Dallas Entrepreneur Kicks Off Boutique Hotel Plan

James "Rocky" Reese has set up Heritage Holdings Inc. to steer development of boutique hotels in Texas and hired a Dallas firm, Hospitality Management Corp., to shepherd the first in the portfolio, the 78-room Lighthouse Inn in Rockport. Reese retired in 1998 after selling his majority stake in the for-profit, 21-location Family Hospice, but started shopping for a new venture two years ago. He ended up with two acres at the entrance to Fulton Harbor at Aransas Bay and another 1.5 acres across the street which he intends to build out with specialty retail and perhaps more hotel rooms.

Dallas architect GSR-Andrade designed the Victorian-style property with 36 double rooms and 42 suites, including a library sitting room, to give the sleepy Gulf Coast town its first full-service, high-end hotel. Reese's plan is to cut the ribbon on a destination hotel that's an easy drive from all major metros in Texas. The hotel, which delivers at the end of June, sits at 200 S. Fulton Beach Rd. on land bought from Austin White Lime Co.

Reese has relied upon his Dallas connections to work the project. H.C. Beck & Co. is the general contractor. KLT Services Co. is the interior designer. And he's turned to Rockport for the landscape architect, Green Willie's.

Standard rooms have two queen beds while full suites come with a kitchen, king-size bed and sleeper sofa. All rooms have balconies, with views of the bay or pool, and an Internet-laced office center. Hospitality Management has put Ann Weisenburger in as general manager.

Reese says he also looked at Austin, but the Rockport opportunity was the better of the two deals to launch the venture. Besides, he says his fond memories of vacationing there in the 1960s helped sway the decision to invest in the harbor town rather than the state capital. It also will be more to the liking of the "snowbirds," a target market for a major campaign for the 55,000-sf property with Gulf views even from the fitness center.

Reese says he looking for more property for another boutique hotel, most likely on the water. "I'm always trying to look forward and beyond the present," he explains to GlobeSt.com. The plan, though, isn't to mimic the Lighthouse Inn unless the site warrants replication. What will be duplicated are the larger-than-norm rooms with destination-type amenities as he sets a course to fly a flag on a boutique chain, from the ground up.