Johnson Development Emerges as Buyer of 2,100-Acre Camp Strake Property

By Georgiana Mihaila, Associate Editor

It’s official: Johnson Development Corp. has been chosen as the buyer of the 2,100-acre Camp Strake property, one of the largest contiguous land parcels currently available in the Houston metropolitan area.

The Sam Houston Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America said that the company already has the property under contract, and the deal is expected to close by the end of the year. Johnson Development is currently managing the construction of 10 Houston-area master-planned communities; it has not yet released any information regarding its further plans for the site.

Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. was hired to market the property in March, when the Sam Houston Area Council first made public its plan to sell the property. At the time, JLL’s Houston market director, Dan Bellow, declared that “Camp Strake is truly one of Houston’s treasures, but the time is right to create a new gem for this city. Between the Exxon Mobil Corporate Campus opening next year with more than 14,000 employees and the Town Center in The Woodlands with approximately 50,000 jobs currently in place and the potential for another 25,000, the north Conroe area is one of the top growth areas in the entire state of Texas.  Amazing things are happening here.”

The development site, located on the southwest corner of Interstate 45 North and Loop 336, features more than two miles of commercial frontage, secluded residential areas and natural amenities suitable for recreation, parks, hiking trials, bike trails and environmental mitigation. The massive site presents no specific zoning requirements and will be annexed by the city of Conroe, whose mayor, Webb Melder, has declared himself in favor of future on-site development, offering potential new owners/developers full support. Located just north of The Woodlands, the property is less than 10 miles north of the new ExxonMobil Corporate Campus currently under construction.

The Camp Strake property served as the flagship camp for the nation’s largest Boy Scout Council for more than 70 years. It was named in honor of Susan and George Strake Sr., who provided the funds to purchase the camp property in 1943. Camp Strake will move to a rural site between New Waverly and Cold Springs in 2015 in order to create a 21st century scouting experience for Scouts and their leaders, according to Tom Varnell, president & Scout executive of the Sam Houston Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America.