Historic Redevelopment: Houston’s Underserved Real Estate Opportunity
Rendering of the Westin Medical Center redevelopment, which will have significant street-level retail. Image: Pearl Hospitality
HOUSTON – Seven new dining options are coming to the Texas Medical Center, addressing a long-standing shortage of convenient eateries for the more than 100,000 employees, students, physicians and the millions of patients who pass through the campus each year.
Pearl Hospitality’s conversion of the historic Medical Towers Building into the Westin Houston Medical Center is scheduled to open in early 2020. The hotel, located at 1709 Dryden between Fannin and Main streets and just a block from Rice University, will bring new hospitality and retail energy to the area.
The redevelopment includes roughly 24,000 square feet of street-level retail that will wrap the ground floor of the 18-story Westin, which will offer 273 guest rooms. The ground-floor retail program is intentionally designed to serve the dense and varied daytime population of the Medical Center with a curated mix of fast-casual and quick-serve concepts.
Confirmed tenants have signed 10-year leases and include MOD Pizza, Roti Modern Mediterranean, Poke in the Bowl, Antone’s, JuiceLand, SusieCakes and The Halal Guys. These new operators will join established food and beverage businesses already on-site, including Starbucks, Chipotle, Salata and Cliff’s Grill, expanding lunch, snack and grab-and-go options for employees, visitors and patients.
“The Texas Medical Center market brings a unique mixture of visitors, employees, students, physicians and patients that interact in a concentrated area every single day,” said Christie Amezquita of Shop Companies, the landlord representative. “Pearl Hospitality’s creation of this sophisticated urban street-level experience featuring high-quality food and beverage is the perfect amenity to serve such a diverse community, and it is unlike any other project in the City of Houston.”
Pearl Hospitality has a track record of repositioning older properties into higher-end hotels. The firm recently redeveloped 806 Main Downtown into a JW Marriott and acquired the Medical Towers property at the end of 2014. Since the purchase, Pearl has advanced plans to transform the site and has released renderings and site plans that outline the hotel and new retail frontage.
Originally built in 1956, the Medical Towers Building is regarded as an architectural landmark within the Texas Medical Center and received design awards in its early years. The redevelopment aims to preserve the building’s minimalist, modern aesthetic while updating the street-level façade with renovated storefronts and thoughtfully designed landscaping to create an inviting pedestrian environment.
Although the Westin hotel is slated to open in early 2020, the fast-casual restaurants are expected to begin operations sooner, with openings anticipated by the end of the year. That phased approach will immediately expand dining choices for those who work, study and receive care in the Medical Center.
Several local commercial real estate professionals worked on lease transactions for the retail lineup, including Emily Durham of Waterman Steele Real Estate, Edward Le of Rubicon Realty Group, Chris Reyes of Shop Companies, and Lunden McGill of Baker Katz.
