Ritz-Carlton Post Oak Project Is A Homecoming For Joe Cleary

After a half-century career in Houston construction and development, Joe Cleary is back where it all started. But this time, he plans to move in.

One of the namesakes of Houston’s Harvey Cleary Builders, he wanted to be involved in developing a skyline-defining, 44-story condominium and hotel tower in Uptown Houston because he believes that the city is ready for — and deserves — the level of luxury that it will bring.

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel & Residences Houston project is also on Post Oak Boulevard, where his career began. Cleary retired from Harvey Cleary after 49 years and established Cleary Interests to provide selective project advisory services. 

Cleary Interests and Houston real estate firm Deiso Moss are collaborating with Marriott International to debut The Ritz-Carlton Hotel & Residences Houston at 2120 Post Oak Blvd., they announced in September. Harvey Cleary has built 30 projects in the Galleria-Uptown area, and Cleary said they knew something very special could be done on the parcel.

Well-off empty nesters wanting to leave their sprawling single-family homes behind have fueled Houston’s burgeoning luxury condo market in recent years. But Houston is also a diverse city with many international and business travelers, creating another demand demographic, Cleary said.

“There's a whole bevy of buyers, the international crowd, that we think will find this to be a fabulous choice,” he said. “The understated elegance of our project will sell very well and be very well received by those discerning buyers.” 

Ritz-Carlton became interested in a Houston proper project due to the success of The Ritz-Carlton Residences under construction in The Woodlands, Cleary said. The project announcement comes as a St. Regis-branded condo tower in Houston is also scheduled to break ground this year, and The Birdsall, Auberge Collection at The RO is slated for a late 2027 completion. 

“With the high-rise residences becoming more prominent, it’s time,” Cleary said of The Ritz-Carlton. “Houston deserves, and Houstonians deserve, a project like this. A high-rise, branded, luxury condominium project is much needed.” 

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel & Residences is designed with a signature crown inspired by the historic building at 712 Main St. in Downtown Houston, making the building visible and recognizable from every angle in the city.

“You'll see it when you're in the air. You'll see it on the ground,” Cleary said. “It's just going to be a spectacular project.” 

The 44-story, 600-plus-foot tower will have 154 hotel rooms and 114 private residences. Residents will have their own entrance, parking and elevators separate from the hotel, as well as 27K SF of owner-only amenities and access to the 50K SF of hotel amenities.

The building was designed by Pickard Chilton in collaboration with Ziegler Cooper Architects and Rottet Studio, which curated the interiors. 

“These three world-renowned design firms collaborated to give us the most spectacular design that I think Post Oak Boulevard has ever seen,” Cleary said. 

Harvey Cleary is the contractor for the project, and the private residences are being represented and marketed by Redeavor Group. 

The project’s site, once slated for a 43-story mixed-use tower, is about a block north of The Galleria, the iconic mall built by Harvey Construction Co. around 1970.

After The Galleria’s construction but before he bought out the late Gerald Hines’ interests in Harvey Construction in 1987, Cleary’s first three jobs with the company were in a three-block radius of the Ritz-Carlton project.

“Post Oak Boulevard is very special,” Cleary said. “It's special to the company. It's special to the legacy of the company. It's special to the founder of the company.”

Like at The Ritz-Carlton Residences in The Woodlands, interest from buyers has been even better than they expected, he said. Buyers include Cleary and his wife.

Although the construction timeline hasn’t been publicized, the sales center is nearing completion. 

“Houston deserves a project like this. Not just the residences, but also the five-star hotel, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel,” Cleary said. “We just don't have enough premium, luxury, branded hotel rooms in Houston.”