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Colony Ridge, a 33,000-acre development in Liberty County, has exploded in population and grown exponentially since developers broke ground in 2012.

The development was established by brothers John and William “Trey” Harris and features six separate subdivisions — Santa Fe, Camino Real, Grand San Jacinto, Rancho San Vicente, Montebello and Bella Vista — spanning 42,000 lots with thousands more to be developed.

The community was built on traditionally rural rice fields and forested land formerly leased to deer hunters.

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Population estimates

Population estimates vary — the Harrises claim around 40,000 residents live in Colony Ridge while Liberty County officials put the number somewhere between 75,000 to 100,000 mostly Latino residents. 

By comparison, as of July 2022 there were 102,000 people living in Liberty County, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Liberty County Sheriff Bobby Rader told Houston Landing that the majority immigrant population that has moved into Colony Ridge do not respond to census takers, which makes gauging an accurate population count almost impossible.

Houston Landing data visualization engineer Adriana Rezal compiled satellite data using SentinelHub, a satellite imagery service provider, that shows the transformation of the development from October 2016 through July 2024.

As previously reported by the Landing, Colony Ridge Inc. and its subsidiaries face significant legal challenges in the months and years ahead.

In December 2023, the Department of Justice and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a lawsuit against Colony Ridge, accusing the company of targeting Latino land buyers with predatory lending and marketing practices. Texas’ Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a separate suit with similar allegations against the development in March.

A week before the federal indictment, a Landing investigation found the developer reaquired 45 percent of the 35,000-plus properties it sold to residents since 2012.

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Céilí Doyle is Houston Landing’s affordable housing reporter. Prior to reporting on how housing equity affects where and how Houstonians live, she served as one of the organization’s regional reporters....

Adriana Rezal is a data visualization engineer at the Houston Landing. Prior to joining the Landing, Adriana worked as a data reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle. There, she wrote data-driven news...