Homebuilders Put Thousands of Homes in Houston Floodplains

The nation’s largest homebuilders pushed into risky terrain, putting up thousands of homes in flood zones since Hurricane Harvey inundated Houston in 2017.

Five developers prominent in the Houston metro area and throughout Texas — Lennar, Meritage Homes, D.R. Horton, Perry Homes and McGuyer Homebuilders — each delivered more than 700 houses in federally mapped flood zones across the metro’s five largest counties, Houston Chronicle analysis found. Those builders account for a significant share of the 65,000 structures built in floodplains since the storm.

Texas has no statewide code for floodplain construction, leaving standards to local governments, which often allow development if homes are elevated and detention ponds are built. That flexibility has fueled suburban expansion but, critics say, ignores mounting climate risks.

Jim Blackburn, an environmental attorney and Rice University professor, told the outlet that developers are likely targeting cheaper, more available land in floodplains as large tracts elsewhere dwindle.

“We have generally accepted floodplain development in the past,” Blackburn told the outlet. “I just think it may not be the right way to go forward in the future.”

Miami-based Lennar, through its Friendswood Development arm, has been especially active, with 5,700 homes built since Harvey, 25 percent of them in flood zones. Its projects include Tavola in New Caney, where residents reported major flooding during Tropical Storm Imelda just months after moving in.

Meritage built nearly 3,000 homes — 28 percent of them in floodplains — including the controversial Spring Brook Village in Spring Branch that drew sharp pushback from flood control advocates and residents that contended the elevated homes would make flooding in adjacent neighborhoods worse. That project ultimately won Houston City Council approval.

D.R. Horton put up 8,100 homes, about 760 of them in high-risk zones, while Perry Homes delivered 3,900, nearly 20 percent in mapped floodplains.

Perry’s Woodridge Village project near the Harris-Montgomery county line triggered lawsuits after nearby homes flooded; the dispute ended with a $14 million land sale to Houston and Harris County for detention basins.

McGuyer Homebuilders, now part of Dream Finders Homes, placed nearly a third of its 2,200 post-Harvey builds in flood zones, including portions of Towne Lake in Cypress.

— Eric Weilbacher