In April of 2018, a rare RH Modern Gallery appeared—seemingly overnight—on McKinney Avenue, and was referred to in a press release as a “pop-up.” When I visited the space, which didn’t look at all temporary, I asked an employee about it, who explained that it was all just part of a grander plan to replace the longstanding RH store on the southeast corner of Knox and Cole with one of RH’s sprawling “galleries,” which feature various stories of impeccably-appointed retail and (on occasion) a full-service restaurant.
A quick Google search proved this wasn’t exactly new information. Real estate reporter Jon Anderson of Candy’s Dirt actually wrote about the development all the way back in 2017, after the project was proposed at an Oak Lawn Committee meeting. I emailed the RH team to see if they could share any details about the plans for the Dallas space. Understandably, they could not, but that didn’t stop people from talking.
Earlier this year, I took a trip back see my parents in Nashville, the site of one of the newest RH Galleries. When I told an employee at their restaurant I was visiting from Dallas, they responded, “Oh, I heard you guys are getting an even bigger one of these!” (It went something like that.) Another D Home editor heard through the local retail grapevine that the new RH project would actually be a boutique hotel, or rather, an “RH Guesthouse,” as Anderson also reported back in 2017. The only other RH Guesthouse in the country is set to open in New York City’s Meatpacking District.
RH still hasn’t confirmed anything, but the site of the former single-story RH (and the since-moved Mecox) has been leveled for construction, with a single rendering of “The Gallery at Knox Street” on display (and a message to visit RH’s temporary location next to the RH Modern on McKinney Avenue). Last year, The City Plan Commission approved RH’s Knox District proposal to merge eight lots along Cole Avenue between Oliver Street and Armstrong Avenue into one. The new tract of land will span 2.2 acres.
Whether or not it’s an RH Guesthouse, or will in fact be bigger than the very impressive Nashville Gallery, something is happening along the already rapidly changing Knox Street.
