Above: the front door to a community that is really forty two communities.
New Territory is one of the largest master planned communities in Sugar Land and one of the most consistently misunderstood, for a reason that becomes obvious the moment you look at a map.
It is not one neighborhood. It is about 4,600 homes spread across 42 distinct subdivisions on roughly 3,200 acres. Some are gated. Some are on water. They carry different HOA structures, sit at different price points, and, critically right now, they do not all feed the same high school.
So when someone asks me what a home in New Territory costs, or what the HOA runs, or which school it is zoned to, the honest first answer is a question: which part?
Here is the full picture.
Key takeaways
- About 4,600 homes across 42 subdivisions on roughly 3,200 acres of former pecan groves and sugar cane fields, developed starting in the late 1980s.
- Fort Bend County Levee Improvement District No. 7 protects it, and adds a line to your tax bill that Greatwood does not have. LID 7 covers about 2,239 acres.
- Roughly 830 of those 2,239 acres are undevelopable: drainage, levee easement, floodplain, parks and open space. That is about 37 percent of the district, and it is why the community feels as green as it does.
- High school zoning is split between Stephen F. Austin and Travis, and both are among the three campuses Fort Bend ISD is trying to relieve right now. This is live, this month.
- Prices depend on which source you use. One tracker put the June 2026 median list at about $439,000 with 28 days on market. Another put the trailing twelve month median sale at $467,500. They measure different things.
- The HOA is modest for a community this size. The 2025 association assessment was $1,220, with sections varying roughly $1,050 to $1,800.
- It was annexed into Sugar Land on December 12, 2017, the same day as Greatwood, but unlike Greatwood it is zoned to Fort Bend ISD.
The land, and why the streets curve
Answer first: this was farmland, and the layout was designed by someone who built golf courses.
New Territory sits on about 3,200 acres that were once pecan groves and sugar cane fields, roughly 21 miles southwest of downtown Houston. The community's own description keeps the pecan history front and center, and you can still see it in the mature tree cover through the older sections.
The layout is unusual for the Houston area. The original developer's background in golf course design produced rolling contours and curving streets rather than the flat grid you get in most Gulf Coast subdivisions. It is a small thing that you feel immediately when you drive it, particularly against a newer community graded flat off a prairie.
Development began in the late 1980s. Sources put the start at either 1986 or 1989, so I will say late 1980s and leave it there rather than pick one. The bulk of buildout ran through the 1990s and into the 2000s, which is why the landscaping reads mature and the homes read solidly built rather than brand new.
Builders during the construction era included Plantation Homes, Ashton Woods, David Weekley and Centex. About 150 acres were set aside for commercial use.
Geographically, the community is bisected north to south by SH 99, the Grand Parkway, and bordered on the north by US 90. That access is a genuine advantage and, in the sections closest to it, a genuine noise consideration. Drive your specific street before you decide which one it is for you.
LID 7, and the 830 acres nobody counts
This is the part that separates New Territory from most Sugar Land communities and it deserves its own section.
New Territory sits near the Brazos River and is protected by Fort Bend County Levee Improvement District No. 7. A levee improvement district is a political subdivision of the State of Texas responsible for flood protection and stormwater management, operating under Texas Constitution powers and supervised by the TCEQ. It builds and maintains levees, and it funds that work through tax exempt municipal bonds repaid by a property tax assessment on district residents.
In plain terms: you pay a separate line on your tax bill for the levee that keeps the Brazos out of your living room.
Here is how the district's own acreage breaks down:
| Land use in LID 7 | Approximate acres |
|---|---|
| Single family residential, 4,610 lots | 1,265 |
| Drainage, levee easement, floodplain, parks, open space | 830 |
| Two elementary schools, a middle school and a church | 72 |
| Commercial and retail | 44 |
| Multifamily | 28 |
| Total district | About 2,239 |
Roughly 37 percent of the district cannot be built on. That is not a marketing claim, it is an engineering constraint, and it is the actual reason New Territory has the green space, lakes and trail corridors it does. A community built without a levee requirement would have put houses on much of that.
Two practical consequences for a buyer:
Being behind a levee is not the same as being out of a flood zone. Levee protection changes your risk profile and often your insurance requirement, but it does not eliminate either, and flood maps across this region are actively being updated. I covered how to read that properly in the flood zones buyer's guide.
The LID rate is a real number, not a rounding error. A commonly cited composite puts LID 7 at about $0.3227 per $100. On a $400,000 taxable value that is roughly $1,291 a year, about $108 a month, that a buyer comparing New Territory to a non levee community will not see in the listing price.
What you actually pay to own here
Answer first: the purchase price is the easy part, and the tax composite is where two similar looking homes diverge.
A frequently cited composite tax rate for New Territory runs about 2.07 percent, built roughly like this:
| Entity | Rate per $100 |
|---|---|
| Fort Bend ISD | $0.9869 |
| Fort Bend County | $0.4120 |
| City of Sugar Land | $0.3532 |
| Fort Bend County LID 7 | $0.3227 |
| Composite | About $2.0748 |
Read that table as a structure, not as this year's bill. The city and school components are both moving in September 2026, in opposite directions, and the county is proposing a flat rate that still counts as an increase under state law. I laid out all three changes and the dates in the September tax rate breakdown. Verify the current year's rates against FBCAD rather than any composite you find online, including this one.
On the HOA side, the New Territory Residential Community Association charged $1,220 for 2025, with a $225 resale certificate at closing. Individual sections vary, roughly $1,050 to $1,800, with waterfront, gated and premium sections at the higher end. That is genuinely reasonable for the amenity package, and I put it in context against other Sugar Land communities in the HOA guide.
The takeaway most buyers miss: New Territory tends to carry lower HOA dues and a lower composite tax rate than the newer master planned communities west and south of here, where young MUDs are still paying off infrastructure. That gap is worth hundreds of dollars a month on the same purchase price, and it never appears in a price per square foot comparison.
The amenities, honestly assessed
Answer first: the recreation package is unusually deep for the price point, and it is the main reason families stay for decades.
The Club at New Territory is an 18,000 square foot recreation center with meeting facilities, a playground, athletic fields, a lap pool and two tennis courts. Beyond it the community runs three swim centers with 25 meter lap pools, a sports complex, and the community's own materials describe more than 450 acres of parks, lakes, greenbelts and mature trees.
Two of those numbers are worth pausing on. Three separate 25 meter lap pools is a competitive swimming setup, not a splash pad, and it is why New Territory produces swim teams. And 450 acres of green space in a 3,200 acre community is a ratio most newer developments cannot match, because most newer developments are not sitting on 830 acres they were never allowed to build on.
The event calendar is active, from holiday programming to outdoor movie nights. That sounds like a brochure line, and in most communities it is. Here it is genuinely part of why resale buyers show up already knowing people who live in it.
Schools, and why this month matters
Answer first: New Territory is Fort Bend ISD, its high school zoning is split, and both of its high schools are inside the rezoning Fort Bend ISD is deciding right now.
The commonly cited campuses are Walker Station Elementary and Brazos Bend Elementary, Sartartia Middle School, and high school zoning split between Stephen F. Austin High School and Travis High School, with some sources also citing Dulles. Recent TEA ratings put Walker Station at A, Sartartia at A, and Austin and Brazos Bend at B.
Here is the part that is live news rather than background.
Fort Bend ISD published draft secondary boundary scenarios on August 18 aimed at relieving three over capacity high schools: Stephen F. Austin, Travis and Elkins. New Territory feeds two of those three. The public survey closes August 30, final recommendations go to the board at the end of September, and any changes take effect for the 2027 to 2028 school year.
If you own here, do two things this week: find your address on the Scenario 1 map and the Scenario 2 map, then complete the Secondary Boundary Scenario Survey before it closes.
I broke down both scenarios, the affected campuses and what it means for home values in the FBISD rezoning post. If you own in New Territory or you are shopping it, read that one before you do anything else this week.
And verify by address. In a community with 42 subdivisions spread across 3,200 acres and bisected by a state highway, "New Territory is zoned to Austin High" is not a fact about your house. It is a fact about part of the community. Use Fort Bend ISD's locator on the exact street address, every time. Listing sheets copy zoning forward from prior listings and are wrong often enough to matter.
New Territory versus Greatwood
These two get compared constantly, and for a good reason: Sugar Land annexed both of them on the same day, December 12, 2017. Buyers assume that means they are the same kind of place. They are not.
| New Territory | Greatwood | |
|---|---|---|
| Annexed into Sugar Land | Dec 12, 2017 | Dec 12, 2017 |
| School district | Fort Bend ISD | Lamar CISD |
| Approximate acres | 3,200 | 2,050 |
| Homes | About 4,600 | Built out around 2008 |
| Special district | Levee Improvement District 7 | MUD |
| Golf course | No | Yes, public |
The school district difference is the whole ballgame and it is the single most common point of confusion I deal with in this part of Sugar Land. Annexation moved the city limit. It did not move the school district line. Greatwood kids go to Lamar CISD schools with a Sugar Land address, which is exactly why I wrote the Greatwood guide as its own post.
If Fort Bend ISD zoning is the reason you are buying in Sugar Land, that difference is not a detail. It is the decision.
Prices, stated honestly
Answer first: sources disagree, so here are both, and I am not going to pretend I can call the trend from them.
One tracker put the June 2026 median list price at about $439,000, down roughly 5 percent year over year, with a median 28 days on market. A different tracker put the trailing twelve month median sale price at $467,500, up about 6 percent over the prior twelve months.
Those are not contradictory so much as different measurements. One is asking prices in a single month, the other is closed sales across a year. Mixing them produces a fake trend, which is a mistake I am not going to make in print.
What I will say with confidence:
The realistic range is wide, roughly $300,000 to $1.1 million, because 42 subdivisions with homes from about 2,200 to 4,500 square feet do not have a single price. Entry sections and the gated estate sections are different markets that happen to share a name.
Twenty eight days on market is healthy in a metro that averaged 53 days in July, when Houston recorded 40,750 active listings, the most ever. That relative speed is worth noting for both sides.
Get a real comparable analysis for your specific section. A median across 4,600 homes tells you almost nothing about your street. New Territory shows up in the under $500,000 guide precisely because parts of it sit in that band while other parts are nowhere near it.
The gated sections
New Territory quietly offers more gated options than almost any other Sugar Land master planned community, at price points below the usual gated entry.
Pointe Royale is the upper tier, a private gated section with its own controlled access operating separately from the broader community. Pecan Park Estates is the more accessible gated option, historically running about $600,000 to $900,000 with a roughly $1,500 annual HOA.
The value argument here is real and it is narrow: in most of Sugar Land, gated access carries a heavy premium. In New Territory the gap between a gated home and a comparable non gated home nearby is unusually thin. I put both sections side by side with every other gated option in the area in the gated communities guide.
Who New Territory is right for
Straight, both ways.
It works if you want Fort Bend ISD schools, mature trees and finished infrastructure, a deep amenity package, and a carrying cost lower than the newer communities further out. It works especially well for families who plan to stay a decade or more, because the recreation programming compounds and the community is socially established in a way a phase one development cannot be for twenty years.
It does not work if you want new construction, a golf course inside the community, or a single consistent product. New Territory is a resale market, it finished building years ago, and its 42 sections vary enough that you will need to shop sections rather than shop the community. If new construction is what you are after, the Fort Bend new construction guide is the better starting point, and Austin Point is the largest of the new options.
For how it sits against every other Sugar Land option, the neighborhood guide has the full comparison, and Riverstone is the closest large scale alternative if you want something newer.
The honest caveats
Four.
First, the home count and start date vary by source. Wikipedia cites 4,603 homes, LID 7's own filings describe 4,610 single family lots. Start dates of 1986 and 1989 both appear. I have used approximations rather than pick a winner.
Second, the composite tax rate above is a structure, not this year's number. Three of its four components are changing or proposed to change in September 2026. Verify against FBCAD.
Third, the price figures come from aggregators and they disagree. Use them as a range, not as a trend, and get an actual comparable analysis on your section before pricing anything.
Fourth, school zoning is under active review as of this writing and any statement about which high school New Territory feeds is a statement about today, not about the 2027 to 2028 school year.
Frequently asked questions
How big is New Territory in Sugar Land?
New Territory covers roughly 3,200 acres and contains about 4,600 homes spread across 42 distinct subdivisions. The 2010 census counted 15,186 residents and current estimates run closer to 17,000. It is one of the largest master planned communities in the Sugar Land area, sitting about 21 miles southwest of downtown Houston, bisected north to south by SH 99, the Grand Parkway, and bordered on the north by US 90.
What schools is New Territory zoned to?
New Territory is in Fort Bend ISD. Commonly cited campuses are Walker Station Elementary and Brazos Bend Elementary, Sartartia Middle School, and high school zoning split between Stephen F. Austin High School and Travis High School, with some addresses citing Dulles. Because the community spans 42 subdivisions across 3,200 acres, zoning genuinely varies by address, so verify the exact street address on Fort Bend ISD's official locator. Note that Austin and Travis are both part of the district's current secondary boundary review for the 2027 to 2028 school year.
What is LID 7 and why does New Territory have one?
Fort Bend County Levee Improvement District No. 7 provides flood protection and stormwater management for New Territory, which sits near the Brazos River. A levee improvement district is a political subdivision of Texas, supervised by the TCEQ, that builds and maintains levees funded by tax exempt municipal bonds repaid through a property tax assessment on district residents. It appears as a separate line on your tax bill, commonly cited at about $0.3227 per $100. The district covers roughly 2,239 acres, of which about 830 acres are undevelopable drainage, levee easement, floodplain, parks and open space.
How much are New Territory HOA fees?
The New Territory Residential Community Association assessment was $1,220 for 2025, with individual sections generally running between about $1,050 and $1,800 per year depending on amenities, with waterfront, gated and premium sections at the higher end. A resale certificate runs $225 at closing. That is modest for a community offering an 18,000 square foot recreation center, three swim centers with 25 meter lap pools, a sports complex and more than 450 acres of parks and lakes. Confirm the current schedule and any section level add ons with the association directly.
What is the difference between New Territory and Greatwood?
Both were annexed into the City of Sugar Land on the same day, December 12, 2017, so both carry a Sugar Land address and city tax. The decisive difference is schools: New Territory is zoned to Fort Bend ISD, while Greatwood is zoned to Lamar CISD, because annexation moved the city limit but not the school district boundary. New Territory is also larger at about 3,200 acres versus roughly 2,050, sits behind a levee improvement district rather than a standard MUD, and has no golf course, while Greatwood has a public one.
How much do homes cost in New Territory?
The realistic range runs roughly $300,000 to $1.1 million, reflecting 42 subdivisions with homes from about 2,200 to 4,500 square feet. Aggregators disagree on the middle: one put the June 2026 median list price near $439,000 with 28 days on market, while another put the trailing twelve month median sale price at $467,500. Those measure different things, asking prices in one month versus closed sales across a year, so treat them as a range rather than a trend and get a comparable analysis for your specific section.
Are there gated sections in New Territory?
Yes, two, which is unusual for a community at this price point. Pointe Royale is the upper tier, a private gated section with its own controlled access separate from the broader community. Pecan Park Estates is the more accessible option, historically around $600,000 to $900,000 with roughly a $1,500 annual HOA. The notable thing about both is that the premium for gated access here is thinner than in most Sugar Land communities, which makes New Territory one of the better value routes into a genuinely gated home.
Bottom line
New Territory is 42 neighborhoods wearing one name, and almost every confusing thing about it traces back to that.
It gives you Fort Bend ISD schools, a rare amount of green space, an amenity package built for families who stay, and a carrying cost that undercuts the newer communities out west, because the infrastructure here was paid for a long time ago. The levee that made it possible is also the reason 37 percent of its land could never be built on, which is a trade most people never learn they got.
What it will not give you is a single answer to any question. Not price, not HOA, not schools. Shop the section, not the sign at the entrance.
And this week, if you own here or you are about to, the school question is not theoretical. Two of New Territory's high schools are on the table right now, and the public comment window closes August 30.
If you want to know which section you are actually in, what your specific LID and tax picture looks like, and how your street sits under both rezoning scenarios, send me the address. I will pull all three and give it to you straight.
Sources: Fort Bend County Levee Improvement District No. 7 composition filings via the New Territory association's LID 7 page and the City of Sugar Land Levee Improvement Districts page; community and census data via Wikipedia; campus ratings via the Texas Education Agency; Fort Bend ISD secondary boundary planning materials, August 2026; market figures via Movoto and Homes.com, June and August 2026; tax rate structure via Fort Bend Central Appraisal District.
