Recently, real estate developers have gotten more creative with their pitches. Vague buzzwords such as “walkability” and “sense of community” have given way to promises of resort-style amenities and perks meant to either draw residents downtown or reinvigorate the image of what suburbia can be. Some hope to win you over with luxury, while others bet on residents valuing those all-important “experiences.” Below, check out some of the wildest and most enviable amenities available to residents across Houston’s metroplex. 

Five-Star Room Service at Home

Beef tartare in bed? It’s all on the table at downtown’s One Park Place overlooking Discovery Green. Residents can summon room service from Brasserie du Parc—the French restaurant located at the base of the 37-story tower—and have it delivered directly to their front door. There’s also a 24-hour gym, complete with daytime personal trainers, to help counteract the butter-heavy French cuisine.

Fido for All

Literally everybody who lives in Cane Island has a dog. His name is Hub, and the 3-year-old golden retriever spends his days in the Katy master-planned community’s Amenity Village, ready to play fetch or have his ears scratched (he goes home at the end of the day with one of the developer’s vice presidents). Officially, Hub is the community “ambassador,” assigned to be generally adorable and rep Cane Island at public events. But getting to know him has its perks: Residents who request it might get an invitation to stay in his Ambassador Suite—luxurious on-site accommodations great for a staycation.

Home, Home on the Range…

Billed as Houston’s first “Agri-Hood,” the centerpiece of Fort Bend’s Harvest Green is a 12-acre, fully-functional community farm located near the entrance to what will eventually be a 2,000-home community. Residents help cultivate crops like carrots, mustard greens, cilantro, and broccoli, which is sold at weekly onsite farmers markets. Baby goats and egg-laying chickens add to the master-planned community’s barnyard-chic vibe, while edible landscaping provides fresh lemons and rosemary steps from homeowners’ doors. That’s to say nothing of the adjacent 288-acre farm that offers subscription delivery of seasonal produce directly to residents’ doorsteps.

The Season Ticket

Denizens of 500 Crawford not only reside precisely 38 steps from Minute Maid Park, they also have access to a sixth-floor sports lounge with direct views of our new World Series champs’ scoreboard. And when friends or in-laws come to visit, they can crash onsite in the building’s one-bedroom, one-bath guest apartment, available for a nightly fee.

Festivals

Once a month, a fleet of food trucks rolls into the Cypress-area community of Bridgeland for an evening dubbed Friday Night Bites. The event offers everything from Jamaican food to crêpes to bulgogi for around 2,000 attendees from in and outside the neighborhood. Bigger, seasonal events are also staples in the master-planned community, including Nature Fest, a springtime gathering of animals and conservationists, and Howl-O-Ween, a dog-friendly October festival that hosts famous stunt pooches and includes a doggie fashion show.