Romerica is Back!
3/15/25 – Romerica, the company that was going to build a 50-story high rise and marina at the south end of Woodland Hills Drive in Kingwood, is back with a new proposal. Now, they want to build a $575 per night, luxury eco-resort around wetlands between two golf courses of the Kingwood Country Club.
The land lays between the Barrington and Kingwood Lakes, east of Deer Ridge Park and Trailwood.
Developer Presents Proposal to TIRZ Board
One of the Romerica partners, Gabriel Haddad, presented his more modest proposal to the board members of the Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority/TIRZ 10 on 3/13/25.
The TIRZ does not have the ability to grant permit approval for the development; they are not a regulatory body.
But the TIRZ does have the ability to support the development by financing infrastructure that could favorably influence the economics of the proposal.
And any contribution the TIRZ makes gives the TIRZ a seat at the table and a chance to influence the nature of the development.
During his presentation and the Q&A that followed, Haddad did not articulate his “ask.” The purpose of the two-part presentation seemed to be to familiarize the board with the project and give members a chance to ask questions.
Here are two presentations that show the current plans for Phase I and Phase II of the development.
Phase I Plans
Haddad calls his resort “River Grove.” The northern 50 acres contains a 400-room Fairmont hotel, 90 condominiums and 21 acres of wetlands.
Haddad plans to build around, not over the wetlands.
Phase II
A second, adjacent 54-acre parcel of land contains a second hotel with another 160 rooms and 37 “villas” built around 23 acres of wetlands.
Romerica would build these four to six years after Phase I. Phase II would have a much “higher level, more luxurious hotel than the Fairmont.” Haddad proclaimed there would be “nothing like it in Texas. Zero,” he said.
“Each of the villas would be 8,611 square feet.”
Phillip Ivy, Vice Chair of the TIRZ, said that the plans reminded him of a resort called South Hall in Franklin, Tennessee. He added, “They target a certain demographic and certain corporate demographics to come in for meetings and that sort of thing.”
Discussion of Traffic Impact
During the discussion of the ideas, board members asked about traffic and evacuation. To handle increased traffic, the intersection of Woodland Hills and Kingwood Drive would widen to accommodate turn lanes. They also discussed connecting Hamblen Road with Woodland Hills to alleviate Kingwood Drive traffic, but that is not financially feasible for decades given other TIRZ commitments.
They did not discuss what would happen if Hamblen went underwater during a flood. Nor did they discuss the increased traffic load on Kingwood Drive.
Tax-Increment Reinvestment Considerations
The City of Houston lets TIRZs (Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones) keep a certain percentage of tax revenue increases within their boundaries. The TIRZ can apply that percentage to projects that help residents (like the Northpark Expansion Project) or projects that help developers expand the tax base.
For instance, a developer might need financial help to bring water or sewer lines to an area.
Another common “ask” is for help with landscaping or building trails to blend in with the surrounding community.
Some of those things might go beyond the developer’s cash flow. In which case, he/she might ask for a percentage of the increment. If the TIRZ board agrees, they donate X% to the project and keep the balance of the increment for new roads, road repairs, signalization of intersections, paying down bond debt, etc.
Haddad did not discuss what he needed. But he did say, “I am absolutely certain that the only way to make things happen is to work together.”
He added, “Each room (in the hotel) costs $785,000.” Altogether, he projected the entire project would require $450 million of investment.
Wetlands Preservation
“We’re not going to impact the flooding problem,” said Haddad. “We actually help it a little bit by improving the flow of the water.”
“We know that there’s a lot of wetlands. We’re not going to touch any of them.”
Because they don’t want to obstruct the flow of water, everything would be built on pylons. And building above Harvey-levels would “add cost pressure,” said Haddad.
According to Harris County Flood Control District, rainfall for that time period was between a 2-year and 10-year flood on the nearby San Jacinto West Fork.
Move your Maserati to higher ground! Romerica is back.
Next Steps
In the end, the Board asked Haddad for examples of comparable resorts and made no decisions. To be continued.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/15/25
2755 Days since Hurricane Harvey
