Convenience Big Store: Hotel tower tied to Houston billionaire coming to long-awaited mixed-use project

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Cobblestone pathways and greenery invite visitors to meander through the retail buildings within The RO, a new mixed-use project planned on Buffalo Speedway by Transwestern Development Company. In the background is the 28-story apartment tower within the development.

Long-awaited mixed-use village on former Exxon site to break ground soon

It's been seven years since real estate firm Transwestern Development Company scooped up a prime parcel on Buffalo Speedway from Exxon to build a mixed-use project. As the site has sat untouched in recent years, I wondered whether plans for the 17-acre parcel would ever progress beyond the glitzy marketing posters plastered along the fences surrounding the site near Upper Kirby.

Fortunately, behind the scenes, Transwestern has quietly been assembling an A-list cast of architects and designers to perfect plans for the development, called The RO (pronounced "row" a play off River Oaks.)

Transwestern envisions creating a 'village' of brick-clad buildings peppered with patios and heritage live oaks trees along cobblestone walkways weaving through boutiques retail shops, restaurants, office and a mix of mid-rise and high-rise residential buildings. One of the towers will be a 34-story condo-hotel under the Auberge Resorts Collection brand, the hospitality arm of billionaire Dan Friedkin's Friedkin Group empire.

Plus, an entity tied to energy firm Occidental Petroleum now owns land within The RO development, deed records show, suggesting there could be more exciting news coming for the project.Read the latest about The RO here.

Marissa Luck, Senior reporter, Real estate

Marissa.Luck@houstonchronicle.com

Residential

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Commercial

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Real estate transactions

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