As the northern end of downtown Houston near Market Square Park experiences a sort of homegrown renaissance, there's a more buttoned-up type of redevelopment underway a few METRORail stops down Main Street.
Houston Pavilions has been ill-fated almost since its opening in 2007. The mixed-use development came into new ownership last August and, now in the hands of Midway Companies and Canyon-Johnson Urban Funds (a real estate investment company co-owned by Magic Johnson), the three-block project is on its way to becoming a destination.
Welcome, Houstonians and visitors, to GreenStreet.
Brindsen hinted that the company has parted ways with those tenants who didn't add to the long-term vision — a nod to Books-A-Million.
Midway has proven its prowess with CityCentre, a retail, shopping and office development in west Houston, and aims to create the same sort of space in the heart of downtown.
"It was really this idea that we could regenerate an urban destination here in the middle of this new urban core," said Midway CEO Jonathan Brindsen of the impetus for acquiring the property.
Renovations will make the space more pedestrian-oriented — with improved landscaping in the center corridor and mid-block crossings that will create a linear urban park, a lawn with a small stage, water features and patio seating.
Brindsen acknowledged the High Line in New York and the Brochstein Pavilion at Rice University as outdoor inspiration for the project. Expect lots of outdoor seating, green roofs and power-generating solar panels, installed with the help of corporate tenant NRG Energy.
Though no new leases were announced at a press conference on Thursday, Brindsen hinted that the company has parted ways with those tenants who didn't add to the long-term vision — a nod to Books-A-Million, which shuttered in December.
Brindsen told CultureMap that the project is expected to be completed by the end of 2013.
The company will celebrate the announcement with a "Sip and Socialize" street party from 5:30 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, with live music plus drinks to sample and food to snack.
GreenStreet, as viewed from Caroline Street, will be activated with patio spaces, a water feature, wood cladding, greening of escalator canopies and eye-catching signage.
