[Urbannizer]

Houston's historic Petroleum Building to be redeveloped into high-end hotel

A Dallas-based development group sold the historic 21-story Petroleum Building, which is now called the Great Southwest Building, in downtown Houston to Choice Hotels International Inc. (NYSE: CHH) for a high-end hotel concept.

The acquisition is part of a larger expansion plan that Choice Hotels has embarked on to bring another 10 Cambria-branded hotels to the Lone Star state — in downtown Dallas at Tower Petroleum, downtown Houston in the former Petroleum Building, Richardson, near the Houston airport, downtown Austin on Rainey Street, San Antonio, The Woodlands, Midland, Waco and Galveston.

The hotelier's plans in Houston to redevelop the Art Deco skyscraper, which was built in 1927, at 1314 Texas St. come on the heels of Choice Hotel executives partnering with Dallas developer John Kirtland.

Cannon said the development team is working on bringing the new Cambria-branded hotel at Houston's historic Petroleum Building to fruition.

"We are just starting work there; the key count will be different than Dallas," said Cannon, adding the hotel could open by early to mid-2019.

Great Southwest in Downtown Houston by Dan Pancamo, on Flickr