Houston Landing launched in February 2023, funded with a seed investment of over $20 million from Houston Endowment, Arnold Ventures, Kinder Foundation, American Journalism Project and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

The project was born from a two-year research effort, led by the American Journalism Project, which relied on focus groups, community listening sessions, and surveys conducted in four different languages, as well as content analyses of existing coverage to examine local information gaps and news needs.

Houston Landing made an impact throughout the greater Houston area, with its stories inspiring positive change and connecting audiences to solutions. The organization follows the highest standards of journalism: philanthropic foundations did not have editorial control, review, oversight, or influence over the content being created or distributed.

Although Houston Landing launched with significant seed funding, it was unable to build additional revenue streams to support ongoing operations. In April 2025, the board of Houston Landing voted to shut down the nonprofit newsroom in the face of financial challenges. The newsroom ceased operations on May 15, 2025.