HOUSTON – (By Cynthia Lescalleet for Realty News Report) – Uptown Park’s redevelopment by EDENS has wrapped up the district’s year-long makeover, which has changed up the Old World aesthetic for a more modern, more connected one.
The 20-old property sits on 14 acres at Post Oak Oak Boulevard and Loop 610. Its original layout — seven clusters of lifestyle-oreinted retailers floating on a sea of parking spaces accessed by a feeder road and namesake boulevard – has been rejiggered into a more pedestrian-friendly and landscaped environment with a freshened tenant mix.
As part of the reboot, trellis-like canopies now span the property, the idea being to provide shade as well as links between buildings holding 170,000 SF for retail and restaurants.
Reconfigured parking, meanwhile, accommodates landscaped areas for outdoor conversation and meeting seating. Storefront exteriors, peeled of their Italianate references for a more seamless and contemporary vibe, sport bright colors.
And there’s public Wi-Fi throughout the property.
The district’s tenant mix has been in flux as well, with new players representing health and wellness, design and lifestyle services joining the established retailers that weathered a year of construction. As redefined, the district also kept use by area business clientele in mind.
EDENS declined to share the project budget.
“Creating a modern, sophisticated, walkable and well-connected neighborhood gathering destination was at the core of the redevelopment,” said Tom Kiler, Managing Director, EDENS in an email response. “It was important for our team to transition Uptown Park into its next lifecycle that syncs with the changing tastes of consumers and our retail partners.”
A ‘Back Yard’
While there was no “theme” per sec to the redevelopment, the idea was to create a more connected, walkable, landscaped district for guests to stroll and to “incorporate a sleeker, more sophisticated aesthetic found throughout Uptown Houston” — and in other EDENS properties. The intent is to serve as an amenity (aka a “back yard”) for its immediate community of high-rising residential and offices and to draw wider use as a destination district.
EDENS, a real estate owner, operator and developer with a portfolio of 125 properties in primary markets. In 2015 it acquired AmREIT, which owned Uptown Park and had been planning a $1 billion redo that incorporated more mixed use elements.
With respect to its own long-term plans for more development within the district in the future, Kiler said the current focus is on bringing “first-to-market restaurants, retail stores and experiences that we know the city of Houston deserves. “The opportunity to add additional buildings or uses is always a future possibility.
“Uptown Park will continue to evolve as the key connection between Post Oak Boulevard and Memorial Park,” he said. “This strengthens Uptown Park as the fabric of the Uptown/Galleria area and ultimately makes it the outdoor living room of the community.”
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So it’s going from backyard to outdoor living room