The Magazine of the American Landowner is an essential guide for investors, landowners, and those interested in buying or selling land. The award-winning quarterly is known for its annual survey of America's largest landowners, The Land Report 100.
Issue link: http://landreport.epubxp.com/i/656422
72 The LandReport | T E X A S 2 0 1 6 LANDREPORT.COM With prices starting at $59,900, it's not surprising that numerous buyers have snapped up adjacent lots and pieced together 10-acre compounds. Some, like the Trahans, already have plans to build in the works. Others are waiting for retirement to kick in or nests to empty out. This sort of flexibility is par for the course with a Patten Companies project. The family originated and perfected the development of communities such as Texas Grand Ranch. Over the last 50 years, they have brought to market more than 600 communities in 36 states. [See The Land Report, Summer 2009.] The Pattens' ties to land date back to the Great Land Rush of the 1890s. The family left New England to homestead in North Dakota; however, harsh winters and hostile Indians forced them back east. But Harry Patten Sr. had caught the land bug. In 1899, he paid the grand sum of $20 for his first parcel: a prime swath of 300 acres situated in Eastern Massachusetts. Harry Jr. went much further. In 1985, he took his company public with Drexel Lambert. Annual sales rocketed from $18 million to $33 million and then $76 million. By 1988, revenues eclipsed $100 million, and The Wall Street Journal was describing how Harry Patten sold the American Dream in a front-page profile that ran above the fold: "Sometimes it's a place in the woods, a few hours' drive from Boston and New York, where yuppies can rough it in their L.L. Bean boots. Other times it's a pristine view of a sparkling Maine lake, a panorama of Vermont's Green Mountains, or a plot outside a picture-post-card Adirondack village. No matter. What's important is that 'people develop an emotional attachment to a piece of land,' says Mr. Patten." This is especially the case in Texas. "Unlike other markets, Texans don't need to be convinced to buy land. It's in their DNA," says Harry's son, Mike. The family's Texas ties go back to Gov. John Connally. Above: After permitting is in place, infrastructure is the next step. Opposite top: By the time sales begin, the necessary utilities are out of sight and move-in ready. Far right: Houston's sunny climate has given rise to a slew of golf courses, including several in Huntsville and The Woodlands.