Welcome to Bridgeland Located approximately 2.5 miles south of U.S. 290 on Fry Road, the Bridgeland community will one day include more than 21,000 homes for 65,000 residents. Encompassing more than 10,000 acres, the Bridgeland conceptual plan includes a carefully designed network of trails totaling over 60 miles that will provide pedestrian connectivity to distinct residential villages. The community will feature over 3,000 acres of unique waterways, lakes, trails, parks and open space where residents can enjoy catch and release fishing, kayaking or a leisurely stroll along the water's edge. The trails are designed to appeal to a wide variety of homeowners seeking a broad range of activities. The Bridgeland community is bordered on the north by the historic Cypress Creek corridor. The master development plan has reserved 1000 acres to devote to the Cypress Creek nature area which will stretch for 6 full miles. The multi-use trail system will be a ribbon pathway weaving through a canopy of trees where homeowners can experience the tranquility of the natural setting. Wildlife observation areas will offer a glimpse of some of the already identified 140 species of birds that frequent this world-class bird habitat, while educational signage will help children learn about the environment. The trail head for the Cypress Creek Trail, Oak Meadow Park, is a thirty-acre wooded park that offers picnic areas, an 18-hole disc golf course, a fishing pier on a stocked lake and a covered pavilion with restrooms. “In designing Bridgeland, we envisioned a community where residents can interact with the beauty of their natural surroundings,” said Joe Necker, Vice President, Development for Bridgeland, “yet be connected to an active life through the abundance of amenity offerings, future Town Center and multitude of organized sports and activity centers.

Activities Abound
The Bridgeland community’s first recreation center, Lakeland Activity Center, is on pace to open its doors and amenities just in time for summer 2007. Encompassing more than six acres and featuring a grand promenade wrapping around Lake Bridgeland, it is designed to be one of the premier recreation centers in the city. Home owners will also have exclusive use of the 6,000-sq. ft. community center, hosting a full calendar of classes, activities and social events. The building will house a fitness area as well as several meeting rooms for intimate gatherings and receptions or for formal or informal community activities. The center will be home to a full- time activities director, who will plan year-round events and activities for the center, Oak Meadow Park and other areas around the first phases of Bridgeland.

Additionally Lakeland Activity Center will have an expansive pool complex to provide residents with numerous fun water options. Residents can choose from a six-lane Olympic-size lap pool and diving well with two 1-meter platforms, a gradual depth play pool with volleyball nets, a young children’s pool with slides and sprays, two 30-foot tower slides for tubing equipped with their own splash pool and a spray park with fountains and creative water features to keep the little ones entertained. Two lighted tennis courts and two shaded children’s play areas will complement the endless options at the center. One of the play areas will be built with older children (5-12) in mind, while the tot lot will be for the younger children. Each play area will be designed with a “fall cushioned” type of mulch. Lakeland Activity Center is the first of several activity complexes to be constructed across the landscape of Bridgeland neighborhoods. It is unique in scope and offerings and shows Bridgeland’s commitment to the community for the long run.

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Bridgeland will eventually be home to 65,000 residents. In tribute to the first visionary Texas settlers, the “old 300,” the settling of the first 300 Bridgeland residents will be commemorated in Pioneer Circle, a proud park within this beautiful new master planned development.

For each of the “300 Bridgeland Pioneers,” a commemorative brick engraved with the family’s surname will become a permanent installation in Pioneer Circle, forever recognizing their legendary vision and pioneering spirit. Pioneer Circle will be included in Lakeland Activity Center a 6 acre recreational and multi-pool complex surrounding a 6000 square foot community center adjacent to the Bridgeland Welcome Center overlooking Lake Bridgeland. Lakeland Activity Center is slated to open summer 2007.

As the flora and fauna of Pioneer Circle root and flourish, so will the first 300 settlers in the new community of Bridgeland. Just as the original Old 300, families will settle around the 300 Bridgeland Pioneers to share a lively heritage, rich nature and nurturing. In time, 20,000 more homesteads will join them in the vibrant land they claimed as home. "These first families are helping to lay the foundation of the Bridgeland community, while having the privilege to watch it grow and prosper in the coming years,” said Kriste Klepper, marketing director. “Pioneer Circle is a special way for us to recognize them.

The Bridgeland community is a development of General Growth Properties, Inc., the second largest U.S.-based publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) in the country. As owner of Bridgeland and the majority owner of The Woodlands, General Growth is also one of the largest master-planned community developers in Houston.

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The conceptual plan outlined for the new community of Bridgeland exemplifies what a true Master Planned Community has to offer its residents. This 10,000 acre project will eventually be home to over 65,000 Houstonians and 20,000+ new homes. A true master planned community entails significantly more than simply placing streets in a row and squeezing as many lots as possible into the space. A true master planned community has exactly that - a Master Plan. Bridgeland is a true Master Plan Community and here is why:

• As one of the largest new residential developments in Houston, the original land planners of Bridgeland began with an extensive environmental study designed to enhance and preserve the landscape for future residents.
• Bridgeland has designed roadways that consider sight lines so that meandering lakes and landscaped open space greet drivers at every turn.
• You won’t find trapezoidal drainage ditches in Bridgeland. The land planners have taken these characteristics and developed them into attractive and functional trails and waterways.
• Residents will never find long stretches of fencing with homes backing to busy thoroughfares.
• Bridgeland has chosen to sacrifice land to offer lakes with natural meandering shore lines instead of cement edged detention ponds.
• Bridgeland has buried all the power lines in the first phase, The Shores, to enhance views for residents.
• Additionally, the land plan offers a hierarchy of trails, border to border to provide physical links for pedestrian/bicycle traffic to various villages, village centers, activity centers, etc. Exercise trails with fitness stations will be scattered through the project as well as nature trails along waterways and creeks to provide views of water fowl, aquatic plants/grasses and open up educational opportunities.
• Bridgeland has conceptualized shopping hubs within the community that avoids unattractive retail strip centers.
• Bridgeland has a plan for a bustling Town Center which may include hospitals, schools, future employment, entertainment and a significant shopping component.
• Multiple recreation facilities offering swimming pools for all ages, community centers, ball fields, tennis courts and more will be conveniently located around the development exclusive for Bridgeland residents.
• The community of Bridgeland will have full time Activity Directors to program everything from arts and crafts classes to fishing and nature field trips around the property.
• Bridgeland is one of a few master planned communities in the nation that has also developed a comprehensive education plan for its residents. The plan will include locations for pre-schools, private schools, schools for special needs students, multiple public school locations as well as satellite college campuses and continuing adult education classes all within the boundaries of the Bridgeland community.
• To provide housing offerings for all demographic and psychographic markets, Bridgeland plans to offer a multitude of housing products. From conventional neighborhoods, in price points from the mid $100’s, to custom home designs in excess of $1 million as well as an exciting new project described as “new urbanism”, the first of which is planned to be ready for sale in 2008.

The community of Bridgeland is being modeled after successful master planned communities such as Summerlin in Las Vegas, Columbia in Columbia Maryland and The Woodlands here in Houston all owned by General Growth Properties, Inc., the developer of Bridgeland. These are true master planned communities and provide their residents life long opportunities for growth and prosperity.

General Growth Properties, Inc., the second largest U.S.-based publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) in the country.

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