Kay — as promised. Two US luxury projects where the interior designer hasn't been chosen yet — each with the real decision-maker named and the line I'd open with.
Two here, as a sample — enough to judge the quality before anything else. Every project I send is verified against the design press and the design firms' own portfolios, so you're never chasing work that was quietly handed off months ago. Every one real.
Nothing has gone out — these are yours to carry.
01
IBC Centre → JW Marriott Conversion
175 E. Houston Street · San Antonio, Texas · 301 keys · ~2028
Project
A $164M adaptive-reuse conversion of the IBC Centre office tower into a 301-room JW Marriott — rooftop, event space, and River Walk dining. Plans filed and advancing; architect HKS named,
interior designer not yet announced. Express-NewsFit for Kay Lang
A full-service JW Marriott inside an existing downtown asset — the brand discipline your
JW Marriott Orlando Bonnet Creek work already carries, here in a more urban, adaptive-reuse setting.
Contact
Bernardo de la Garza — EVP, International Bank of Commerce (the owner driving the conversion). Route via IBC corporate or LinkedIn. Worth knowing: HKS has an in-house interiors arm — so you'd be making the case for an independent design voice on the flag.
How you might openBernardo — converting IBC Centre into a JW Marriott isn't a decoration problem; it's an operations, arrival, and identity problem inside an existing downtown asset. Our JW Marriott Orlando Bonnet Creek work gives us a direct brand reference, and San Antonio would call for a more civic, River Walk version of that full-service logic.
02
Appellation Petaluma
B Street & Petaluma Boulevard · Petaluma, California · 56 keys · 2028
Project
Charlie Palmer's Appellation brand — a food-and-wine boutique-luxury hotel with a rooftop restaurant, underground speakeasy, and ground-floor Palmer restaurant. Approved February 2026; permits expected end of 2026.
Interior designer not yet chosen — and Appellation uses a different firm at each property (EDG at Healdsburg, FDG at Sun Valley), so the seat is genuinely open.
SF ChronicleContact
Mike Jolly — SVP Construction, EKN Development. He assembles the design and FF&E teams — the person who actually makes this call, not the CEO. Route via EKN Development or LinkedIn.
How you might openMike — Appellation Petaluma has to win a very specific argument: that a new luxury hotel can feel native to Petaluma, not imported into it. Our Inn at the Mission, San Juan Capistrano work is a useful reference for hospitality that uses local history without turning the project into a theme.
That's the sample. Every fact here I verified myself — the designer seat open, the decision-maker named, the source linked. That verification is the part that takes the work, and it's the part that keeps you from chasing a project that was spoken for months ago.
If they're useful, here's how it runs.
How it works
Ten to twenty of these, every month
The two above are a sample of the standard. The service is ten to twenty live projects a month — new builds, conversions, and renovations across luxury and upper-upscale — designer not yet chosen, real decision-maker named, opener drafted in your voice, in your inbox and ready for your team to carry. The conversations are yours; my job ends at the handoff.
A limited number of founding firms · once they're taken, this isn't repeatable
—Ten to twenty luxury and upper-upscale US projects a month — new builds, conversions, and renovations — where the interior designer isn't yet selected
—Each one checked against design press and the design firms' own portfolios — not scraped off a permit feed
—The real owner or developer named, with the right routing — not a chain CEO who won't read it
—An opening line drafted in your voice for each, sources cited so every fact is defensible
—I work with a limited number of firms and never send the same project to two studios in the same lane — your projects stay yours
Tell me which of these two you'd want me to start with — and I'll send the simple version of how it works.
Either way — even a one-line read on these two tells me how to sharpen next month for your firm.
Sean