A place of comfort and security
Weekley, Highland builders debut Arbor Place, city’s first gated community

LAURI ZACHRY
Education Reporter

The David Weekley Homes model home at Arbor Place offers masonary exterior and a side-entry garage.

The David Weekley Homes model home located in Arbor Place off RM 620 and Smyers Lane features a large master bathroom.

Those moving to Arbor Place, located off RM 620 and Smyers Lane, will enter the lap of luxury found in Round Rock's first gated community.

The first model home at Arbor Place opened Feb. 15, said David Weekley Homes and Arbor Place developer Lance Hughes.

"This is what I call a traditional neighborhood like what you would see in Hyde Park or Tarrytown in Austin," Hughes said. "You have one entry so once you're in you're protected."

David Weekley and Highland Homes are the featured homebuilders in Arbor Place.

Hughes said the neighborhood is fully fenced in and neighbors carry a device with them to access the opening of the gate. Guests visiting those Arbor Place can use a numbered access code call box to get inside the neighborhood.

Since the neighborhood is not built out yet, the gate is open (without having to use a code or the electronic device) from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Hughes said.

David Weekley Homes offers nine different models, including one-and two-story homes at Arbor Place, said Weekley senior sales consultant Rachea Pendley. The square footage for the homes ranges from 3,800 to 4,300. Home prices for these models range from $475,000 to $700,000 and include four- to six-bedrooms.

These homes include amenities such as granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, large master bathrooms, front-entry and rear-entry staircases, side-entry garages and outdoor living areas with sunrooms, a second fireplace, a gas grill and refrigerator, said Weekley senior sales consultant Neil Antonowsky.

"These homes are built smart but designed beautifully," Antonowsky said.

David Weekley Homes also offers smaller homes in Arbor Place that average about 2,500 square feet. These homes range from $350,000 to $500,000.

Currently, David Weekley Homes has one model home and about three houses for sale in Arbor Place. In about 30 days, the first residents of the subdivision will move in, Hughes said.

About four homes have been sold in the neighborhood, he said.

Highland Homes began building its model homes this week. Both David Weekley and Highland Homes are Texas-owned builders who construct their homes from 100 percent masonry to have a high-quality product, Hughes said.

There are 98 quarter-acre lots and, for those seeking less maintenance or a lower price range, there are 21 smaller Villa homes available in Arbor Place.

Hughes said it will take at least three years for the 118 lots (half belonging to David Weekley and half belonging to Highland Homes) to be built out.

"Once this project is done families and their children will really enjoy this," Hughes said.

Along with living in high-quality homes, Arbor Place will include a nature path, a one-acre park, an arbor, a fountain and a playscape within the community's park, Hughes said.

Hughes said acquiring the land for Arbor Place was a little difficult because the community is the combination of three parcels of land from three different families - one of those families being the Smyers family for which Smyers Lane is named after.

Round Rock Mayor Alan McGraw said the conceptual process for Arbor Place began when the city realized it had a shortage of high-end housing for executives and medical professionals. He said Round Rock has executives who work in the city but choose to live in gated communities in Austin, Georgetown or Westlake. This year, McGraw and the Round Rock City Council signed an ordinance allowing gated communities within the city. He and other city and county community leaders attended a VIP opening at Arbor Place the weekend of May 8-10.

"We have some good housing developments but we could have more," McGraw said. "This goes a long way to filling that need of Round Rock having high-end housing for executives. This is a great development. This is another community we are proud of."

With the signing of the ordinance, the city of Round Rock will build more gated communities in the future but McGraw doesn't want Round Rock to become too much of a haven for gated communities.

"We still want that cohesiveness of the city and it's all a matter of trying to find that proper balance," McGraw said.