Bellaire - Meyerland - West University Edition | Feb. 2022

Owned by the Rice Management Co., the heart of Rice Village can be found in an area between Times and University boulevards. For the purposes of this graphic, Community Impact Newspaper denes a “local business” as one primarily operating in Houston. VILLAGE S N A P S H O T

changed hands two more times since going from the Fort Worth-based Trademark Property Co. in 2014 to the current Houston-based Real- tors REIS Associates. Trademark began the shift toward the character of the current Village, according to a 2014 press release. In part- nership with Rice, Trademark ocials said they planned to enhance the streetscape, landscaping, storefronts and facades in a way that “will set the stage for the modern evo- lution of this eclectic urban mixed-use district.” REIS Associates, a private real estate company, has been managing the Village Arcade part of Rice since July 2019. Aj Jennings, REIS’ gen- eral manager of Rice Village, said maintaining that local mom and pop feel remains a priority. “The whole idea behind having a shopping environ- ment and village is for people to stroll and to go into shops,” Jennings said. “We still want to make sure that we have mom and pop shops that might be the only ones in the city.” At least 11 establishments were new to open in Rice Vil- lage in 2021. Eight of those new businesses were national chains, such as the ice cream shop Van Leeuwen and home and furniture stores CB2, Lovesac and West Elm. Comparatively, Badolina Bakery, Christina Greene Jewelry and Cru Home, a furniture/decoration pop-up store, were among the locally owned businesses that opened in Rice Village last year, based on previous Com- munity Impact Newspaper reporting. REIS, though a newer addi- tion, has left its own mark, adding “tens of thousands of dollars” in landscaping in 2021, according to Jennings. “We want people to come and spend time at Rice Vil- lage,” Jennings said. “We also have a focus on bringing really ne restaurants to the market, andwe’ve been doing that with ones that are open- ing up this year.”

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R I C E V I L L A G E

Maps of Rice Village in 1968 show how the area catered to the student population: Stores such as Weingarten’s Grocery, the Village Laundro- mat and Otto Oce Supply as well as a U.S. post oce cov- ered the bare essentials for Rice University’s population. Toward the start of the ’80s, development of high-end housing in West University Place shifted the landscape of Rice Village as shops began catering to residential clients. “Faculty bought houses [in West University Place], and so things were modest; you’d have a vacuum repair shop,” Kean said. “There is no such thing today. Everything got more auent; even the stu- dents got more auent.” Rice University began charging students for tuition in 1965. Once they started charging tuition, the student body also became more au- ent, Kean said. While several stores still carried essential goods and services for students, many of the newer openings exempli- ed this shift in wealth. Mul- tiple jewelers and shoe stores, a guitar shop and a smatter- ing of beauty supply outlets came to the center. While Rice Village main- tains some of the local feel of its previous iterations, a comparison of site maps from 1980, 2001 and 2021 suggest a shift away from local mom and pop shops and toward larger retail chains. Management history Land in and around Rice Village has been owned by Rice University since the mid-1980s, but the commer- cial property on that land has shifted management over the years. In 2014, the Rice Man- agement Co. bought out Weingarten Realty, which had owned and managed the Village Arcade, the southern half of Rice Village between Amherst Street and Univer- sity Boulevard, for more than 20 years. Property management has

RICE BLVD.

UNIVERSITY BLVD.

Local business

Chain business

Trends Tailor

Susan's Nail & Facial

Beautique Day Spa & Salon

TIMES BLVD.

Chloe Dao Boutique

Brown Bag Deli

Prego

Cru Home

Christina Greene Jewelry

D’Amico’s

AMHERST ST.

Lily Rain

Clique Salon

UNIVERSITY BLVD.

MAP NOT TO SCALE N

Percentages are estimates based on site plans for Rice Village Arcade from each of the corresponding years.

A changing landscape

76%

65%

49%

21%

2 0 0 1

1 9 8 0

2 0 1 4

2 0 2 1

of businesses were local, and 24% were chains.

RISING VA LU E S

Property values of buildings at the core of Rice Village have risen over the past eight years, according to data from the Harris County Appraisal District.

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

$2.5M $2M $1.5M $1M $0.5M $0

$5M $4M $3M $2M $1M $0

$60M

$30M

$40M

$20M

$10M

SOURCES: HARRIS COUNTY APPRAISAL DISTRICT, RICE VILLAGE ALLIANCE DIRECTORY OF COMMERCE 2021, NEWCOMER’S GUIDE 1980COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER

A NEW BUILDING WAS CONSTRUCTED AT THIS SITE IN 2018.

COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER • COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM