City to Consider Approval of Development in Swamp While Keeping Drainage Study Secret
1/19/26 – On Thursday, January 22, 2026, at 2:30 PM the Houston Planning Commission may consider approval of a proposed half-billion development in swampland. Specifically, Roman Arrow LLC (AKA Romerica), the developer, has requested plat approval with a variance for a new subdivision between Kingwood Lakes and the Barrington.
Draft Agenda Item 89 lists the project name as River Grove, but drawings within the variance request call it Kingwood Marina.
City Appeals FOIA Request to Attorney General
The Planning and Development Department appealed my Freedom of Information Act request for the developer’s drainage study to the Texas Attorney General. That means the public may not be able to review the drainage plans before the Planning Commission rules on plat approval. Worse, the public may never get to see the drainage study.
Marbet Alonzo of the City Planning and Development Department said, “The document you requested is a third-party document and cannot be released at this time. We have submitted a request to the Attorney General’s Office for a ruling. Once a determination is made and the document is eligible for release, we will provide it promptly.”
Approving plans before the public has had a chance to review all relevant documents highlights serious transparency and procedural issues.
Bob Rehak
You may submit public comments by sending an email to speakercomments.pc@houstontx.gov, at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting. Reference 2025-2266 River Grove GP in the title of your email.
Transparency and Procedural Issues
In my opinion, the only honorable thing to do in this case is to defer a decision until after the attorney general has ruled on release of the study, and the public has had time to review and prepare comments. If the attorney general allows the drainage plans to remain secret, then the City should deny permits.
Page 158 of the agenda shows that consideration may be deferred to a future date. However, the MLK holiday disrupted the Planning Commission’s normal publication schedule. So, I’m still looking at a DRAFT agenda. However, public comments must be submitted 24 hours before the meeting. Accordingly, I’m publishing this post today, so that people can email comments Tuesday before the deadline on Wednesday.
Rehak’s Concerns
To be fair, my concerns go beyond street layouts. I have been photographing this property for years. I started when Romerica first proposed building 50 story high-rises in the floodplain of the San Jacinto West Fork on another portion of their property south of the Barrington.
But I’ve also kept a close eye on the portion of the property north of Barrington. The photos below show some of the issues.
Given that current floodplain maps show the entire Roman Arrow property in the 100-year floodplain, they will not be able to bring in fill to elevate the homes and hotel they plan to build there. They will have to excavate dirt from their property or elevate structures on stilts.
Note the date on the map above: 2007. When new flood maps are released, floodplains and floodways are expected to expand by 50-100%.
What Do They Plan to Build?
The developers have said they hope to build the development in two phases.
Phase One includes a 297,600-square-foot Fairmont Hotel with 400 rooms and 90 condominium residences.
Phase Two includes another 226,085-square-foot hotel with 37 8,611-square-foot villas, each on one third acre lots.
They plan to build the roads up to 60 feet – 13 feet above swamp level and 5 feet higher than the roads in Barrington.
Pedestrian pathways would be elevated to 71 feet – 11 feet above the roads.
The hotels would top out 65 feet above ground level. But the first residential floor of the condominiums would start at 65 feet and rise two stories.
They claim ground level will be 53 feet – 7 feet below the road level.
It’s all very confusing. That’s why we need to see the drainage plans. Where will the fill come from? Do they plan to build on stilts? Will structures and fill impede the flow of the floodway when new flood maps are released?
They can’t bring fill into the 100-year floodplain. And excavating it from land that’s already underwater won’t help mitigate increased flood potential.
Third Time Around
This is the third concept that Romerica/Roman Arrow developers have pitched for this property.
- The first was 25- to 50-story high-rises south of the Barrington with underground parking next to the floodway of the West Fork.
- Then they pitched a series of homes on stilts under the name Orchard Seeded Ranches. That quietly fell off the radar.
- Now this.
The land previously belonged to developer Ron Holley who fought the City for 20 years for the right to build on it.
Many have conjectured whether these developers are trying to raise money for the development via EB-5 visas. The developers are foreign nationals and are shielding their Texas operating companies through a series of approximately 30 shell companies at last count.
EB-5 visas give preferential consideration for green cards to foreigners and their families who invest $800,000 to a million dollars or more in American infrastructure projects that create jobs.
I have no evidence that that is their plan. Neither can I find any evidence that they have actually completed any developments in the U.S. under the names Romerica or Roman Arrow.
A web search for Roman Arrow LLC turns up lawsuits brought by City of Houston, Harris County and Lone Star College District for delinquent taxes. Humble ISD filed another separate tax lawsuit.
Neither Romerica nor Roman Arrow appears to have an active website – something that seems strange for a company claiming that this will be a half-billion project.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 1/19/2026
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The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
