Billionaire’s New $500 Million Project to Bring One of World’s Best Hotel Brands to Houston: Post Oak Emerges as the Land of Luxury

Post Oak is set to become the luxury hotel mecca of Houston — and arguably all of Texas. That is what a new Rosewood hotel, which follows in the recent footsteps of Billion Dollar Buyer Tilman Fertitta’s The Post Oak hotel, can do.

The new Rosewood is part of another Houston billionaire’s new $500 million mixed-use development that will rise at the corner of Post Oak Boulevard and Richmond, less than two miles down the road from The Post Oak. If this isn’t the road of a thousand dreams, it’s at least the road of a 1,000 thread count sheets. Like The Post Oak, this new mixed-use complex will tower over the freeway.

Houston Texans owner Bob McNair’s McNair Interests is behind the new development, which remains unnamed for now. The massive project is scheduled to break ground next year with a 2023 opening envisioned.

The new Rosewood hotel is the centerpiece of the six-acre project — and a huge addition for Houston’s sometimes beleaguered hotel scene. There are only eight Rosewoods in the United States currently. Of course, it all started with Dallas’ famed Mansion on Turtle Creek. Now, Houston finally gets one of its own.

“As the birthplace of Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, the state of Texas holds a special place in the Rosewood legacy,” Sonia Cheng, CEO of Rosewood Hotel Group, says in a statement. “We are delighted to launch this special property alongside McNair Interests to offer Rosewood’s affluential explorers an urban retreat in the heart of Houston.”

Rosewood hotels are consistently ranked among the best in the world. Its famed hotels include The Carlyle in New York City, Hôtel de Crillon in Paris and Rosewood Castiglion del Bosco in Tuscany. Houston’s new Rosewood hotel will have 150 hotel rooms and 80 residences. Fertitta’s The Post Oak also has a residential ultra high-end rental component, but it’s on a smaller scale.

For McNair Interests — a private investment and management company founded by Bob McNair that concentrates on energy,  life sciences, tech and real estate — this is the most high-profile project it’s undertaken.

“This is a defining development for McNair Interests and the city of Houston,” Cary McNair, Chairman and CEO of McNair Interests, says. “Our vision redefines the southernmost entrance of Post Oak Boulevard and the Uptown District, fusing a distinctive, sophisticated design with Houston’s future.

“We are excited for what this project will bring to our city and to visitors from around the world.”

In addition to the hotel and condos, the new McNair tower complex will bring new restaurants, high-end stores, a public green space and an office tower.

It’s a new Houston world — especially in upscale hotels. Let the best billionaire win?