Pointe West is a resort-style community of roughly 1,000 acres at the far western tip of Galveston Island, beside the San Luis Pass bridge. It pairs a private Gulf-front Beach Club with lagoons, bay frontage and over a mile of vehicle-free beach, and it’s one of the few places on the island where you can build a custom home inside a fully amenitized community.
Kai Custom Homes is a Galveston builder with 35+ completed coastal homes, and Pointe West is where we’ve built one of our most photographed. The images in this guide are from that home. Below is what it takes to build in Pointe West as a full-time or second-home owner: the lots, the Beach Club and POA, the architectural review, flood elevation, and cost.
What Is Pointe West, Galveston?
Pointe West is a master-planned community on FM 3005 covering the last three and a half miles of Galveston Island’s West End. Centex opened it in 2006 and it has changed ownership since; today it’s governed by the Property Owners Association of Pointe West.
What sets it apart from other West End neighborhoods:
The Beach Club. An 8,000-square-foot Gulf-front clubhouse with an infinity pool and hot tub, a children’s pool, a lazy river, a fitness center, a seasonal restaurant and bar, and cabanas.
Vehicle-free beach. Over a mile of Gulf beach where cars aren’t allowed, which is rare on the West End.
Lagoons and preserve land. Navigable lagoons, a Sunset Pier and golf-cart trails run through the community.
A mix of housing. Condos, cottages and custom homes share the amenities, and Beach Club access is built into every owner’s POA dues.
Why Build in Pointe West Instead of Buying?
Build if you want the Pointe West lifestyle in a home designed for how your family lives, not for the rental market. A large share of what sells here is condos and cottages bought for vacation rentals. A custom home is a different product.
Searches for Pointe West lean heavily toward rentals and weekend stays. Our clients are usually after something else: a second home they’ll use most weekends, or the house they’ll retire into. For them, building gets you:
A floor plan around your view. Beach, lagoon or bay, the rooms that matter face the water.
Space for the whole family. The Kai home in Pointe West has a bunk room with built-in bunks, a media loft and guest suites, so the grandkids have somewhere to land.
Current elevation, wind and energy standards, rather than whatever was code the year a resale home was built.
Pointe West Lots: Beach, Lagoon and Bay
Pointe West has beach-frontage lots, lagoon lots, bay-side sections and a larger-lot Estate Section. The architectural guidelines refer to standard 60-foot lots; Estate Section lots run larger.
How lot type changes the build:
Beachfront lots fall under the City of Galveston’s beachfront rules. Any work within 1,000 feet of mean high tide needs a Beachfront Construction Certificate and Dune Protection Permit, which the Texas General Land Office reviews. Plan on several extra weeks.
Lagoon lots trade surf for calm water, sunset views and room to paddle a kayak from the back yard.
Bay-side and interior lots can carry different flood zones than the beach, which changes piling design and insurance.
Before you buy, check the lot’s flood zone parcel by parcel. Corby Broesche, Kai’s owner, personally sets the elevation and piling height on every home we build, and on a Pointe West lot that starts with the survey and the flood map, not the floor plan.
Pointe West Architectural Guidelines
Every new home in Pointe West goes through the community’s Architectural Review Board before it goes to the City. The board can reject a design on aesthetic grounds alone, so the design has to be right before you submit.
Under the published architectural guidelines (effective 2006; confirm the current version with the POA):
Style: coastal cottage vernacular, with porches at least 8 feet deep on both the street and beach sides.
Size: 1,800 to 5,000 heated square feet on most lots, and 2,500 to 8,000 on the larger lots.
Height: up to 45 feet above the minimum base flood elevation.
Materials: fiber cement, wood or vinyl siding. No brick, masonry or stone.
Roofs: 5:12 to 8:12 pitch, in approved shingle, standing-seam or unpainted metal, or concrete tile.
Pilings: exposed pilings on the front and sides must be screened, and ground-level enclosures must use breakaway walls.
Other: impact-rated windows, buried propane tanks, and a landscaping budget of 5% to 10% of construction.
The builder has to qualify too. The guidelines require an ARB-approved builder with at least five years of experience, homeowner and subcontractor references, and full insurance. Review runs in stages (sketch plan, then final plans), with a compliance deposit on every new home.
If you have a Pointe West lot, or you’re looking at one, we’ll walk you through the review process and what your design needs to clear it. Reach out through our contact page and we’ll set up a time.
Flood Elevation and Wind Rules in Pointe West
Pointe West homes are built on pilings well above the base flood elevation (BFE). The original guidelines placed the entire development in FEMA’s VE zone, the coastal high-hazard zone where breaking waves are expected. Maps have been revised since, so confirm each lot’s current zone.
The rules that shape every build:
City of Galveston freeboard: new homes must sit at least 18 inches above the BFE, per the City’s flood protection requirements.
VE-zone engineering: pilings, breakaway walls and an open ground level, with the lowest horizontal structural member above the flood elevation.
Windstorm certification: Galveston County sits in the Texas Department of Insurance’s designated catastrophe area, so your home needs a WPI-8 certificate from inspections during construction to qualify for TWIA coverage. See TDI’s windstorm program.
This is also where build quality separates one Pointe West home from the next. Corby’s rule on roofs is simple: two roofs can look identical and perform completely differently in a hurricane. We ask for the tested-assembly approval paperwork on every standing-seam roof. You should too.
What Does It Cost to Build in Pointe West?
A custom elevated home in Pointe West typically costs about $350 to $500+ per square foot to build, which puts most 2,500 to 4,000 square foot homes between $1.5 million and $3 million or more, before the lot.
For context, a 2,691-square-foot home in the Estate Section, built in 2022, listed at $1.595 million in early 2026, around $590 per square foot including its lot.
What moves the number:
Lot type. Beachfront adds dune permitting and often taller pilings.
Size and porches. Required deep porches add covered square footage on two sides.
Structure. Concrete columns and insulated concrete form walls, rated for 200 mph winds, cost more than wood framing and hold up better.
Finishes. The Kai Pointe West home carries a professional gas range, a white-oak island, custom built-ins and hand-glazed tile. Those choices are where budgets move.
POA costs. Monthly dues include Beach Club access, and the ARB charges review fees and a deposit.
Plan on 12 to 18 months from permit to keys. You’ll get a written update from us every two weeks during construction and every week during finishes.
Can You Rent Out a Pointe West Home?
Yes. Short-term rentals are common in Pointe West, and the POA sells guest wristbands for Beach Club access. Rental owners must also hold an annual City of Galveston short-term rental license, which the City has administered since October 2025.
If you plan to rent part-time, tell us early. It changes how we design bunk rooms, storage, durable finishes and owner’s closets.
Frequently Asked Questions About Pointe West
Is Pointe West a good place to live?
Yes, for people who want resort amenities and a quiet end of the island. It sits at the far end of the island, well west of downtown Galveston, so full-time residents trade convenience for beach access, the Beach Club and a vehicle-free shoreline.
What amenities are available at Pointe West Beach Club?
The Beach Club includes an infinity pool and hot tub, a children’s pool, a lazy river, a fitness center, a seasonal restaurant and bar, cabanas and direct beach access. Access is included in POA dues for all owners.
Which condo in Galveston has a lazy river?
Pointe West has one of the few lazy rivers on Galveston Island, at its Beach Club. Condo, cottage and custom-home owners all share it.
Where is Pointe West in Galveston?
Pointe West is at the far western tip of Galveston Island on FM 3005, beside the San Luis Pass bridge. It runs from the Gulf beach back to the bay.
Start Your Pointe West Build With Kai
Pointe West gives you a resort’s amenities with a custom home’s privacy, and we’ve already built here. The design review, the VE-zone engineering and the beachfront permits are all manageable when your builder has done them before.
Call us at 713-909-0059 to talk through your lot or your plans, or send us a note through our contact page. We’ll give you straight numbers and tell you what we learned building our home in Pointe West.
