Getting Upscale

New luxury movie theater to open in River Oaks: Wine list & ninja waiters part of the pampering

Even before teardown has begun on the future site of River Oaks District, its upscale tenants continue to emerge. iPic Entertainment, a Florida-based theater company, revealed on Monday that it has signed a lease to build a 560-seat "luxury movie theater" in OliverMcMillan's mixed-use development.

Eight auditoriums will offer seating from between 50 to 90 guests each, and the iPic concept promises to deliver an altogether different moviegoing experience in an escapist environment marked by "iconic design and contemporary luxury."

Concession offerings include an extensive wine list, a chef-prepared grab and go food selection from Tanzy Express and an exclusive bar by the name of Salt Lounge.

Guests can pick between Premium seating (large, plush leather seats with an option to carry in your food and drink) or Premium Plus seating ("reclining, oversized chairs" with pillows, blankets and "individual service-call buttons that summon ninja-like servers"), and reserve spots ahead of time.

A video tour points out all of these luxuries, but not so much about the actual films you can expect to see there. We'll find out more when the River Oaks District theater — iPic Entertainment's third in Texas — opens in 2014.

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Houston ranked No. 3 destination for Gen Zers on the move for 2023

Photo by Alexander Londoño on Unsplash

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As Gen Z enters adulthood, many are flocking to the nation's biggest cultural hubs like New York City, Los Angeles, and now Houston, which had the third-highest inflow of Gen Zers in 2023.

H-Town's new reputation as a Gen Z hotspot was unveiled in a recent report by American home improvement brand This Old House, which analyzed migration trends across multiple generations using 2023 U.S. Census Bureau data.

Houston saw an influx of 22,868 Gen Z residents last year to become the generations third most popular city. That's up from ranking as the No. 11 most popular city in 2022. Houston gained fewer than 7,600 new Gen Z residents during that time in comparison to 2023's migration trend.

Houston started gaining traction as an up-and-coming destination for Gen Zers last year, when the "experience-hungry generation" was on the hunt for an affordable place to live with vast opportunities for entertainment, education, or employment.

Real estate marketplace Zillow seems to agree on a statewide scale, declaring Texas as the No. 1 destination for Gen Zers on the move in 2024.

While Houston saw big gains in its Gen Z population last year, many other big cities saw a mass exodus.

"El Paso, Texas, has lost the most residents from this generation, with a drop of 5,607, a sharp turn from 2022 when the city saw an increase," the report said. "Other cities, including Plano, Texas; Memphis, Tennessee; McKinney, Texas; and Wichita, Kansas, are seeing similar declines."

The report also surprisingly revealed that Houston is also one of the top destinations for millennials and Gen X, whereas both New York City and Los Angeles lost more residents among those two generations in comparison.

Houston ranked as the No. 1 city for Gen Xers and No. 4 for millennials based on their respective migration trends in 2023. Houston gained 6,312 new Gen X residents last year – the most nationwide – and the fourth-highest amount of millennials (5,301 new residents).

"Gen X, baby boomers, and the Silent Generation are also moving away from major cities, particularly New York City and Washington, D.C.," the report said. "They’re heading to some of the same cities as Gen Z, including Houston and Jacksonville, Florida."

The top 10 cities that gained the most Gen Z residents in 2023 are:

No. 1 – New York City, New York
No. 2 – Los Angeles, California
No. 3 – Houston, Texas
No. 4 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
No. 5 – Chicago, Illinois
No. 6 – San Diego, California
No. 7 – Seattle, Washington
No. 8 – Charlotte, North Carolina
No. 9 – Dallas, Texas
No. 10 – Minneapolis, Minnesota