Chip and Joanna Gaines opening Texas hotel

Chip and Joanna Gaines, who soared to fame on HGTV, recently announced their next steps to help transform Waco, Texas, into a tourist destination: the 2021 opening of their own boutique hotel.

The couple, best known for their home design and renovation show “Fixer Upper,” shared the news through Joanna’s blog and the couple’s various social media accounts.

The couple’s “dream” for the hotel, Joanna wrote in a blog post, is for it to serve as “an extension of the way we feel about our own home and all it represents to us, and that every guest who comes to stay would experience that same sense of belonging and community.”

The hotel will be located in downtown Waco, near the couple’s other projects, such as the Magnolia Market shopping complex.

Housed in a historical building that sprawls nearly 53,000 square feet, it will be a collaboration between the couple and Adventurous Journeys Capital Partners, the private real estate company from Chicago behind such notable properties as Soho House Chicago and the Chicago Athletic Association.

The hotel will be the first of its kind in the Central Texas city, although offerings are growing there.

The Gaineses already offer accommodation options dubbed “Magnolia Stays” for fans. The vacation rentals include the Carriage House, Hillcrest Estate and Magnolia House.

“In the last couple years, we get 20,000 to 30,000 people a week simply to discover the ‘Fixer Upper’ effect on Waco,” said Todd Bertka, the director of the Waco Convention and Visitors Bureau. “It’s sparked its own cottage industry.

“We’ve had small businesses open and blossom in that period that have benefited from folks coming to visit Magnolia.”

MARKETPLACE EVENTS Joanna and Chip Gaines, best known for their home design and renovation show “Fixer Upper,” plan to open a hotel in Waco, Texas.