10/10/2026
Weš©·Manvel!!!
Manvel Says āNot Hereā to 1,200 New Homes
Manvel City Council turned down a plan for a huge new neighborhood called Aurelia at its Oct. 5 meeting. The project, from Houston based Avani Communities, would cover almost 760 acres north of Hwy. 6 along Masters Road and Oilfield Road. It would include about 1,200 home lots, a site for an elementary school, shops, parks, and extras like a pool, pickleball courts, an amphitheater and a farmers market. The problem is that the land is zoned for one home per acre and is marked for ārural preservationā on the cityās plans. Every Aurelia lot would be smaller than half an acre. Council members worried about crowding and traffic, especially since the developer admitted a traffic study had not been done yet. Mayor Dan Davis said he loves being able to drive through that part of Manvel past open fields and cattle without stopping at a single traffic light.
Just up Hwy. 288, Pearland made a very different choice. Pearland City Council voted unanimously to approve a zoning change for The Orchard at Lower Kirby at its March 16 meeting, which was the same night Aurelia first came before Manvelās council. The 122 acre mixed use development would be located near the intersection of Beltway 8 and Hwy. 288, and it will feature a hotel and conference center, retail and restaurants, including fine dining, plus multifamily and high density single zfamily homes. Like Manvel, Pearland had worries about dense housing. One council member asked about limits on apartments, and the developer said the project caps multifamily units at 1,100. The plan also includes rules that prevent the developer from building all the homes without also building the commercial space.
So why did one city say yes and the other say no? The biggest difference is location. The Orchard sits in a busy area that was already meant for growth. It is part of the 1,200 acre Lower Kirby District in northwest Pearland, and city leaders hope it will keep residents from going to other cities for shopping, dining and events. Aurelia, on the other hand, would put a similar number of homes on farmland that Manvel wants to keep rural. Aurelia is not completely dead, though. Davis said the developer could come back with a new plan that follows the current zoning rules. However, the developer has said that following those rules would make it hard to pay for all the planned amenities. For now, the two projects show how cities near Houston are each deciding how much growth they want, and where it should go.
