Source: Chron.com
Owners of the Continental Club and other investors are buying two Midtown blocks just north of the music club and next to the Ensemble/HCC light rail station, moving a step closer in their plans to develop the parcel.
The property is owned by the Metropolitan Transit Authority, which bought it last year and has been holding it for the investors in what became a controversial development strategy.
The blocks are along the west side of Main Street, bordered by Holman, Winbern and Travis.
Bob Schultz of RHS Interests, whose group originally assembled the land from multiple owners, said the closing on the property will happen in two or three months.
The investors are considering several development scenarios to promote walking and transit use, potentially including student housing, apartments, office space and a hotel. William Cannady is the lead architect.
One thing is certain. It will include a retail component similar to what Schultz and his partners did next door, which was fill the space with small, independent retailers. Those tenants include the Continental Club, the record store Sig’s Lagoon, Tacos A Go-Go and the Big Top bar.
The well-known Continental Club in Austin is on South Congress, a street of eclectic shops and restaurants. The developers envision the same sorts of tenants for this part of Midtown.
“We’re trying to bring some of that to Houston,” Schultz said.
Construction could start in 18 months.
Last year, the transit authority’s board voted to spend $7.2 million for the property. The new owners will reimburse Metro for what it paid.
The idea was that the transit group would carry the land for a specific amount of time and later sell it to Schultz and his partners, who were sensitive to the adjacent transit station and rail ridership in general.
As the Main Street rail line was built, speculators began buying land in the area and asking huge sums to sell while others were developing only small parcels.
At first, Metro and the investors planned to develop the project through a public/private partnership. But Metro decided its money would be better spent elsewhere,
Schultz said.
Without Metro’s help, the land would probably have been used for new townhomes, banks or drug stores, Schultz said.
“The opportunity for creating great mixed-use density at that rail stop would have been lost,” he said.
Tags: houston midtown, main street, metro, mixed development
