DEVELOPMENT
Project updates to know in 2021
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2 0 2 1 S P E C I A L E D I T I O N
TOP DEVELOPMENT STORIES OF 2021
Ion on track to nish construction
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Southside Commons awaits its anchor The anchor for Southside Com- mons—the bowling alley, arcade, event space, bar and restaurant Palace Social—is slated for a spring opening, when it will join an array of tenants lling the development. This includes casual farm-to-table restaurant Dish Society, which opened Dec. 17; optometrist clinic Eyetheory, which is expected to open in the spring; and men’s grooming and wellness space Tread- well, which is expected to open in the second quarter of 2021. Construction on the rst phase of The Ion, a 270,000-square-foot, six-story facility that will support businesses and serve as a hub for entrepreneurs, incubators, accelera- tors, corporations and the academic community, is eyeing a completion date in the rst quarter. “We’re excited we’re right on sched- ule and on track,” said SamDike, the manager of strategic initiatives for Rice Management Co., which is overseeing the $110 million e ort. The facility, located at the former Sears building at 4201 Main St., Hous- ton, is expected to serve as the hub for a more than 16-acre Innovation District, which aims to combine com- mercial development with housing, public spaces and new infrastructure
to support start-ups. In December, Rice Management Co. announced Microsoft would be joining The Ion as a tenant. The tech company said it will invest in workforce devel- opment through monthly executive forum and virtual symposiums, and will support accelerators for advanced manufacturing, digital skills, and smart and resilient city innovation. There are two other tenants scheduled to move into the new building. Chevron Technology Ventures was the rst program partner to sign a lease with The Ion. Chevron’s corporate venture capital armwill pursue innovative business solutions and externally developed technologies that have the potential to bene t the oil and gas rm.
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The Ion will o er 270,000 square feet dedicated to supporting startups.
The second tenant is Dallas-based Common Desk, which will manage a 58,000-square-foot coworking facility on the building’s second oor and boasts exible memberships for di erent types of professionals.
“Expect that to be in high demand,” Dike said. “That’s the entire second oor of the building. We’re excited about that.” The Ion is conversation with other potential tenants, he said.
Groundbreaking date set for ERJCC renovation
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The project also includes demolition of the Velva G. and H. Fred Levine Jewish Federation Building—located on the ERJCC property—to make way for a new building for the Jewish Federation that will be built on the north end of the community center property on the old building’s existing footprint.
The Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center will mark Jan. 31 as the o cial groundbreaking day for an upcoming renovation and expansion project. The day will include morning family activities including spray painting and chalking designated areas that will be part of the expansion’s tear down. The formal ceremony will start at 2 p.m. and will be live-streamed. The $50 million project was rst announced in February. Construction will consist of a new 126,000 square- foot, three-story facility, with 27,000 square feet of renovations to the existing center.
More tenants are opening in 2021.
“We’re excited,” said Christie Amezquita with the leasing agency SHOP Cos. “We’ll be 100% leased at that point.” Second- oor tenants include Houston Methodist, The Center for ENT and Greater Houston Orthodontics.
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Evelyn’s Park Phase 2 is underway Construction has o cially kicked o on a project that will add several new enhance- ments to Evelyn’s Park in Bellaire. Evelyn’s Park Conservancy, the group that manages moveable seating, an inter- active splash pad and two new interactive playgrounds. add a solar-powered shade structure for small gatherings, a large covered pavilion with
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conservancy’s plan—will take place over the next six months. The park will remain open throughout. B&D Contractors has been tapped to implement the plans created by SWA, the landscape architecture rm that designed Phase 1.
These updates were based on park user feedback and surveys conducted in Bellaire. Construction on the project—Phase 2 of the
the park, hosted a ground- breaking ceremony Dec. 13 to commemorate the start of the project, which will
Evelyn’s Park is under construction to add several new enhancements.
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BELLAIRE MEYERLAND WEST UNIVERSITY EDITION • JANUARY 2021
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