$82M office building on deck for Transwestern’s River Oaks project

Transwestern is building an urban village at the doorstep of Houston’s affluent River Oaks neighborhood. 

To kick it off, the Houston-based developer is moving forward with plans to build an office building that will include space for retail and a garage. The nearly 500,000-square-foot project will cost $82 million, or $171 per square foot. Construction is expected to begin in July and wrap up in February 2026, according to a state filing. 

The designer on the project is Houston’s Kendall/Heaton Associates Inc. 

The building will be part of Transwestern’s The RO, which is planned for the intersection of West Alabama and Buffalo Speedway in River Oaks. The 17-acre mixed use project will be built on the site of the former Exxon Mobil research campus.

Transwestern, in partnership with Spear Street Capital, bought the property in 2017, the Houston Chronicle reported.  

In addition to the office building, The RO will feature a luxury hotel from Auberge Resorts Collection, which owns Commodore Perry in Austin and Bowie House in Fort Worth. Auberge is currently working on The Knox in Dallas and a project in the Texas Hill Country. Auberge’s The Birdsall will include 105 hotel rooms and 44 private residences. The development will also include a 28-story apartment tower with 317 units. 

Transwestern announced on June 24 that it had started construction on The RO, the Houston Business Journal reported. In addition to Kendall/Heaton, San Francisco-based House & Robertson Architects is the architect of record for the hotel and condos; Austin-based Michael Hsu Office of Architecture is the retail architect; and Atlanta-based Preston Partnership is the architect for the multifamily portion.

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The RO is expected to be delivered in 2027. 

Transwestern is a commercial real estate firm that includes Transwestern Development Company, Transwestern Investment Group and Transwestern Real Estate Services. Its portfolio includes property all over the country; most of its holdings are in Texas.