Harvest Green, a 1,930-acre master-planned community by Johnson Development Corp. in Fort Bend County, is getting its second elementary school and fourth school overall.
Fort Bend Independent School District last month purchased 16 acres along Harlem Road and south of Harvest Garden Boulevard for $2.1 million with the plan to build its 55th elementary school in time for the 2026-27 school year.
The yet-to-be-named school will be about 130,000 square feet and accommodate 1,000 students, the district said. It will be designed by Houston Kirksey Architecture. A general contractor for the summer 2024 groundbreaking hasn't been selected yet.
Voters approved the $46 million development as part of Fort Bend ISD’s $1.26 billion bond package in May – the largest in its history — which provided funding for the construction of several new schools, safety and security improvements, technology upgrades and the construction of a new natatorium in the district.
Elementary School 55 will be the first school in Harvest Green’s newest segment, which Houston-based Johnson Development added in 2021. The 630-acre segment expanded the community by 50% and an additional 1,400 homes at build-out. The first phase of the new acreage includes 452 homesites, with more than 100 already sold and under construction, according to the developer.
The school will join Neill Elementary, Bowie Middle School and Travis High School as the other Fort Bend ISD schools in Harvest Green, which has more than 1,900 occupied homes so far.
“Homes are selling fast in this new section of Harvest Green, so we’re excited that homeowners will have an elementary within walking and biking distance,” David Hogue, vice president and general manager of Harvest Green, said in a statement.
The community is a so-called “agrihood,” which includes a 12-acre farm where residents can rent their own growing plot. It also features a farmer’s market, resident events and cooking classes, among other offerings, and has “edible landscaping” made of herbs, fruits and flowers throughout the community.
Other amenities include parks, playgrounds, a resort-style pool, clubhouse, splash pad, fitness center, dog park, tennis and volleyball courts.
Homes by nine different builders range from the $390,000s to more than $1 million.
Harvest Green is on the other side of the Grand Parkway from another 2,000-acre master-planned community, Aliana by Houston-based Airia Development Co.
Just south of Harvest Green, a new Houston-based developer, Meristem Communities, broke ground this year on Indigo, a community focused on walkability and agriculture. Founding partners Scott Snodgrass and Clayton Garrett also manage the farm at Harvest Green under their company Agmenity.
This story has been updated with additional information by Johnson Development and Fort Bend ISD.