Downtown Tunnel Retail News & Updates

[houstonsemipro]

MAIN STREET ...

Empire Bar

Speakeasy

Blank Canvas Cafe

Bank Jean-Georges

The Whiskey Bar

El Rey

Cava Bistro

St. Pete's Dancing Marlin

F2

Pearl

The Hub

Clark's

Dean's Credit Clothing

Mia Bella

M Bar

Opus

Saba

Sammy's Deli & Snacks

Subway Sandwiches

Live! Sports Cafe

Suede Lounge

Mercury Room

Boaka Bar

Slainte Irish Pub

Mint Lounge

McCoy's Fine Cigars

Cafe Complique

Grasshopper

Shay McElroy's Pub

Chipotle

Java Coast

(future home of) Azuma Sushi & Robata Bar

Sambuca

State Bar

Bossa

Cafe Express

Zula

Flying Saucer

Mantra

The Vault

Barcode

Domino's Pizza

Murphy's Deli

Super Stop Food Market

Downtown Jewelry & Gifts

Metro Restaurant

Rama's African Boutique

Beauty Supply Store

Just A Dollar

(future home of) CVS

(future home of) Stallone's

Payless Shoe Source

Krispy Kreme Donuts

Document Solutions

UPS Store

Jason's Deli

Main Street Food Store

Foley's

The TUNNEL ...

1600 Smith Flower Shop

ADorn Boutique

Ala Carte Network

Alonti Caf

[Montrose1100]

WOW the tunnel has more to offer (WAY MORE) the Main street!

[2112]

Downtown has about 120 clubs, bars and restaurants. Plus, all the theaters, sports venues, and concert venues.

And, if you include the shops at Houston Center, then that count is 185. I didnt include them, however, because most of Houston Center shopss are closed at night.

I used to have an extensive list on here somewhere, but it must have bitten the dust during the great crash. Hehehehe. I just wanted to use the phrase "great crash".

[houstonsemipro]

Houston Center...

Bank One

Boc

Cajun Simon's

Charlie's Bar-B-Que

ChevronTexaco Federal Credit Union

Chick-fil-A

Continental Airlines Ticket Office

Doozo Dumplings & Noodles

Dr. Oeverman & Associates

Dress Barn

Federal Express

Flowers in the Park

Fragrance Shop

General Nutrition Center

Great American Cookie

Houston Landmark Gallery

International Shirtmakers/Clothiers

La Charl Gallery

Leather World

Lil' Miss Muffin

Long John Silver's

Longhorn Caf

[Subdude]

Tunnel business going up?

Street-level shops on rail line draw attention to new competition

By NANCY SARNOFF

Below the streets of downtown Houston, hundreds of restaurants, retail shops and consumer service businesses are connected by a labyrinth of air-conditioned tunnels.

From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., downtown workers flood this subterranean shopping mall to eat lunch and run errands.

It's been that way for years.

But just last week, CVS Corp. opened a new store above ground on downtown's Main Street. Around the same time, the pharmacy retailer closed one of its Eckerd drug stores in the tunnel. Eckerd was recently acquired by CVS.

That raises a question: As downtown continues to reinvent itself, with much of the new activity taking place in the open air, could interest in the tunnels be fading?

"There are those who think we should pour concrete into the tunnels just to get people on the sidewalks," said Laura Van Ness of Central Houston, a downtown business organization.

While the CVS move clearly indicates a desire by retailers to have a street presence on the new light rail line, most people agree that tunnel shops won't be going away any time soon.

Monte Wall, owner of Merle Norman Cosmetics in the tunnel, isn't about to consider relocating to street level.

"I like the concept of working five days a week," she said.

"I also like that my business picks up when it's warm, it rains or it's cold. That's most of the time."

But as more retailers open on Main Street, won't that hurt the businesses in the tunnel?

Freddy Castillo, manager of tunnel vendor Document Solutions, doesn't think so.

"So many companies are coming back to downtown," Castillo said. "For both tunnels and street level, I think it'll be enough to go around."

Based on occupancy statistics, tunnel retailers have good reason to stay put.

Retail occupancy is actually better there than it is on the streets of downtown.

Occupancy underground is at 83 percent, while street-level and mall occupancy is just 76 percent, according to Central Houston Inc. and the Houston Downtown Management District.

Tunnel retail, however, accounts for only about seven percent of all retail downtown.

"The tunnel has kind of its own clientele," said Rahim Jiwa, owner of McKinney Marketplace. "There are people that have been downtown for 10 or 20 years, and that's all they do. They get their exercise there, eat their breakfast, their lunch. They literally don't see the light of day."

But for tunnel and street-level retail to coexist and attract shoppers, they need to be on more-equal footing, said real estate veteran Stewart Robinson of realty firm Binswanger/Conine & Robinson.

"At this point today, they are not equal," Robinson said. "The tunnel system serves the office worker."

Indeed, shops in the tunnel aren't open on weekends, and many often close before 3 p.m.

But staying open late and on weekends will require the building owners to step up security to keep lobbies open after-hours and on weekends.

"In other cities where retail is a seven-day-a-week, 18-hour-a-day situation, those buildings deal with their lobby security and retail security and still secure their upper floors," he said.

Tunnel stores also need to be more accessible to street pedestrians, with landlords providing the retailers with better street signage, Robinson said.

Jiwa agrees.

"There are people who are here for 20 years. They don't come downtown, and they don't even know there is a tunnel," he said.

nancy.sarnoff@chron.com

[ricco67]

I read that earlier this morning, and I have mixed feeling about it.

Downtown does seem rather empty to me even during the weekday afternoon that it doesn't seem that lively; but underneath is a totally different world with a ton of people hustling about.

I think that as more and more retail goes on main, and Shamrock FINALLY gets built, that will change significantly. At least, I'm hoping it would.

Ricco

[feufoma]

The tunnels are very convenient and are a positive to the extent they help people avoid the elements on bad weather days. However, they literally suck the life off of the streets and are really the antithesis to thoughtful urban development. The city should create some incentive so that retailers won't choose the tunnel system for their shop or restaurant. Our city government is actually in a position to do something that would help mitigate this problem. Don't hold your breath!

[ricco67]

I think what would be interesting is to allow a section of the tunnel to be accessed more easily along several areas of downtown without having to trod into an office building (or have a segregated passage) to do so.

The only problem with that is the fact if the weater does turn foul or uncomfortable, it will suck everyone on the surface into the tunnels.

Ricco

[Subdude]

The tunnels are all privately owned, and it would be hard to convince the owners to open the tunnels for easier access. Also, as private property, the owners can keep out panhandlers etc. That's another big reason why people take the tunnels - you don't have to worry about being accosted by some drunk wanting change. I can see it being a hard sell to encourage more street-level weather. The tunnels are convenient, climate-controlled, and free of street people. Street-level retail might not seem especially inviting to many people when there's an alternative.

[UrbaNerd]

They should make a transitional plaza, which would be a large sunken plaza accesible by stairs and maybe an elevator, too, and the plaza would have its own shops, and it could be terraced. That would be cool!

[Montrose1100]

They should make a transitional plaza, which would be a large sunken plaza accesible by stairs and maybe an elevator, too, and the plaza would have its own shops, and it could be terraced.  That would be cool!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The kind of have that at the Wells Fargo (Louisiana Street?) entrance...

[Talbot]

I say to keep retail equal on street and tunnel, is to raise the rent in the tunnel, and keep the street rent the same.

[debmartin]

when traveling through other major cities in the us and canada i use the subway to get around - i can always count on tunnels for shopping and meals, often 7 days a week and until late at night. since we do not have a subway system our tunnels are primarily utilized by 9-5'ers - i was one myself in the late 70's and followed the masses underground daily. those who rode in on the bus wore gym shoes and brought shoes for working - those who drove in wore work shoes and brought gym shoes to wear around at lunch while walking around in the tunnels. the tunnels catered to downtown workers, with merchants such as cleaners, shoe repair, banks, card/gift shops, bakery/coffee shops and of course eateries. believe it or not we had street people even "back then" which made the tunnels a great alternative to being up above. the fact that they connected building to building meant you could consolidate some aspects of business and pleasure. the fact that they closed after lunch was unfortunate because there were always errands that could have been handled after work, and many would have been happy to make dinner arrangements downtown. with the new rail prospects, street level retail will expand but i do not perceive any threat to the tunnels. in many ways they both aim at different audiences, and there's plenty of people heading downtown.

debmartin

[ricco67]

No, I think after awhile, it will all balance work out as far as more street level retail. While talking to the owner of McCoy's Cigar shop, he said that it's been cost effective for him to stay open late on fridays.

Saturdays is a different story, but I covered all this on a previous post.

Does anyone know how the CVS is doing downtown? Do you think they'll kill one or two of the other convience stores nearby?

Ricco

[midtown_resident]

I stopped in the CVS a week ago and it was pretty packed...about 9:00 am on a weekday. Of course it had just opened...so I'm sure that was a factor. It will surely oust the local convenience store...over time. I think a lot of us complain about CVS and their never ending quest to conquer the world...or at least Houston. However, it's good to see corp america looking at Main Street plaza. It's a step in the right direction.

As for McCoy's...I don't get them. They never seem to be open when I want to get a cigar...which usually around happy hour time to late evening. There have been at least 10 times that I've gone by there to grab a smoke, with no luck, and every time I think to myself "why isn't this guy open right now...everyone else is."

[ricco67]

what time do you go by again? Everytime I've walked by he was open. He generally doesn't stay open late on saturdays.

Who knows, maybe I'll drop by this week and ask about that for you.

He just got a new shipment you would love, if you're a smoker.

Ricco

[Subdude]

They should make a transitional plaza, which would be a large sunken plaza accesible by stairs and maybe an elevator, too, and the plaza would have its own shops, and it could be terraced.  That would be cool!

That was the idea in the 1000 Main building.

[2112]

That was the idea in the 1000 Main building.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

1000 main seriously lacks that "inviting presence" required to entice people to go in. There is no street level retail on main, and the lobby looks cold and corporate. I read that the original intention was to make it a portal between street level activity and the tunnels. To this end, there seems to have been no thought to what makes people want to come inside. The place looks just like any other corporate lobby in the energy district.

[midtown_resident]

ricco...there are only a couple of places where i can pick up my favorite butera. i'm not sure when i last went by there...but since i work two blocks down, i figured it a convenient stop. more times than not however, he's closed... when he is open, i like to stock up...but w/o a good humidor at home, i rely on his!

[houstonsemipro]

See, y'all don't realize this. Houston is growing, true. Houston is not a 24/7 party city, true. Hosuton is not a tourrist city, true. Houston don't have enough residental downtown, true. This is why Houston is lacking on things like popluar retail and restaurants, etc. Nothing open 24/7 in downtown, at lease you heading to a club, or a bar. Houston is not a shoppers heaven, true. Houston is just a business city, that businessmen and women zip in and out of the city for meetings. They don't come here to look around, or shop. They may go somewhere to eat that's about it, depends on how long they have to stay. All the things I mention about Houston is true. We can not ask for a Barnes & Noble in downtown, why? I don't know. You have U of H downtown campus. Rice a couple blocks down near the texas medical center. All of these campus, all of these students in the dowtnown area and there's no major bookstore. I guess Downtown have to grow more, and find out what are they lacking of.

[Talbot]

I think we should be able to ask for it, because if we didn't we probably would most certainly never get it.

[Subdude]

1000 main seriously lacks that "inviting presence" required to entice people to go in.  There is no street level retail on main, and the lobby looks cold and corporate.  I read that the original intention was to make it a portal between street level activity and the tunnels.  To this end, there seems to have been no thought to what makes people want to come inside.  The place looks just like any other corporate lobby in the energy district.

Yup, you hit that proverbial nail on the head. That design is certainly lack. Maybe the whole idea of a street/tunnel portal like that doesn't make sense if you want to develop street level retail (as was supposed to be the case with "Main Street Square"). Of course, that being said, there is the nearby donut shop and nearby CVS. Would street-level retail thrive more if there were not adjacent tunnel access?

In the long run, I can see steet-level evolving to serve downtown residents, so it would be more of a different mix than is in the tunnels. Less restaurants, more food stores. Fewer Kinkos, more dry cleaners.

[midtown_resident]

I think the moment someone puts up a restaurant with a 'cafe' style option outdoors in that Main Street plaza area, you'll see a marked difference. Cultural and popular centers don't evolve from tons of urban planning...they happen when people have a reason to go somewhere. Of course, it's still early, w/o the residents taking root. Ideally, I'd like to see the plaza area of main st become more like Taco Milagro on Kirby/Westheimer at happy hour time.

The tunnel services 9-5ers and that's about it. The moment people have more reason to be downtown outside of those hours, you'll see more street level retail. For all of this to happen:

1. We need a stronger economy downtown

2. Residential projects must be inviting to ALL walks of life - not just those that can afford a $500,000 condo.

3. Street level must take advantage of the outdoors factor - take advantage of the folks that want to escape the imprisonment of the tunnel.

This will happen...

[Talbot]

lets hope soon too.

[houstonsemipro]

We need a mayor like Lee brown, cause he was on the right track for getting downtown in order. Bill white just fixing lights, and wanna take everything for granted what Lee brown has done for downtown. I know Lee brown done something's wrong for city of houston, but he did create the new downtown. I think it's not the mayor's decison, it's the entertainment division that hosuton has is not doing their job.

[CincoRanch-HoustonResident]

Houston's Downtown will prosper by the time the next Super Bowl will be hosted here(probably 2008, 2009, or 2010). It is truly going in that direction. The East Side of Downtown needs some life to it, not just new stadiums.

[Subdude]

I think the moment someone puts up a restaurant with a 'cafe' style option outdoors in that Main Street plaza area, you'll see a marked difference.  Cultural and popular centers don't evolve from tons of urban planning...they happen when people have a reason to go somewhere.  Of course, it's still early, w/o the residents taking root.  Ideally, I'd like to see the plaza area of main st become more like Taco Milagro on Kirby/Westheimer at happy hour time. 

The tunnel services 9-5ers and that's about it.  The moment people have more reason to be downtown outside of those hours, you'll see more street level retail.  For all of this to happen:

1.  We need a stronger economy downtown

2.  Residential projects must be inviting to ALL walks of life - not just those that can afford a $500,000 condo.

3.  Street level must take advantage of the outdoors factor - take advantage of the folks that want to escape the imprisonment of the tunnel.

This will happen...

I thought the point was to escape the outside weather!

Is disappointing, but maybe not surprising, that no cafe-style restaurants have opened on "Main Street Square". I know that was the plan, but restaurant owners apparently don't see the site as being all that attractive. I suspect part of the problem is limited parking access at that location. Houston Retail said at one point that some street-level retail would be carved out of the First City garage.

[midtown_resident]

Subdude...dissappointing indeed...but I should add that patience is needed. None of these areas can be turned around so quickly...nor will an instant result provide for longevity. I'm sure in due time, the area will meet our hopes...

Escaping the heat is great for the summer....but let's face it...from October through April, there are many days, where we can boast of nice weather for outdoors activities. We need to take advantage of that. Our summer correlates to the winters of the north...i.e. this is the time when we avoid outdoors activities. I'm sure the outdoor cafes up north don't see as much activity during the months of november through february....

[dbigtex56]

Another problem with Main Street Square is its proximity to a couple of very cruddy little convenience stores, which seem to be magnets for drunks and panhandlers. I doubt if they would do much to enhance an outdoor dining experience.

This is a rare example where maybe CVS isn't such a bad thing. With any luck the competition will force those stores out of business. And I doubt if CVS will put up with loiterers.

[SpaceCity]

I'd rather see street life, so moving from the tunnels to the street level would satisfy me on an aesthetic level.

However, its hard to beat the convienence and the temperture control of the tunnel system. When you're dressed in a suit you'll get drenched if you walk outside in the summer time. However, in the tunnel system we never have to leave 72 degrees.