Challenge
Introduce a luxury private master planned community on a former community airport site in west Houston.
Selected experience / Houston, Texas / 1998–2000
Royal Oaks
Country Club.
From a west Houston community airport to a luxury private master planned community. Relationships helped turn a bold development vision into a credible launch.
The assignment / At a glance
GO’s Role
The Goswick Team helped recruit and staff Sunrise Colony’s local Texas team, connect established relationships, and support the community’s introduction.
Idea
Bring a respected developer, recognizable golf personalities, and local development expertise around a distinctive vision for the site.
Execution
Jim Nantz became the spokesperson. Fred Couples and golf course architect Brian Curley designed the course. A May 1999 Grand Reveal introduced the community.
Results & Evidence
More than 600 people attended the Grand Reveal; more than 115 luxury homes were under contract by 2000.
Relevance Today
Relationships create business value when they connect the right expertise, leadership, and audience to a clear development objective.
1998 / The opportunity
A new vision
for west Houston.
In 1998, Sunrise Colony founder Bill Bone approached the Goswick Team with plans to transform a community airport into a luxury private master planned community.
The assignment called for more than a new name or a launch campaign. Sunrise Colony needed a local team and a way to introduce an ambitious development vision to Houston.
The Goswick Team drew on decades of work with leading master planned community developers and builders, along with established relationships with CBS sportscaster Jim Nantz and Masters champion Fred Couples. The team helped recruit and staff Sunrise Colony’s Texas team and connect the people who would help bring Royal Oaks to life.
Relationships / Expertise / A shared vision
The people
behind the promise.
Nantz became the community’s spokesperson. Couples and Brian Curley designed its signature golf course, giving the development a defining amenity and a clear connection to the world of golf.
The May 11, 1999 announcement described a planned 490-acre community with approximately 900 custom and estate homesites. These were the development plans at launch, rather than a statement of the final built totals.
The accompanying media alert brought Couples, Nantz, and Curley together for the golf course groundbreaking. Couples would hit the first ball on the future course, with Nantz providing commentary.
May 1999 / The Grand Reveal
A vision becomes
a destination.
More than 600 people attended the Grand Reveal in May 1999. The original invitation records a May 11 evening event at Miller Outdoor Theatre in Hermann Park, with a reception catered by Tony’s and music by Yvonne Washington and the Mix.
The event gave prospective residents, partners, and community leaders a shared introduction to the Royal Oaks vision. The developer’s plans, the golf course, and the personalities associated with the community became part of one public story.
Results / Community development
From introduction
to a community.
Attendees at the May 1999 Grand Reveal.
Luxury homes under contract by 2000.
To full development.
Nantz’s family moved to Royal Oaks, adding a personal connection to his role as spokesperson. The community helped transform an area of west Houston that the Goswick Team saw as ready for reinvestment and improvement.
Royal Oaks was fully developed in less than a decade. Its story illustrates how a development vision, specialist expertise, trusted relationships, and a coordinated introduction can work together to create momentum.
The original release, invitation, and media alert below document the launch plans, participants, and event details. Historical results are not promises of future performance.
Original materials / 1999
The record
behind the story.
The GO lesson
Relationships.
Built into results.
At Royal Oaks, established relationships helped connect a developer’s ambition with local expertise, a distinctive golf experience, and a public introduction. GO’s contribution began with people who could help the vision move forward.
That principle continues today: define the objective, bring the right specialists around it, and coordinate the work toward a measurable outcome.
Let’s GO make an impact
What’s your
next move?
Bring GO your development opportunity, challenge, or big idea.