Elevated Coastal Living on the Texas Gulf
Marea is a thoughtfully master-planned residential community located along the tranquil shores of Estes Flats in Rockport, Texas. Comprising just 67 carefully curated homesites, the project offers an intimate, design-forward coastal neighborhood defined by direct water access, architectural integrity, and a deeply rooted sense of place. Homes are arranged around a protected cove, creating a rare balance of privacy, community, and seamless connection to the water.
Purposefully limited in scale, Marea sets a new benchmark for luxury coastal living on the Texas Gulf—where design, lifestyle, and environment are treated as a cohesive whole rather than separate components.
Project Summary
Developer: Moreland Capital Partners & MILO Holdings
Master Planning: OBM International
Town Architect: Luis Van Cotthem
Amenity and Landscape Design: DTJ
Marea is conceived as a highly coordinated residential enclave that prioritizes long-term value, livability, and authenticity. The master plan emphasizes orientation, viewsheds, and walkability while preserving the natural character of the site. Parks, landscaped paseos, overlooks, and waterfront gathering spaces are interwoven throughout the community, fostering connection without sacrificing privacy.
The development is located minutes from downtown Rockport, offering convenient access to dining, arts, culture, and everyday amenities, while remaining quietly removed from congestion. This duality—seclusion paired with accessibility—is central to Marea’s appeal.
“Marea is the culimation of a multi-year planning exercise by a group of extremely talented design professionals. The result is spectacular- an organic, architecturally significant project grounded in local history and climate. Placemaking at its highest form”
Luis Van Cotthem- Town Architect
Sales & Marketing
Marea’s sales and marketing strategy was intentionally designed to match the rigor of its planning and design. The project is represented by PowerPlay Destination Properties, a professional global sales company known for positioning design-led, destination communities. Together, we emphasized storytelling as a core tool—clearly communicating the depth of planning, architectural intent, and lifestyle vision that distinguish Marea from conventional coastal developments.
Beyond sales, the team functions as a new-home shepherd for each buyer. From the earliest stages, we guide owners through homesite selection, architect and builder introductions, design coordination, and key milestones throughout the custom home process. This high-touch, advisory model removes friction and uncertainty, allowing buyers to engage confidently in what is often an intimidating journey.
To support this approach, Marea includes a dedicated sales and design gallery, purpose-built as a collaborative environment for project meetings, design reviews, and decision-making. This represents a deliberate shift toward a more consumer-centered development model—one that prioritizes clarity, trust, and long-term relationships while elevating the overall ownership experience.
Dedicated sales events throughout the year include boat shows, oyster tastings, and movie nights all are designed to illustrate the lifesyle.
Vision & Development Philosophy
Under the leadership of Moreland Capital Partners, Marea reflects a commitment to place-driven development. The project embraces a new urban coastal approach, pairing walkable planning principles with bespoke architectural expression tailored specifically to the Texas Gulf Coast climate.
Rather than relying on formulaic coastal tropes, Marea is grounded in authenticity—responding to land, water, weather, and local culture. The result is a community designed to age gracefully, perform reliably, and remain relevant across generations.
Marea’s own Town Architect, Luis Van Cotthem has delicately crafted a bespoke architectural code along with home placement and planning guidelines that create architectural coordination and congruence, while encouraging creative diversity across the community streetscape.
Having spent more than 20 years shaping the award-winning architectural code and residential planning of the Windsor community in Vero Beach, Florida, Luis brings a deep understanding of coastal placemaking and is particularly talented at creating spaces and streetscapes that feel organic, genuine and honest to place, history and climate.
The basis for the planning at Marea is grounded in building placement methodologies that maximize privacy, views and the sea breeze. The “Marea Code” provides architectural guidelines to create harmony and congruence.
Homes & Architecture
Homes at Marea are shaped by a clear architectural framework that balances design stewardship with creative authorship. The community’s architectural code establishes the essential principles—scale, proportion, materiality, and climate responsiveness—serving as a guide rather than a constraint. Within this framework, the character of Marea is ultimately defined by a growing family of accomplished architects, each bringing depth, craft, and individual perspective to their work.
These architects are exemplary stewards of traditional design, with a shared respect for timeless forms and regional expression. Their collective work draws from a rich lineage of coastal architecture, including Lowcountry, Tidewater, Anglo-Caribbean, and Coastal Texas influences. The result is a community where homes feel both cohesive and distinct—unified by intent, yet individualized in execution.
Designs emphasize enduring principles: elevated structures responsive to water and weather, generous porches and outdoor rooms, balanced massing, and details that reward close inspection. Materials and construction approaches are selected for longevity and performance in a coastal environment, ensuring that homes age gracefully over time.
At Marea, architecture is not treated as a stylistic exercise, but as a long-term investment in place. By pairing a disciplined architectural code with thoughtful, architect-led creativity, the community achieves a level of authenticity and quality that is rarely realized in contemporary coastal development.
