A Westlake investor is moving to turn roughly 180 acres at the northeast corner of FM 902 and Bennett Road in Howe into a master-planned, mixed-use community. Cherukuru Investments, controlled by Westlake investor Ravi Cherukuru, bought the tract from the Hightower Family Trust, which had held the land for generations. The property sits outside Howe city limits but inside the Howe Independent School District, in a busy stretch of Grayson County that has seen a steady run of land deals. So far, the developer has not released a public schedule for construction, unit counts, or an official timeline.
According to The Real Deal, the sale was announced in a press release from brokerage Younger Partners on Tuesday, which named John St. Clair and Ethan Peck as representatives for the seller. The release said Cherukuru plans a mixed-use retail and residential community on the site, but it did not disclose the purchase price. Public records cited in that report identify the Hightower Family Trust as the seller and note the family had held the land for about 140 years.
Broker marketing that circulated earlier this year pitched the tract as a development site with strong highway visibility and utilities access, playing up its proximity to US-75 and heavy traffic counts on FM 902. Listing material on LoopNet shows the property was being marketed to homebuilders and retail operators. Earlier marketing included a multi-million dollar asking figure that does not necessarily reflect the final sale price. Brokers also highlighted available water main connections and the fact that the land lies outside the 100-year floodplain as selling points for both residential and commercial development.
Grayson County’s appraisal roll shows just how fast values are climbing in the area: county records put the tract’s appraisal at about $3.8 million, up from roughly $1.9 million in 2022, according to reporting and tax data. The Real Deal also reports that Cherukuru filed a petition on April 28 to create a municipal utility district for the site, a common tool Texas developers use to finance water, sewer, and road infrastructure. If a MUD is approved, the developer can issue bonds to cover those infrastructure costs and repay them through district taxes and assessments.
Why Developers Are Racing North
The land rush around Howe and southern Sherman is closely tied to a wave of industrial investment in the area, most notably Texas Instruments’ multibillion-dollar expansion in Sherman that has helped fuel housing demand. The Dallas Morning News has pointed to TI’s planned expansion, often cited as roughly a $30 billion program, as a primary driver of new master-planned communities and large land buys across Grayson County. Nearby efforts such as Centurion American’s Cottonwood master plan highlight how homebuilders and land investors are positioning for an expected influx of jobs and residents.
Legal and Financing Implications
Setting up a municipal utility district is a routine financing move in Texas. Petitions are published, affected landowners and neighbors receive notice, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) offers a window for interested parties to request contested-case hearings before the agency. As outlined in Texas Register and TCEQ notices, a MUD allows developers to fund water, wastewater, drainage, and roads through bonds that are repaid by taxes and assessments within the district. State archives show Cherukuru Investments has pursued similar filings in other locations, following the same basic playbook.
Next steps on this project include formal public notice and any TCEQ scheduling if a contested hearing is requested, along with local permitting and utility coordination if organizers move ahead. The sale adds another significant tract to the string of land deals reshaping the US 75 corridor north of McKinney, and future filings and public meeting calendars will be key indicators of how quickly this planned community starts to take shape.
