River Oaks Shopping Center: High-Rise Apartment Tower to be Built

In Houston, Weingarten Realty Investors has laid out plans for a 30-story residential high-rise in its River Oaks Shopping Center, which opened 80 years ago in what is now the Inner Loop of Houston.

The 300-unit rental project, scheduled for 2018 work start and a 2021 completion, will be located the north side of West Gray at Driscoll Street, near the upscale River Oaks community.

Residents of the tower will live within walking distance of the shopping center’s many shops, restaurants (including two Starbucks) and a Kroger.

The tower is set to feature 10,000 SF of ground-floor retail.

Weingarten selected best-in-class, Houston-based companies Hanover Company and Ziegler Cooper Architects to develop and design the residential tower.

Weingarten Realty’s Regional Development Director, John Anderson, is overseeing the development. “We are excited to partner with Hanover Company and Ziegler Cooper Architects, both local Houston-based companies offering exceptional experience in high rise living. They are the best partners to transform River Oaks Shopping Center to a first class multi-use community,” said Anderson.

The 320,000-SF specialty lifestyle center, which Weingarten has owned since the 1970s, served some of Houston’s most affluent neighborhoods. With a daytime population of over 311,000 and an impressive median housing value of $502,055.

Gerald Crump, Senior Vice President for Weingarten, said the tower is “transformative for River Oaks Shopping Center and will further solidify it as a premier multi-use project in Houston. Plans also include special attention to design, walkability, placemaking and additional retail parking to ensure the long term success of our retailers and enjoyment of our future residents.”

The future development area includes the building area east of Brasserie 19 in the spaces currently occupied by Local Pour, Café Ginger and adjacent parking.

Houston-based Hanover Company has developed 44,000 units across the country in markets including Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.

Ziegler Cooper Architects, a Houston based firm, is recognized by the marketplace for innovative design of urban residential, multi-use and hospitality architecture. With an urban residential portfolio of over 18 million sq ft, the firm has been instrumental in reshaping the urban landscape of major Texas cities toward a denser, more vibrant and energetic urban lifestyle. The firm has focused their practice on high quality design for the ever increasing demand for urban living, resulting in extremely valuable assets for their owners.