Escout

The painted plywood surrounds this site on three sides (the west side is open), maybe related to the Super Bowl effort to put some lipstick on an empty lot. Just a guess.... Regarding a hotel for this area, the owners of the majority of the block bounded by Kirby/Rice Blvd/Bolsover/Kelvin in Rice Village should tear down the antiquated and under performing one-story strip center and the CVS and partner with a hotel in the 3-4* range. Build a 5-story parking structure with the hotel tower on top and ground floor commercial space. You would be hard-pressed to find a shopping district anywhere in the world with the shopping and restaurants found in Rice Village without a hotel. This is the most walkable outdoor area in the Houston metropolitan area and visitors to the Med Center/Galleria/Greenway/Upper Kirby would flock to a decent hotel where they can walk to eat/drink/shop. Not to mention that this would alleviate the parking problem for Rice Village. I spoke with someone in the hotel industry two years ago and asked why they have not considered a hotel for Rice Village. They claimed the area wouldn't support a 4-5* hotel, which seems utterly ridiculous. You might be able to tell that I LOVE spending other people's money!

I am new to this board after lurking for the last several years. Rice Village is a fabulous conglomeration of independently-owned businesses with a small core group who have formed their own business alliance, http://thericevillage.org/. As such, there is no central planning for The Village area. The ideas floated in this forum are really fantastic, it just takes the energy of a motivated few to raise the kind of money needed to implement any of them. The walkability of The Village is arguably the very best in the entire Houston metro area. The next phase of development hopefully will retain the charm, character and history of the area rather than make The Village into a fabricated Main Street similar to developments in The Woodlands or other suburban malls. Now, don't get me wrong, those are great additions to those suburbs (btw, I love the waterway concept and the development it brings with it). But, none of them have what Rice Village already has going for it. The recommendations in this forum for a parking garage near the heart of The Village are absolutely right on the money. The amazing success of the Hanover building is proof that new development with commercial/residential space can work very well alongside the existing infrastructure. Rice Blvd, between Kirby and Greenbriar, is the heart and soul of The Village. You want a coffee, check! Sandwich or croissant, check! Beer or wine, check! Massage, check! Baby stroller, check! In fact, you can even find emergency medical care if you have too much to eat/drink/shop! What more can you ask for???? Decent sidewalks and a multi-story parking garage would be the foundation for this next phase of development. I will be happy to accept donations.