(Houston, Texas – June 20, 2018) Many of Houston’s top real estate executives, homebuilders, local officials and others were among the first wave of people to add water to Texas’ first crystal clear lagoon, now in its final stage of construction in Balmoral.
A Fill the Lagoon party hosted by Balmoral developer Land Tejas Development was held Thursday, June 14, in the Humble-area community. During the invitation-only event, guests helped begin the process of filling the 2-acre lagoon and also learned about the lifestyle residents will enjoy at the lagoon and the patented process that will allow the 2-acre lagoon to use significantly fewer chemicals and energy than a traditional pool.
“Life here in Balmoral is going to be incredible,” emcee Michael Garfield (the Hi-Tech Texan®) told the crowd. “You won’t be able to find anything else like this in Texas when the lagoon opens — only here in Balmoral.”
The crystal clear lagoon — which will have depths up to 8 feet and will feature a Kid’s Cove and two sand beaches — is a signature feature of Balmoral’s $13 million, 8-acre Amenity Village. Overlooking the lagoon will be an infinity-edge pool. Other amenities at the complex include a clubhouse, food truck courtyard, hammock park, sand volleyball court, playground and splash pad.
The crystal clear lagoon will be the first to open in Texas and the first in the nation to open with fully completed amenities when the Amenity Village debuts later this summer.
“This is groundbreaking not just in the elevated level of amenities we are introducing, but also in terms of the crystal clear lagoon technology,” said Tim Johnson, Director of Community Sales and Marketing for Land Tejas. “These lagoons use 100 times fewer additives than traditional swimming pools and 50 percent less water than is required by a city park of the same size. The result is lower maintenance costs and minimal environmental impact.”
Approximately 150 families have made their home in the 580-acre Balmoral since sales began last year. Builders Colina Homes, D.R. Horton, Empire Communities, Gray Point by Gehan Homes, Highland Homes, HistoryMaker Homes and Westin Homes offer designs priced from the $200,000s to the $500,000s.
Balmoral is located east of Highway 59 and a half mile north of Beltway 8 in the West Lake Houston area, minutes from Generation Park. More information is available at www.balmoralhouston.comor at the community information center, open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesdays through Sundays at 11930 Talman Run Drive.
All eyes will be on the Royal Wedding this weekend, and what could be more inspiring to find your own Royal Paradise with a new home in Balmoral?
In case you didn’t know, the master-planned community of Balmoral is named after the Royal Family’s summer retreat in Scotland. While open for tourism between March and July, the estate is closed to the public starting in August when the Queen and her family arrive for her annual stay through the holidays.
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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.”