More than $13 million in planned and ongoing private construction is reshaping the Rosewood Drive corridor, with a hotel, retail center, automotive service facility, veterinary hospital and additional commercial space either under construction or moving through the development process.
A review of Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation and City of Killeen development records shows much of the activity concentrated between Interstate 14 and the growing residential areas farther south on Rosewood. Among five major projects with publicly listed construction values, developers have proposed approximately $13.3 million in work encompassing more than 108,000 square feet.
One of the largest developments is an $8 million Home2 Suites hotel planned for 2820 Rosewood Drive. State records list the project at 61,885 square feet, with construction scheduled to begin Sept. 15 and conclude in November 2027. The privately funded project is owned by Klean Hospitality LLC.
Next door, another developer is bringing a mixture of retail and restaurant space to the corridor.
Rosewood Plaza, at 2818 Rosewood Drive, is a $2 million development consisting of two 7,500-square-foot open-shell lease spaces and a separate 2,380-square-foot donut shop, according to TDLR records. Construction is scheduled to continue through March 2027.
The state filing does not identify the donut shop or tenants for the two larger spaces. Sophal Korng Investments LLC is listed as the owner of the 17,380-square-foot project, leaving the eventual occupants among the unanswered questions surrounding the corridor’s development.
Public records previously reviewed by the Herald connect Sophal Korng Investments with Top Donuts projects elsewhere in Central Texas, making the existing Killeen Top Donuts operation a business worth watching as the Rosewood project advances. However, the Rosewood Plaza TDLR filing continues to list its tenant as “Not Assigned,” and no Rosewood-specific record reviewed by the Herald has confirmed Top Donuts as the future operator.
Commercial development is also underway farther north.
At 2501 Rosewood Drive, Rosewood Center is planned as a 19,814-square-foot commercial and warehouse lease-space building. The $1 million project began with a scheduled March construction start and is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Like Rosewood Plaza, the shell development creates room for businesses that have not yet been publicly identified.
Nearby, Dennis Eakin Kia is expanding its presence through a planned service center at 2301 Rosewood Drive. State records previously reviewed for the project list approximately 4,680 square feet of new construction and an estimated cost of $1 million.
The development adds an automotive component to a corridor increasingly supporting a mixture of commercial uses rather than developing around a single retail category.
At 4136 Rosewood Drive, another existing commercial center is continuing to fill with service-oriented businesses. The property already includes Dollar Tree, Killeen Choice Dental and VIP Nails & Spa Killeen. A roughly $1.29 million project is also planned to convert 4,289 square feet of shell space into a new animal hospital associated with Stagecoach Pet Hospital.
Residential development is adding another dimension to Rosewood’s growth.
The City of Killeen’s second-quarter development report lists Elm Ridge Rental at 3494 Rosewood Drive as under construction. Plans were released Feb. 10 under site-development permit PZ-2025-916-SD, although the city’s report listed construction at 0% complete at the time of publication.
The 3494 Rosewood property was previously marketed as approximately 2.15 acres of commercial land with 196 feet of frontage along Rosewood and access near I-14.
Farther south, residential growth around Rosewood and Chaparral Road has also expanded through Heritage Oaks. City development records identify Heritage Oaks Phase Seven at the intersection, with Killeen Chaparral Development LLC and Purser Construction involved in the subdivision infrastructure.
Development is affecting the roadway itself.
Earlier this year, Killeen announced temporary lane closures at Rosewood Drive and I-14 as a contractor for a nearby QuikTrip development completed roadway improvements. Work included the Rosewood and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard intersection as well as Rosewood at I-14.
Taken together, the projects indicate Rosewood is evolving into a mixed-use growth corridor connecting interstate-oriented commercial development with expanding residential areas in southeast Killeen.
The roughly $13.3 million represented by the five major private projects with identified costs — Home2 Suites, Rosewood Plaza, Rosewood Center, the Dennis Eakin Kia service center and the Stagecoach animal hospital project — does not account for every development occurring along the road. Projects such as Elm Ridge Rental and subdivision infrastructure do not have comparable construction values identified in the records reviewed.
The corridor could also gain several businesses that have yet to be announced. Rosewood Center alone provides nearly 20,000 square feet of lease space, while Rosewood Plaza has 15,000 square feet of shell space in addition to its planned donut shop.
As those tenants are identified and construction progresses, Rosewood Drive’s next phase may be defined as much by the businesses filling those spaces as by the multimillion-dollar buildings now rising along the corridor.
