Pearl Marketplace At Midtown: Multifamily At 3120 Smith St.

[Urbannizer]

It may be the "less expensive" version of Whole Foods according to this....and no apartments...

http://swamplot.com/new-whole-foods-market-midtown-store-will-go-on-site-of-shuttered-social-security-office/2015-05-07/

http://www.eater.com/2015/5/7/8566061/whole-foods-cheaper-store-broke-people-whole-paycheck

I think the apartments are still a go.

[Fortune]

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/Midtown-project-to-combine-Whole-Foods-luxury-6250297.php

[Fortune]

Construction will start early next year. The building will be 8 stories tall consisting of two levels for Whole Foods, 260 apartments, 2 levels for resident parking, and two levels of underground parking for Whole Foods customers. Rosalie will be closed between Smith & Brazos for development which will also spill onto the block north. The store will face Smith St. It will be a part of the pearl brand.

[HoustonMidtown]

Fantastic !!!

[Chi-Char-Hou-Dal]

Rosalie closed for construction only? There are two empty lots behind the SS building on Rosalie - one across from Damian's - the other owned by Mandolas. I use Rosalie every day damn

But also fantastic news / rendering - hazzzzaaaa!

[BigFootsSocks]

Oh Htown ur all growed up

[DrLan34]

very impressive

[Luminare]

[Howard Huge]

image.jpg

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/Midtown-project-to-combine-Whole-Foods-luxury-6250297.php

[HoustonIsHome]

Hope this development is infectious and others catch it.

I very frequently use the Randalls on Hadley, but an HEB on the northern end would be even better for me. Looking at you Milhaus

[ADCS]

Is it hyperbole to say that this might be the most important project in the city right now?

[HoustonIsHome]

I doubt that. Whole Foods will need the whole ground floor pretty much.

The store is only 40,000 Sq feet. That is not that big. Maybe 100 by 200 on two floors.

[H-Town Man]

Is it hyperbole to say that this rivals Mid Main as the most important project in Midtown right now?

 

Fixed it for ya.

[Luminare]

Is it hyperbole to say that this rivals Mid Main, and MATCH as the most important project in Midtown right now?

 

 

Fixed it for ya.

 

Fixed it for ya

[H-Town Man]

But for anyone saying that HAIFers are never pleased, we're pleased with this one. Although I do hope the exterior around the apartments turns out to be brick. But I'm sure I'll still be pleased overall if it isn't. ;-)

 

At 40,000 SF, is this actually as big as the one at BLVD Place?

 

Maybe for their next project Pearl can get the flagship Spec's on their ground floor.

 

[swtsig]

Rosalie will be closed permanently for this development.

[HoustonIsHome]

If this is successful, in a psychological sense this will be far far far more important than mid main. Mid main will transform a strip but will do little to influence trends. If this is successful it may be a model for multiple other developments in the area.

[Avossos]

But for anyone saying that HAIFers are never pleased, we're pleased with this one. Although I do hope the exterior around the apartments turns out to be brick. But I'm sure I'll still be pleased overall if it isn't. ;-)

At 40,000 SF, is this actually as big as the one at BLVD Place?

Maybe for their next project Pearl can get the flagship Spec's on their ground floor.

This appears to be brick to me. Other Pearls in midtown are brick. Way to go Pearl!

[cloud713]

But for anyone saying that HAIFers are never pleased, we're pleased with this one. Although I do hope the exterior around the apartments turns out to be brick. But I'm sure I'll still be pleased overall if it isn't. ;-)

 

At 40,000 SF, is this actually as big as the one at BLVD Place?

 

Maybe for their next project Pearl can get the flagship Spec's on their ground floor.

the Post Oak location is apparently 55,000 sq ft.

so excited for midtown right now. why couldn't one of the mid rise apartment complexes going up in downtown have this same concept?? others should hopefully take notice. yeah brick would be icing on the cake.

Edited May 8, 2015 by cloud713

[Luminare]

the Post Oak location is apparently 55,000 sq ft.

so excited for midtown right now. why couldn't one of the mid rise apartment complexes going up in downtown have this same concept?? others should hopefully take notice. yeah brick would be icing on the cake.

 

We will see more of these if this gets rollin and is successful.

[Avossos]

We will see more of these if this gets rollin and is successful.

I have no doubt this will be successful.

Still amazed and pleased that phonecia was the first concept in an urban setting in recent years

[H-Town Man]

As cool as this is for Midtown, it's a damn shame WFs isn't going to be on the light rail line and/or closer to downtown. Oh well, it's a step in the right direction!

 

I agree, but at this point I don't think a large retailer like Whole Foods will want to be on the rail line, since they depend on people thinking it will be convenient to drive in and drive out. Not enough people riding the rail yet to outweigh that. It will be good though to let Main Street germinate with smaller retailers and not the big names that drive up rents and bring in tons of car traffic.

 

Whole Foods positioned themselves astutely right at the gateway to Montrose so that they can catch the foot traffic of Midtown and the car traffic of Montrose. Perfect spot for them.

[H-Town Man]

If this is successful, in a psychological sense this will be far far far more important than mid main. Mid main will transform a strip but will do little to influence trends. If this is successful it may be a model for multiple other developments in the area.

 

You mean, except for the trend of mixed-use, transit-oriented development, which so far Main Street in Midtown has none of?

 

The urbanist in me also prefers multiple smaller retail slots to one big one. Diversity of offerings keeps activity going at more times of day (bagels in the morning, bars at night), and is resilient against the fortunes of any single retailer or concept.

 

On the flip side, a single big name can be a huge catalyst for an area, like the Whole Foods on Lamar in Austin, which basically paved the foundation for all those high rises at that end of downtown.

[swtsig]

this is a much better location than right on the rail - and by a WIDE margin mind you - precisely for the reasons HTM stated above. no left turns, single lanes each way... bad for business. thinking that this thing would be better off on the rail line is pure romanticism at this point.

 

i don't even think it's a "step in the right direction"... it IS the right direction.

[Luminare]

m e h. I think you could have one on rail line as well, but this is perfect spot for this particular retailer. Lets try to avoid blanket statements

[cloud713]

alright, alright. sue me for romanticizing.. i guess we will all just be content with what we have...

great point about vehicular access though. a 40k sq ft grocer will rely heavily on cars, and Main St sucks for vehicular access. maybe a Trader Joes or something of a much smaller scale that could thrive off pedestrian activity alone would suit the rail line better.

as for "a step in the right direction", note i changed my tone once i saw renderings and more information about the development. completely agree. these are the types of developments Houston needs more of!

Edited May 8, 2015 by cloud713

[Luminare]

alright, alright. sue me for romanticizing.. i guess we will all just be content with what we have...

great point about vehicular access though. a 40k sq ft grocer will rely heavily on cars, and Main St sucks for vehicular access. maybe a Trader Joes or something of a much smaller scale that could thrive off pedestrian activity alone would suit the rail line better.

 

It could be a great gateway to Midtown and Montrose. I personally think they should transform that intersection into a traffic circle to help improve traffic flow and maybe create unique signage for the area signaling you entered Midtown or Montrose. Especially for those getting off of US-59/I-69.

[Chi-Char-Hou-Dal]

My wife and I were at Saint Danes on Wednesday evening and a girl was flying off the spur doing about 55 MPH it appears she was about to turn left and then corrected her path and slammed into 4-5 parked cars - it was a huge mess.

Could you imagine the same senario - oh there's whole foods! whoops can't turn, very dangerous and I agree needs to be addressed. There were two cops doing speed trap on rosalie and had her in cuffs within 1 minute.

 

Pretty sure she was sauced up, not Stubbs.

 

Edited May 8, 2015 by Chi-Char-Hou-Dal

[lockmat]

I don't think it needs to be on Main, but a more central location would have benefited Midtown more as a whole. This is really on the fringe of Midtown, right next to a huge single-family area.

 

While it is still a big-time boost for Midtown, I think a central location would have been better if the goal is to grow the entire Midtown area and to create a more walkable area.

 

But it seems Whole Foods is trying to serve the single-family area as well, especially with placing it right next to the 59 spur. After all, their first priority is to make money, not create a walkable urban environment.

Edited May 8, 2015 by lockmat

[Triton]

I don't think it needs to be on Main, but a more central location would have benefited Midtown more as a whole. This is really on the fringe of Midtown, right next to a huge single-family area.

 

While it is still a big-time boost for Midtown, I think a central location would have been better if the goal is to grow the entire Midtown area and to create a more walkable area.

 

But it seems Whole Foods is trying to serve the single-family area as well, especially with placing it right next to the 59 spur. After all, their first priority is to make money, not create a walkable urban environment.

Well, this is part of the central Pearl cluster, if you will. This will be perfect marketing for almost all of their units in this area since the Whole Foods will be part of their development. I am sure Pearl struck a deal with WF to build here. I wouldn't worry though lockmat... we could see Sprouts and HEB come to Midtown too.