 50 top-selling master-planned communities in the nation. The community is ranked No. 12 in the nation.
Balmoral celebrated the grand opening of the 2-acre lagoon and accompanying 8-acre Amenity Village in August 2018.
The lagoon features a kids’ cove and two different white sand beaches, including a family beach with cabanas and lounge chairs and a serenity beach that offers beach volleyball. A patented, high-tech process allows for use of 100 times fewer chemicals and 50 times less energy than a traditional pool.
Overlooking the lagoon is an infinity-edge pool. Other amenities of the award-winning complex include a food truck courtyard, hammock park, playground and splash pad. A 7,500-square-foot clubhouse offers well-appointed event space, a broad, pool-side veranda and a fitness center.
The Balmoral Amenity Village also was named Recreation Center of the Year in the 2019 Greater Houston Builders Association’s Houston’s Best PRISM Awards.
Balmoral is a development of Land Tejas, which recently opened a 12-acre crystal lagoon in its Lago Mar community in Texas City. Other Land Tejas communities include Miramesa in Cypress, Sierra Vista in Iowa Colony and Vanbrook in Fulshear.
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HUMBLE, Texas – The first Crystal Clear Lagoon in Texas is currently under construction in the Houston area. It’ll be the marquee amenity of the new Balmoral master-planned community in Humble. “Instead of a dirt bottom or rock bottom, it has a white liner so the water is crystal clear,” said Tim Johnson, Director of Community Sales and Marketing for Land Tejas Development Company. The 2-acre lagoon will have a pool, two beaches and a floating dock with kayak and paddleboard rentals.
On dry land, the plan includes a club house, walking trail, beach volleyball, lounge areas, an outdoor fire pit and event space. “It’s not like a normal tradition swimming pool that’s open Memorial Day to Labor Day. The Balmoral Crystal Lagoon will be open all year round,” Johnson said.
The Balmoral Crystal Clear Lagoon is expected to open by the end of summer. “We’ll be putting the liner down in about 2 weeks. When we put the liner down, we’ll start filling the lagoon. The lagoon will take 2-and-a-half weeks to fill,” said Jeff Sheehan, Director of Community Affairs and Amenity Development.
Two other Crystal Lagoons are also under construction in Florida. The lagoon in Humble will primarily be available to residents, but developers are exploring options for hosting events as well. Balmoral is also offering day passes to anyone who tours the development. Homes in the Balmoral community start at around $200,000.
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Featured on the Houston Business Journal website • By Fauzeya Rahman • Posted April 9, 2018, 8:11am CDT
In Balmoral, a master-planned community named after a castle in Scotland, residents will soon have access to a 2-acre manmade lagoon with clear blue water and white sand beaches that will look more akin to a tropical destination rather than a subdivision northeast of Houston.
To get that precise look, Jeff Sheehan, amenity development manager of Land Tejas Cos., is considering sourcing white sand from Mexico or Arkansas, rather than local sand that has a darker hue.
“We want this sand to look like sugar,” Sheehan said. Houston-based developer Land Tejas Cos. plans to unveil Crystal Lagoon for the residents of the 580- acre community Balmoral by summer 2018, according to Tim Johnson, the company’s director of community sales and marketing. In 2017, Land Tejas bought the technology from Crystal Lagoons U.S. Corp. to create the first Crystal Lagoons in the Houston area. The locations for future Land Tejas Crystal Lagoonprojects haven’t been finalized.
Unlike traditional swimming pools that use chlorine to treat water, Crystal Lagoons use special EPA approved chemical diffusers, an ultrasonic filtration system and underwater vacuums to keep the water crystal clear. The company has 2,000 patents earned or pending in 190 countries around the world.
While there are several other Crystal Lagoons around the world, the Balmoral iteration may be a little different, Johnson said. Instead of the beach slanting all the way into the water, the ground will slope from the beach to a flat area where people can stand in shallow water, that will be separated from the eight-foot deep section by buoys.
“People like to enjoy water differently,” Johnson said.
On a recent tour of the $13 million lagoon and amenity center, construction crews were busy cutting the roads that will lead to the destination, working on the clubhouse and entrance and smoothing out the concrete that will serve as the bottom of the lagoon.
Residents can expect zero-entry beaches, tropical landscaping with palm trees, a 7,500-square-foot clubhouse, kayak rentals, a serenity beach, a grotto, lawn and event space and a resort-style “oasis” pool with a sun shelf, an infinity edge waterfall and cabanas.
Johnson envisions Houston’s first Crystal Lagoon as a multipurpose gathering place for residents to swim, kayak, relax in a hammock or do a photoshoot. Land Tejas is also constructing a 12-foot wide trail system called GreenBoLT for golf carts, bicycles, strollers and pedestrians to get around the subdivision without having to cross any intersections.
Land Tejas worked with Florida-based Heidt Design LLC and Houston-based KGA/Deforest Design LLC. The contractor was D.L. Meacham Construction LP.
Featured on the chron.com • By Kaila Contreras, [email protected] • Updated 7:48 am, Monday, April 9, 2018
Construction is on schedule at the first Crystal Lagoon in the Greater Houston area. It will be located at Balmoral, a Land Tejas Community near the Summerwood and Fall Creek areas when it is completed this summer.
The Crystal Lagoon will be right in the center of Balmoral’s “Amenity Village,” an 8-acre area that will also have a 7,500 square foot clubhouse, fitness center, volleyball court, splash pad, playground, walking path, food truck area and a resort style pool with infinity edge.
The lagoon itself is 2 acres of land, which will be surrounded by white sand, and goes as deep as 8 feet, allowing residents to enjoy not only swimming but use kayaks and paddle boards.
“Land Tejas always strives to be on the cutting edge of offering our residents fun amenities, fun lifestyles,” said Tim Johnson, Land Tejas Director of Community Sales and Marketing. “When Crystal Lagoons came to us and presented us with this idea, the look, the feel, the touch, They took some of the Land Tejas team to (a lagoon) in Cabo that’s already in place. And after we saw it, it was a no brainer.”
Another feature Land Tejas is working on bringing to Balmoral residents are GreenBoLT golf carts they can use to traverse their community. Residents can use these electric golf carts on the 12-foot trail that is divided into lanes. Jeff Sheehan, Land Tejas Director of Community Affairs, said the amenity village is a $13 million project.
“The landscape will have a tropical feel to it. The deeper the water, the bluer the water becomes,” Sheehan said. “The next phase after these retaining walls are finished, we’ll come in move the liner and once the liner goes in, it’s white, we start putting water in it.”
According to the Crystal Lagoon’s website, their technology applies a pulse-based disinfection system that allows up to 100 times less chemicals to be used than in a swimming pool.
All of the lagoons using Crystal Lagoon technology worldwide are monitored, controlled and operated remotely through the Crystal Lagoons’ Control Center, in Florida.
Mechanical and hydraulic systems in the lagoons are also activated and controlled from the control center, for constant monitoring and operation of the lagoons to ensure excellent water quality.
Sheehan said they will get the water to fill the lagoon from the City of Humble, and Crystal Lagoon representatives will come out to Balmoral in a couple of weeks to test the water in the lagoon and put their chemicals in to make sure it’s up to their standards.
“We’re excited about the Crystal Lagoon project,” Johnson said. “We’re seeing how this one goes and we hope that we can bring more to Houston.”
Dive into castle building at Balmoral during a grand opening celebration highlighted by master sand sculptors and 10 tons of sand, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 4, at 11930 Talman Run Dr. in Humble.
Master sand sculptor Christy Atkinson of South Padre Island and other sculptors will carve an 8-foot sandcastle. She will begin building the day before the festivities, as it will take about 16 hours to create the fantastical white masonry sand structure.
Would-be sand artists — young and young-at-heart — can try their hands at sand sculpting with Atkinson’s help (and her tools of the trade). Free Balmoral sand pails and shovels will be available to all.
In addition to sand, we will have train rides and beach treats including hot dogs and hamburgers with chips. Ice cream and popsicles will offer a sweet end to the day.
Visitors also will be able to learn more about our fabulous 2-acre crystal clear lagoon, part of Balmoral’s 8-acre Amenity Village, now under construction.
The lagoon, with depths up to 8 feet, will feature a Kid’s Cove and two sand beaches — a Family Beach with cabanas and lounge chairs, and a Serenity Beach for adults. The Amenity Village includes an infinity-edge pool overlooking the lagoon, a food truck courtyard, hammock park, sand volleyball court, playground and splash pad. A 12-foot wide GreenBoLT trail system will enable residents to walk, bike or take electric golf carts and Segways to Balmoral amenities and points of interest. The crystal clear lagoon and the Amenity Village are expected to open next summer.
Prospective residents can get a jump on building their own “castles” inspired by the beautifully decorated model homes showcased by builders Colina Homes, D.R. Horton, Gray Point Homes by Gehan Homes, HistoryMaker Homes and Westin Homes. Homes in Balmoral are priced from the $200s.