A developer wants to turn one of the last large undeveloped tracts inside Friendswood city limits into 135 luxury homes priced as high as $2 million, but first it has to deal with roughly 20 old oil and gas wells and six acres of salt-contaminated dirt sitting on the land. Woodlands-based lender Good Bull Capital pitched the Falling Leaf Ranch subdivision to Friendswood City Council, asking the city to issue a $27.6 million public improvement district bond to help pay for it.
Luke Cheatham, founder, CEO and president of Good Bull Capital, presented the proposal, according to Community Impact Newspaper. The 148-acre tract along Wilderness Trail came into Good Bull Capital and Jet Lending’s hands after they foreclosed on assets previously held by Friendswood-based developer JMK5 Holdings, whose primary commercial venture, Mainland City Centre in Texas City, was forced into Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation after accumulating more than $13 million in unpaid creditor claims, as Hoodline reported. JMK5 surrendered its interest in the historic 92-room Commodore on the Beach hotel in Galveston, and Good Bull Investments received that interest in a transaction that closed in June 2025.
A Denser Plan For One of Friendswood’s Final Big Parcels
Falling Leaf Ranch would bring 135 single-family lots to the property, a higher-density layout than the 44-lot plan JMK5 Holdings had previously floated for the same land, the station’s report notes. City staff told council the project is expected to be the last development of its kind built inside Friendswood city limits, a notable claim given that the city is more than 85% built out. Friendswood’s 2024 population was 41,030.
The projected prices only sharpen that scarcity story. Falling Leaf Ranch homes are expected to sell for $1.1 million to $2 million, with lots starting around $375,000 to $400,000. That price point sits well above the city’s broader housing market, where the average home value stood at $464,253 as of July 2026, supported by a median household income of $126,508.
The $27.6 Million Bond Request
Good Bull Capital is asking Friendswood to issue a $27.6 million public improvement district bond, with $21.8 million earmarked for construction and infrastructure costs. Under Chapter 372 of the Texas Local Government Code, PID bonds are repaid through special annual assessments levied directly on property buyers within the district rather than through general municipal property taxes, meaning existing residents would not directly shoulder the new subdivision’s infrastructure costs…