The Southwyck housing development was located along
Texas State Highway 288 in
Brazoria County, that was built
circa 1985. Johnson Development, a development company, said that it and Jefferson Development "recognized the potential" of the "nascent community" which "had floundered along with its developer despite an existing 29-acre lake, golf course and club." The modus operandi of the developers was that they found tracts of land near a major freeway that would put residents in a position to have quick commutes to their workplaces. In Silverlake's case, the developers marketed Silverlake as allowing a quick commute to
Downtown Houston and the
Texas Medical Center via Texas State Highway 288. Ralph Bivins of the
Houston Chronicle said that housing sales in the Pearland area "were never really big until the 1990s." Within 27 months of Silverlake's opening, Silverlake became the second highest selling housing development in the Houston area. Tom Wilcox, the general manager of Johnson Development, said in 2002 "We held that position for about three years, and we're still clipping along on the pace that keeps us in the No. 3 and 4 position." In 2005, 20 residents filed a lawsuit against the Silverlake Home Owners Association, demanding better representation and knowledge of how their home owners association dues are spent. The plans called for there to be about 2,815 Single Family housing units, not including Multi Family Developments. By 2008 the City of Pearland was making plans to annex Brazoria County
municipal utility districts 2 and 3, both within the
extraterritorial jurisdiction of the City of Manvel. ==Government and infrastructure==