East River: Mixed-Use Development By Midway

[KirbyDriveKid]

Huh, didn't realize that Buffalo Bayou had been worked so intensely previously. Always viewed the stretch between Shepherd and downtown as being pretty natural before the big renovation in the 2010s. 

But I suppose all those giant concrete culverts had to come from somewhere. Learn something new every day. Thanks, Wilcal!

[sapo2367]

Riverhouse is posting on their social media that they are open as of today!

[Paco Jones]

The next two buildings that will be starting construction soon should round out Phase I.

Building D:

A 5-story office/retail building about 80,1470 square feet. It is planned to be 4 stories of office over one story of at-grade retail.

Building H:

This was originally planned as a 10-story office/retail building of about 300,000 square feet (9 stories of office over one story of at-grade office/retail).  It is now a 5 level parking garage with 17,773 square feet of ground level retail.  It will connect to the other parking garage that is being finished currently (Building G).

 

 

[Naviguessor]

What’s the read on this change?  Seems that Midway is adding about 1/3 more parking, or have just shifted the other half, of the unfinished parking structure, to where building H is. It adds retail frontage to Meadow Street.  It’s all curious to me. 

[cspwal]

I suspect it might be a reaction to the softer office space market

[cityliving]

[004n063]

3 hours ago, cityliving said:

That last one really shows how far the city has come since that notorious late-70s parking desert photo. Still a ways to go, but man.

 

For reference: 

 

[freundb]

The Holiday Inn looks abandoned in that picture too. I hate that thing

[hindesky]

[ljchou]

East River 9 is awesome. The food looked great, drinks were good and the view was incredible. 

[hindesky]

[bobruss]

Went by East River 9 yesterday. Today the 9th, is the grand opening. It really is nice. They have great views of downtown, and there were several groups playing golf and a nice large bar and patio for dining and drinking. The bar has several big screens for sports.

FORE!

[GrapefruitTea]

The most recent Looped In podcast interviewed the Midway executive overseeing the development.

"We sit down with Midway vice president Anna Deans to discuss how Midway’s game-changing project will start to transform how Houstonians interact with this part of Buffalo Bayou and how the project could spark further changes in the East End. Deans also gives us all the updates and details on what’s next for East River, one of the most highly anticipated real estate developments underway in Houston now."

https://omny.fm/shows/looped-in/a-behind-the-scenes-look-at-east-river-one-of-hous

[IntheKnowHouston]

7 hours ago, GrapefruitTea said:

The most recent Looped In podcast interviewed the Midway executive overseeing the development.

"We sit down with Midway vice president Anna Deans to discuss how Midway’s game-changing project will start to transform how Houstonians interact with this part of Buffalo Bayou and how the project could spark further changes in the East End. Deans also gives us all the updates and details on what’s next for East River, one of the most highly anticipated real estate developments underway in Houston now."

https://omny.fm/shows/looped-in/a-behind-the-scenes-look-at-east-river-one-of-hous

Thanks!


A few nuggets from Houston Chronicle's Looped In podcast with Midway regarding East River at 100 Jensen:
 

• "There are essentially five or six sections of the site. We are on the first section all the way at the west end of the site where the Jensen bridge comes across the bayou. And so this is where we started construction. This entire section is about 26 acres."
  
  "As you come over the Jensen bridge traveling north, you'll see the Laura, which is our 360 unit apartment complex. It's right along the bayou. It has an outdoor pool at ground level that connects to the trail system and has a great view of downtown. And then you would turn into the project from Jensen and then you will see a future office building called the Stacks building. It's inspired by kind of industrial wharf buildings. That building will start construction next year."
  
  "And then as you come around the bend, we have a district parking garage that's kind of central to this section. And then once you get out of your car, you would travel south towards the bayou. And there we are under construction on two office buildings. Both are five levels. They both have retail at the ground floor. The waterfront building has retail at the top floor. And then there's two other smaller retail buildings along the waterfront there that are one story. There are also metal buildings that look like little warehouse buildings when they're complete. And those will have kind of food and beverage concepts there. This is just one small part of the project. It was really important for us to just get started. That's been our goal over the last two years."
  
  
   
• "That waterfront building actually was initially designed closer to the bayou, and through the design process, we decided to shift it further away to allow a larger green space overlooking the bayou. That buffer zone includes the Buffalo Bayou Trail system, which extends all the way through downtown. It's like a 15 miles network of trails that will continue to extend east through the east End, and adjacent to that, along this entire waterfrontage, there will be parks essentially designed to connect between the buildings to those bike paths. So people can ride their bike here and then kind of meander up into the park space. And then if they like, they can visit the retailers and venture further into the project. But we do want to preserve kind of this green belt along the entire waterfront there."
  
   
• "...Now we have both office buildings topped out. The Laura is almost topped out. The garage is topped out, and almost complete. The park spaces will start construction in November, and so all this will be complete beginning of next year. So we'll have our first office tenants moving in in March there... And then the retail, they'll take a little bit longer to build out... they'll be building out over the summer. [We're] trying to get that coffee shop (El Condor) open earlier so that our office users can start buying their coffee day one. But we are planning a big grand opening event for fall of next year, and we hope to have all the retail open by that time."
  
   
• "So East River Nine is all the way at the eastern end of the site. The site follows the bayou, and part of it kind of extends out where there's a bit of a peninsula. And from that part of the site, you have a great view down the bayou with downtown in the distance. But as we started out at the west end of the site, it's going to be probably 15 or 20 years until we get to that end of the site."
  
   
• "So this group proposed a golf course on that peninsula part of the site. It's a nine hole par three golf course. So it's not your traditional golf course. It's meant to be community oriented, family friendly. It's a shorts and flip flops type place that's got an ice house and a restaurant kind of on the property. And they've also been doing a lot of great community outreach in advance of the opening. So they've partnered up with PGA Reach, which is a nonprofit to work with veterans and youth in the community. For some of the veterans, it can be therapeutic just to get out and have that focus and then obviously, engaging youth very early can open a lot of doors for people and be great for your career. And they also approach Wheatley High School about having a golf team. And Wheatley's in the Fifth Ward. Here where we are. And what was cool is when they went to talk to the staff at Wheatley, they realized the vice principal had gotten a full right scholarship for golf. And so it really just kind of reinforced the idea that this game that maybe traditionally hasn't felt accessible to everyone, you know, really doesn't need to be that way."
  
   
• "We don't have a boat dock in this first phase, but it is something that we're looking to incorporate in future phases."
  
   
• "..there are 360 units at the Laura. It is planned to deliver the first units summer of next year. So June of 2023. They're a little ahead of schedule right now, which is great."
  
   
• "Well, one of the initial wish list items from the neighborhood was a grocery store because we are in a food desert. There is no full size grocery store here. And we have had many conversations with some of the larger grocery centers. And at this point, it's too early for them to feel like it's a neighborhood that they should be in."
  
   

Edited November 11, 2022 by IntheKnowHouston

[IntheKnowHouston]

On 11/10/2022 at 9:09 PM, GrapefruitTea said:

The most recent Looped In podcast interviewed the Midway executive overseeing the development.

"We sit down with Midway vice president Anna Deans to discuss how Midway’s game-changing project will start to transform how Houstonians interact with this part of Buffalo Bayou and how the project could spark further changes in the East End. Deans also gives us all the updates and details on what’s next for East River, one of the most highly anticipated real estate developments underway in Houston now."

https://omny.fm/shows/looped-in/a-behind-the-scenes-look-at-east-river-one-of-hous

A few nuggets from Houston Chronicle's Looped In podcast with Midway regarding retail in the first phase of East River (100 Jensen):

About Johny Rhodes' boutique grocery store Broham:
 

• "It's a smaller grocery, but it's very sustainably focused, so it'll all be his homegrown produce. He does offer other products, but in a sustainable way. So a lot of times there's a lot of waste in grocery stores, especially when it comes to meat and how animals are processed. And he will sell every part of an animal before he brings more meat to the store. And so it's that kind of mindset that's driving his concept. Even when produce starts to go bad, before it hits that point, he plans to bring it back to his farm and turn it into preserve so that it can be sold at the store. And so Food Fight Farms is the name of his farm, and his whole family has been working on growing this produce. So he's super excited. So are we. It's going to be a really unique concept. So he wants to be open by June 10, 2023. That is his day to open."

About other retail previously announced:
 

 

• "So El Condor is our coffee shop. They've been working with a lot of local groups for a long time here in Houston and are working on their own blend right now. So we'll have our own kind of East River blend of coffee, which will be great. Lick ice cream. They have some locations in Austin, in College Station at our other project there. And so we're excited to have them here as well."
  
   
• "And then at the top of the waterfront building, we have the second event location for Astorian (estimated delivery is Fall 2023). So this will be very different than their current location. It will have its own name, most likely inspired by the large outdoor terrace that they have at the top level. When they started looking at the space and considering it as an event center, we really wanted to make sure that the public could also enjoy that view. And so they completely agreed and have incorporated kind of an outdoor bar cocktail lounge on the corner there. So when it's not reserved, that will be open for the public."
  
   
• "We also have Tomi Jewelry, which has taken one of the white box spaces in the multifamily project."
   

About the ground floor retail units in the Laura, the multifamily development at East River:
 

• "So those retail spaces will be delivered more and ready. So that makes it a lot easier for first time users to move in and not have to deal with the confusion or hassle of construction. We've used short term leases so they can be shorter term leases in that building. And they're much smaller spaces, so we can keep the price point a lot lower. And we'd love for that whole building to be kind of pop up, more local, kind of eclectic spaces along the plaza there."

Edited November 13, 2022 by IntheKnowHouston

[IntheKnowHouston]

Aerial shots of East River posted last week to Built Nearby's Instagram. 

East River is Midway's mixed-use development in the Fifth Ward at 100 Jensen.


https://www.instagram.com/p/CkgWWetLbkD/










These were also posted last week during previews of golf course East 9 and its companion restaurant / icehouse Riverhouse.

Edited November 11, 2022 by IntheKnowHouston

[004n063]

I appreciated her being honest about the likely gentrification effects of the project. I think she's right that a large project like this - especially if they can ultimately get a full scale grocery store - can be as transformative of local income levels as it probably will be for local rents. But that could just as (/much more) easily not happen as happen. Based on what she said, it sounds like they're trying to be intentional about that, but while I'd love to see those efforts succeed, I remain skeptical.

Some things that could maybe help with that:

-Higher all-day frequencies for buses that connect ER to 5th & 2nd Ward neighborhoods (and/or a Jenson/Lyons rail or BRT line).

-More or a focus on protected bike routes from the north and south (plus bridges).

-For office tenants (and the Johnny Rhodes concept), partnerships with neighborhood schools (and the HCC campus on Drennan) to create (paid) internships for students.

-Make plaza space free or very cheap to book for food/market stalls.

-Include a variety short-term-leasing retail/service spaces, including for things like dance & exercise class studios. 

-Seems like a great place for a music school + instrument shop.

 

Obviously, Midway is under no obligation to do any of this. But it would make me happy if they did.

 

[phillip_white]

Boat dock confirmed!

[IntheKnowHouston]

Construction progress of El Condor at East River. The photo was taken last week on November 7. 

El Condor is a New York City-based coffee shop and all-day cafe. It's slated to open in mid-2023.


https://www.instagram.com/p/Ckw0x7-orST/

[hindesky]

Architect - https://www.pagethink.com
 

[hindesky]

[BEES?!]

Wow, they are flying! They’re really working to get this one up quickly, it seems like. Awesome!

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

[Moore-to-it]

20 hours ago, hindesky said:

what's yall over and under of when it gets it first Highrise?High-rise?  I say within thr next 5 years

Edited December 6, 2022 by Moore-to-it

[__nevii]

The lack of "bayoufront' development was a huge missed opportunity regarding the growth of Houston through the years. So I'm definitely looking forward to this project (and any precedent it sets).

[Tumbleweed_Tx]

On 12/6/2022 at 5:08 PM, __nevii said:

The lack of "bayoufront' development was a huge missed opportunity regarding the growth of Houston through the years. So I'm definitely looking forward to this project (and any precedent it sets).

they tried that about 100 years ago. Those buildings sank into the swamp. Then they rebuilt them. Those buildings sank into the swamp. Then they tried again. those buildings burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp.

 

But the fourth set..... that's what you see here.  :)

[Naviguessor]

It is built on huge...tracts of land...

 

[__nevii]

8 hours ago, Tumbleweed_Tx said:

they tried that about 100 years ago. Those buildings sank into the swamp. Then they rebuilt them. Those buildings sank into the swamp. Then they tried again. those buildings burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp.

 

But the fourth set..... that's what you see here.  :)

Perhaps, though it depends on which sections they specifically made those earlier attempts. This "East River" section is larger/more riparian compared to the bayou sections west of downtown: so it should have better handle regarding any flood waters.

As mentioned before, I am looking forward to seeing how this development goes, as it can set good precedent. I remember reading a document a few years back regarding the Buffalo Bayou Partnership, how their plans for revitalization went as far east (so far) as "Constitution Bend" (i.e. Magnolia Park neighborhood).

Edited December 9, 2022 by __nevii

[jmitch94]

18 hours ago, __nevii said:

Perhaps, though it depends on which sections they specifically made those earlier attempts. This "East River" section is larger/more riparian compared to the bayou sections west of downtown: so it should have better handle regarding any flood waters.

As mentioned before, I am looking forward to seeing how this development goes, as it can set good precedent. I remember reading a document a few years back regarding the Buffalo Bayou Partnership, how their plans for revitalization went as far east (so far) as "Constitution Bend" (i.e. Magnolia Park neighborhood).

The comment you replied to is a Monty Python quote edited to fit this scenario.