Houston has one of the most active construction industries in the nation. The market is led by top builders like Perry Homes, Taylor Morrison and Lennar Corp, but as demand remains constant amid climbing prices and persistently low inventory, it has created an opening for additional builders to enter the market and thrive. Shea Homes is one of those builders.

One of the largest private homebuilders in the nation, Shea did not make its incursion on the Houston market until 2013, but since then has expanded its presence with projects in The Woodlands, Sienna Plantation and Cane Island.

In only two years, Shea Homes has established itself as one of Houston’s premier private builders, having recently won two of the Greater Houston Builders Association’s Best PRISM awards: Best Kitchen for a Volume Builder, and Best Model Home Park.

The first award was a response to Shea’s 5050 model in Sienna Plantation, in which the kitchen design featured a double island that opens to the property’s living and dining areas.

Shea’s latter award recognized the group’s model home park in The Woodlands, which featured two furnished model homes, a sales office with an interactive kiosk, a history exhibit room dedicated to Shea Home’s past and three outdoor living areas.

“We are honored that our peers have judged us to be among the best in Houston home building,” said Shea’s Houston Division President Keith Luechtefeld. “We love this market, and we work very hard to design plans that we believe bring a fresh, new perspective to Houston home design.”

The company, which recently told Builder in a statement, “we obviously wish we’d gotten into the market sooner than we did,” already has plans to open three more communities – Harmony, Laurel Park and Meridiana – in the next six months.