Killen’s Steakhouse Acquires Woodlands Site; Now Prepping for Highly Anticipated Opening
February 11, 2019
HOUSTON – Killen’s Steakhouse has closed on a shuttered restaurant property in the heart of the Woodlands, ending months of anticipation about the premier brand’s second location in Greater Houston.
An opening is anticipated within 60 days at 1700 Research Dr. in Shenandoah – an 8,500-sf restaurant in turn-key condition. The building, developed in 2013 on 2.35 acres, is prominently positioned along one of the busiest thoroughfares in the 28,000-acre Woodlands, a master-planned community that began in 1974 and rapidly emerged as the economic driver for continued stellar growth in north Houston.
“The opportunity to own something in the Woodlands is rare,” says J.J. McDermott, associate with Houston-based NewQuest Properties. He and colleague Jon Jamison, also an associate, represented the buyer.
The award-winning Killen’s Steakhouse is one of five family-owned concepts of Chef Ronnie Killen, a Pearland native and 2018 recipient of a James Beard Award as one of the 12 best chefs in the Southwest. Killen’s Steakhouse, launched 13 years ago, is widely considered Greater Houston’s “best of the best” in the steakhouse category, serving the highest quality steak, including Japanese Wagyu, Gulf Coast seafood and signature desserts. The destination steakhouse was one of two restaurants in Greater Houston to make OpenTable’s 2018 100 Best Restaurants for Wine Lovers list.
Chef Killen also has fathered stand-alone brands specializing in barbecue, burgers and Tex-Mex in Pearland and Houston. McDermott, a longtime customer of Killen’s Steakhouse, had known about the restaurateur’s interest in expanding to the Woodlands and a preference to own instead of lease.
“We showed him one location,” McDermott recalls, “and then Bob’s Steak & Chophouse closed so we took the opportunity to him. He liked the building from the beginning.”
Like the original Killen’s Steakhouse, the new location has ample room for the upscale ambient setting to which customers are accustomed, including a private event room, wine cellar and wine room. The seller, TSS Realty LLC, was represented by Mark Raines and Matt Parsons in JLL’s Houston office.
