Houston's Midway to help redevelopment of Upper Kirby's Levy Park
local developer known for such high-profile projects as City Centre and downtown's GreenStreet is betting that a multimillion-dollar makeover of a small urban park will make its latest commercial endeavor more valuable.
The local redevelopment authority, meanwhile, is hoping proceeds from the project will sustain the 62-year-old park financially while adding a critical mass of people who will make the park more viable.
And both sides hail the improvements at Levy Park, an underused pocket of green in the shadow of the Southwest Freeway, as the latest example of the private and public sectors working together to protect and preserve green space while in pursuit of profit.
Houston-based Midway has signed a 99-year lease for two parcels around Levy Park in the Upper Kirby area, a residential-commercial area that is rapidly becoming more dense. The development, to be called Kirby Grove, will include a 270-unit, midrise residential tower with outdoor deck space and a parking garage and a nearly 250,000-square-foot building for Class A office space with ground-floor retail and restaurants with outdoor patios.
Both buildings will face the 5.6-acre park in an effort to encourage foot traffic throughout. The Upper Kirby Redevelopment Authority, the area's tax reinvestment zone and owner of the park and adjacent property, will invest $8 million to $10 million to add landscaping, a performance pavilion and water features at the park while expanding its community garden and dog park.
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/busi...5305301.php#/2
Prev
Linear Mode
