MAJOR PROJECTS
West Ave – Ongoing
Set at the crossroads of Upper Kirby and River Oaks, Houston’s much-anticipated West Ave development has finally opened up shop. The mixed-use center—which blends luxury residences and 190,000-square-feet of retail space—recently welcomed Austin-based Eddie V’s and Ivory Bridal to the ’hood, but things are really heating up now. In early 2011, the legendary Schiller-Del Grande Group opened New Continental restaurant Ava Kitchenand opened casually-cool Alto Pizzeria in May. Restaurateur Anita Jaisinghani (of Indika fame) opened her family-style Indian restaurant,Pondicheri, in March, and Mickey Rosmarin debuted his 35,000-square-foot fashion mainstay, Tootsies, in February. Cru Wine Bar opened in June, andAzur West, the first of three Shu Uemura Art of Hair Sanctuary Salons in the U.S., opened in March. Katsuya by S+ARCK will bring its Robata-style cuisine to West Ave in early 2012.
Lower Westheimer – Ongoing
Lower Westheimer—the inner-loop drag between Shepherd Drive and Bagby Street—has remained a culinary destination in the city for years. Classic, award-winning spots like Mark’s, Indika, Hugo’s, Feast and Da Marco were among the first on the scene. The neighborhood is now making room for a host of new restaurants in 2011. Gulf Coast-inspired chef and restaurateur Bryan Caswell—of The Next Iron Chef fame—helped kick off the Lower Westheimer resurgence, opening El Real Tex-Mex Café in spring 2011. Just across the street, boundary-pushing chef Chris Shepherd (most recently of Catalan) is set to join the mix with Underbelly. Expect the spot to reflect Shepherd’s commitment to fresh, local ingredients, with a nod to Houston’s culinary diversity. The concept—which is slated for a fall opening—sits next door to the soon-to-open Hay Merchant craft beer bar from Anvil Bar & Refuge’s Kevin Floyd and Bobby Heugel. Two-time, James Beard award-winning chef and restaurateur Tyson Cole rounds out the year’s all-star additions, opening the second outpost of Austin-born Uchi. The celebrated sushi restaurant is expected to open before Thanksgiving.
Houston Heights – Ongoing
Houston’s Historic Heights neighborhood is booming with new businesses. White Oak Drive—between Yale and Studewood—continues to evolve into a pedestrian-friendly hub. Classic, come-as-you-are spots like Jimmie’s Place and music-mainstay Fitzgerald’s were among the first on the scene, followed by Onion Creek Coffee House and Dry Creek burger joint. In 2011, the White Oak strip, once again, saw an influx as BB’s Cajun Café,Christian’s Tailgate and the locally-sourced grocer Revival Market all opened up shop. Stay tuned for the walkable stretch to expand with additional locations of D’Amico’s Italian Market Café, Tacos A Go-Go and Ruggles 11th Street Café stated to open before year’s end.
Bayou Place – Ongoing
Downtown dining and entertainment destination Bayou Place is experiencing a renaissance in 2011. Two new bars opened in March as part of the center’s re-imagined nightlife experience, Bayou Place Live! Western-themed PBR Houston brings country dancing and a little bull-riding action while Lucie’s Liquors offers an upscale sports bar experience, Vegas-style. Retro beach concept Shark Bar and whiskey bar Chapel Spirits both debuted in May. The Blue Fish, a Dallas outpost serving up sushi, opened in March 2011. Robert Redford’s highly-anticipated Sundance Cinemas, opening November 2011, will feature both general release and art films along with several drink-and-dine options. More…
CityCentre
Two years after debuting in west Houston-and establishing itself as a hub for top dining and entertainment in town-the pedestrian-friendly CityCentre development is expanding again. Midway Companies just broke ground on CityCentre Three with additional office and retail components, and construction is underway on an upscale, sports-themed restaurant and bar concept developed by Fort Lauderdale-based G.R.E.AT. Grille Group (G3). And next month, Honda Houston Hotel Sorella, which recently debuted 11, residential-style penthouse suites—averaging 1,500 square feet and featuring Viking kitchens—opens the doors to its 15,000-square-foot Meetings & Events Centre. More…
Moody Gardens Rainforest Pyramid – Reopened May 2011
Moody Garden’s $25 million Rainforest Pyramid enhancement project opened Memorial Day Weekend. The expansive recreation of Rainforests of the World provides guests with a unique two-level experience on the ground and in the canopy of the trees. More than 2,000 exotic plants and animals now call the 10-story Rainforest Pyramid home, including free-roaming saki monkeys, sloths, birds and cotton-top tamarins. Other exhibits include: fruit bats, giant river otters, endangered Chinese alligators and other species. More…
Wake Nation – Opened June 2011
Wake Nation is one of 10 in the U.S. and Houston’s only full-scale cable wakeboarding park. This attraction boasts 35-foot high steel towers carrying a unique overhead cable system enabling riders to wakeboard, water skate, water ski, and kneeboard without a boat around the lake. More…
Coming Soon
Houston Zoo Elephant Exhibit Expansion – Opening Fall 2011
After completing the first phase of a new and innovative elephant facility in 2008, the Houston Zoo will complete phase two in early Fall 2011. The Zoo will utilize the land previously home to the giraffes and cheetahs to create a third elephant yard, featuring an unobstructed viewing area, a demonstration area and an 80,000 gallon pool. With two elephant births in 2010—Baylor in May and Tupelo in October—the expansion is a welcome addition. More…
Sundance Cinemas Houston – Opening November 2011
Sundance Cinemas has signed a lease for the former Angelika center space at Bayou Place in the Theater District of Downtown Houston. Extensive refurbishment work has already begun on the eight-screen complex. Sundance Cinemas Houston will offer specialized film programming, playing the finest movies for a discerning audience culled from film festivals and the best in general release. The venue will offer drinking and dining choices, all reserved seating, digital stereo sound and presentation, filmmaker screenings and exclusive events, plus free parking for patrons and community events. More…
Asia Society Texas Center – Opening April 2012
Asia Society Texas Center’s $48.4 million, 38,000-square-foot headquarters, designed by architect Yoshio Taniguchi—who designed the Museum of Modern Art’s 2004 expansion—will feature five major program components: a three-room classroom and conference suite, an art gallery, a theater, public reception spaces and administrative offices. Three gardens, a gift shop and a cafe will enrich the space and enhance services. Asia Society Texas Center will be the only physical presence of Asia Society in the United States other than the New York City center and will provide clear access to international business and political leaders from Asia. More…
Houston Dynamo Stadium – Opening May 2012
The new Dynamo stadium will be a state-of-the-art, open-air stadium designed to host Dynamo matches as well as additional sporting and concert events. When it opens in 2012, the 22,000-seat stadium will be the first soccer-specific stadium in Major League Soccer located in a city’s downtown district. More…
Houston Museum of Natural Science Paleontology Hall Expansion – Opening Summer 2012
The Houston Museum of Natural Science is expanding its Paleontology Hall–two stories tall and the size of a football field–to invite visitors to embark on a “Prehistoric Safari” through exhibits with 21st century interactivity. The exhibit will feature 61 new mounts, including 26 dinosaurs, including the most mounted T-Rexes on display anywhere. Other attractions include a nest of Quetzalcoatlus—ancient Pterosaurs with 30-foot wingspans—and a 13-foot, reconstructed jaw of a Megalodon, the largest shark ever to swim the ocean. The realistic juxtapositioning of the animals—many poised to eat or be eaten by their display mates—will be the new hall’s defining characteristic.The 200,000-square-foot addition, the seventh expansion of the 102-year-old museum since its current facility opened in the 1960s, will roughly double exhibition space and triple classroom space. More…
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HOTELS
Westin Houston Memorial City – Opened March 2011
This 570,000 square foot property in West Houston features 267 spacious guest rooms and suites, more than 30,000 square feet of unconstrained meeting and banquet space and an 18th-floor infinity pool with panoramic views of Houston’s skyline. The property includes Trattoria Il Mulino restaurant and The 024 Lounge, 23 residential units and a wide-array of retail establishments in the surrounding area. More…
Embassy Suites Downtown – Opened February 2011
A 262-room, full-service Embassy Suites Hotel, adjacent to the George R. Brown Convention Center and downtown’s Discovery Green park, features 6,000 square feet of flexible meeting and event space, a roofscape pool and spa, 24-hour fitness center, a restaurant, a street-level café and wine bar, and two levels of underground valet parking. The 19-story property represents the first privately developed, full-service hotel built from the ground up in Houston’s Central Business District in 28 years. More…
Hotel ICON – To Reflag in 2011
Downtown’s Hotel ICON, a historic district landmark that began its life as the Union National Bank building in 1911, has been purchased for a reported $27-million by Centurion Partners and Canyon Johnson Urban Fund, which is backed in part by former NBA star Earvin “Magic” Johnson. The new owners plan to make cosmetic and technological updates to the 135-room property. Hotel ICON will continue operations under Destination Hotels & Resorts with a seamless rebranding to an undisclosed chain later in the year. More about Hotel ICON…
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RESTAURANTS
Tony Mandola’s – Opened June 2011
After decades in River Oaks, Tony Mandola has opened his new, ground-up namesake restaurant in Montrose. The recipes of Mama Mandola continue to inspire the menu, from the sautéed soft shell crabs and Snapper Bernadette to Mama’s gumbo pizza and the sumptuous lemon crepes. More…
Arturo Boada Cuisine – Opened May 2011
The former owner-operator of Arturo’s Uptown Italiano, who departed the popular namesake in spring 2011, has now opened a new signature spot, Arturo Boada Cuisine, in west Houston’s Memorial area. More…
Brasserie 19 – Opened May 2011
Situated in the heart of Houston’s affluent River Oaks neighborhood—within the 77019 zip code, hence, the Brasserie 19 moniker—the menu at this new concept from Charles Clark and Grant Cooper features classic French brasserie fare with modern American influences. More…
Mai’s Restaurant – Opened April 2011
Lauded Midtown Vietnamese restaurant Mai’s is back. After a two-alarm fire gutted the decades-old eatery in early 2010, the owners reopened in April with a whole new look and a new menu. More…
Xuco Xicana – Rebranded April 2011
The spot, formerly known as El Patio-Midtown, welcomed a top-to-bottom rebranding in spring 2011—a move aiming to better serve the neighborhood’s younger crowd. Now dubbed El Xuco Xicana (ELXX, to regulars), the changes included updates to the name, bar area and a complete menu overhaul by Beaver’s Chef Jonathan Jones, who calls the cuisine “Comida Texano: Mexican food with a Texas attitude.” More…
Coming Soon
Sorrel Urban Bistro – Opening July 2011
Born out of a shared vision to bring affordable farm-to-table dining to Houston, restaurateur Ray Salti and Executive Chef Soren Pedersen will feature menu creations directed by seasonal availability of organic fruits and vegetables, along with certified natural meats and fresh sustainable seafood. A dedicated charcuterie bar will offer sliced-to-order charcuterie and artisan Texas cheeses, Italian market style. More…
Underbelly – Opening Fall 2011
Chef Chris Shepherd, formerly of Catalan Food and Wine, opens Underbelly in the former Chances building in Houston’s Montrose neighborhood this fall. An avid supporter of local farmers—you can see him each week at the Urban Harvest Farmers Market on Eastside—expect plenty of local ingredients, including a wide variety of Gulf seafood, on a menu inspired by the city’s Southern roots and rich cultural diversity. More…
Uchi – Opening Fall 2011
James Beard Award winning Chef Tyson Cole will open his second Uchi location in Houston in late 2011. The menu, which will be very similar to the Austin restaurant’s menu, will feature traditional sushi and sashimi, a diverse menu from the kitchen and sake, wine and beer offerings. Uchi will open on Lower Westheimer in the building that was previously home to Felix Mexican Restaurant.
Katsuya by S+ARCK – Opening Early 2012
The new Katsuya by S+ARCK Houston, which will be the first location in Texas, represents the seventh collaboration between sbe Founder, Chairman and CEO, Sam Nazarian, world-renowned creator and designer, Philippe S+ARCK and Master Sushi Chef Katsuya Uechi. More…
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SHOPS/SPAS
The Galleria – Ongoing
Prada will open its 5,000-square-foot post at The Galleria this fall. It will mark their first location in Texas. Miu Miu will also open their first store in Texas—nearly 3,500 square feet—at The Galleria in early summer. Omegais slated to open their doors in Houston for the first time in June/July. Free People opened a 2,600-square-foot store in late May. Michael Korscompleted its 1,000-square-foot expansion in late spring, and Jimmy Choocompleted a renovation in June. More…
Atrium Ready to Wear – Opened April 2011
After opening River Oaks’ Casa de Novia bridal boutique in 2005, fashion-savvy entrepreneur Luvi Wheelock has expanded with Atrium-a ready-to-wear outpost just next door. The 500-square-foot Parisian-inspired shop offers cocktail gowns and evening frocks from a mix of well-known and rising-star designers. More…
Coming Soon
Phoenicia Specialty Foods Downtown – Opening September 2011
Carrying more than 6,000 products from more than 50 countries, Phoenicia Specialty Foods Downtown will be a haven for foodies, chefs and downtown dwellers. Opening in September 2011, Phoenicia will boast 28,000-square-feet on the ground floor of One Park Place. More…
BHLDN – Opening August 2011
BHLDN, the new bridal boutique from Anthropologie, is opening its first U.S. location in Highland Village. More…
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NIGHTLIFE
Chapel Spirits – Opened May 2011
Downtown’s Bayou Place welcomed a swanky new tenant—an upscale whiskey lounge, set on the second-level of the entertainment complex.More…
Shark Bar – Opened May 2011
A new addition to downtown’s Bayou Place, Shark Bar will fulfill all your summer cravings, from rum runners to piña coladas. Feel like you’re shoreside year-round with their fruity cocktails, beach-like atmosphere, incredible views of downtown, and laid back staff. More…
The Boneyard – Opened April 2011
Talk about a revelation. The Boneyard on Washington Ave. combines two things we love—dogs and brews—in one location. More…
Coming Soon
The Hay Merchant – Opening Fall 2011
The boys from Anvil Bar & Refuge are at it again. Nightlife entrepreneurs Kevin Floyd and Bobby Heugel will open their craft beer bar, The Hay Merchant, adjacent to Chef Chris Shepherd’s Underbelly on Lower Westheimer this fall. With 80 beers on tap and Contemporary American Beer Food—think traditional offerings like quality burgers and wings, crafted with locally-sourced meats butchered in-house—The Hay Merchant aims to showcase great craft beer in laid-back Montrose style.