Bridgeland aims to be a healthy, natural oasis in the Houston area
Master-planned community attracts fitness-oriented businesses by putting premium on wellness of residents
On paper, Bridgeland is an 11,400-acre master-planned community in Cypress. But its developers wanted to create something more than rows of luxury homes and cookie-cutter sidewalks found in subdivisions across the state.
In its first two years, the community on the edge of the Katy Prairie has become a health oasis of sorts. The engineering behind its construction is health focused, with families in mind.
Bridgeland features an activity center (with a second on the way), two franchised gyms and a yoga studio, as well as a healthy, locally sourced restaurant. In the four villages (Creekland Village, Lakeland Village, Parkland Village and Prairieland Village), there are multiple green spaces, 900 acres of lakes and waterways, and three nature trails that will connect to create 250 miles for walking, running and biking.
“When we think about wellness, it comes in different forms. A lot of residents need choices for a healthy life, as well as a connection to nature,” said Heath Melton, senior vice president of master planned communities-residential for The Howard Hughes Corporation. “We thought of how we could provide residents with opportunities to be connected, engaged and immersed in nature.”
Developers envisioned people in kayaks, canoes and paddleboats waving to people fishing on the shore. Trails were built and feature exercise stations for people looking to do more than forest bathe. There are plans for a Nature Fest with headlining acts from Animal Planet and wildlife/conservation television shows.
“Wellness communities” are planned homes and neighborhoods designed to support residents’ physical and emotional well-being, according to a 2018 Fast Company article. The market is worth $52.5 billion nationwide, according to the Global Wellness Institute report titled “Build Well to Live Well: Wellness Lifestyle Real Estate and Communities.”
The area was built to be like The Woodlands, but with a healthier, more residential spin. Currently, there are 10,000 residents living in 4,000 homes. Eventually, developers hope to fill 17,000 single-family home sites and have 65,000 residents total. It could take about 20 years to come to fruition, but that’s the idea. Homes in Bridgeland range from the $220s to more than $1 million.
There are about 350 wellness communities being constructed in the U.S., Fast Company reported.
“One of the biggest things we want people to have here is true inspiration by nature and a focus on connecting with the neighborhoods,” Melton said. “We want it to be a tight-knit community, more than just infrastructure, more than just amenities. It’s really about bringing people together to make memories and truly connect with each other.”
The health-focused businesses are located in Lakeland Village Center, and once the other neighborhoods are developed, they will have their own commercial spaces.
Yoga and fresh food
Jenny Normand wanted to create a Hawaiian-inspired yoga experience in Houston. But location was important to her.
She was drawn to Bridgeland for the same reason she teaches yoga: health centered on community or family. Shaka Power Yoga specializes in practice for the entire family, from children to retirees.
“Everyone in your community is your family, so coming into this space, my main mission was to build a community with so much ‘aloha’: love, kindness, compassion through being centered and the practice of yoga,” she said.
Normand opened the studio early this year after months of marketing and networking. She met with the local chamber of commerce and met community leaders in Bridgeland before opening the studio’s doors. She had members before the business officially opened.
Being a full-time yogi and health business entrepreneur is a new venture for Normand, who was born and raised in the Philippines before settling in Texas with her husband. Before, she worked for retail brands Gap and Banana Republic across the country.
She had a vision of opening the business during savasana (often called corpse pose) while practicing yoga on a paddleboard. She offers SUP yoga (standup paddleboard yoga) in Balmoral Crystal Clear Lagoon and Beach in Humble but plans on bringing it to Bridgeland in the future.
Local Table, a Mediterraneaninspired restaurant, opened its Bridgeland location in early June. The menu features fresh food, emphasizing fruits and vegetables. It’s the second restaurant — the other is in Katy — and can accommodate 150 people, including a 15-seat bar and a patio with 40 more seats and room for dogs.
The restaurants were started by Shervin and Neima Sharifi (Shervin is the nephew of Hungry’s Café and Bistro founder Fred Sharifi), who wanted to focus on bringing global tastes to Houston through locally sourced fruits, vegetables and proteins.
9Round
Robyn Scardino already owned and operated three 9Round gyms, including one in Cypress.
But something coaxed her into opening another one of the kickboxing-themed gyms in Bridgeland. It was about location and Houston traffic.
If you’re a member at one 9Round, you can go to any of the other Houston locations owned by Scardino. Her four gyms are in areas easy to reach if a member is stuck on a side of town that isn’t near their typical 9Round spot.
“People are busy, so it’s a 30-minute workout, and they don’t have to worry about a class time,” she said. “A new round starts every three minutes, and it incorporates HIIT (high-intensity interval training), circuit training, kickboxing in nine stations. Each round is three minutes with a 30-second transition between each round.”
9Round is designed for men, women and children who are seeking a full-body workout with the aid of a trainer on a daily basis. It’s a nonstop workout, but the moves change every day.
Before opening the Bridgeland location, Scardino opened two gyms during or in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. One flooded and the other’s construction costs tripled. She also had many people cancel their memberships when prioritizing costs after the storm.
The hardships didn’t stop her from keeping those gyms open and starting the second location in Cypress’ Bridgeland. She is compelled to create opportunities for people to be healthier.
“I’m very motivated and dedicated to help people find how to add fitness to their lives,” Scardino said. “If you work out four days a week, that’s two hours a week, and that’s all you need.”
F45 Bridgeland
F45 Bridgeland is about fitness that aids people in their everyday movements.
Owners Samantha and Justin Hall love the tight-knit feeling they get from members and their kids when they come in for daily tech-inspired workouts. It’s like being in a small town, she said.
The F in F45 stands for functional, and each 45-minute workout is completely different from the one before it. As Samantha Hall explains it, no workout is ever repeated, and they’re based on movements that people make in their daily lives.
“A lot of people go and sit at their desk for hours at a time, and then they think they can go move their whole entire house,” she said. “So then they wake up, and they’re sore, and they throw their back out or hurt their knee. … We focus on movements that correlate into things you do in real life, like moving to a new house or carrying in the groceries.”
The programming pulls from more than 5,000 exercises, and many of the classes are themed. Two trainers are on the floor at all times to help with newcomers and longtime members. The workouts are designed to not fatigue one muscle group by overworking it.
The Halls found F45 when they lived in Australia and Singapore. The daily workout is the same at every location across the globe, she said.
“We’ve always been into health and fitness, and I feel like Houston has always been dragging behind everybody in that regard,” Samantha Hall said. “But I think people are starting to learn they need to move for at least 30 minutes a day.”