Rice-owned Village Arcade shedding its suburban skin
Along University Boulevard a half-mile west of the Rice campus, a Spanish tapas bar with outdoor seating is flanked on one side by a women's boutique painted a warm shade of pink and on the other by a cavernous Urban Outfitters. They blend in both with the quirky mix of cafes, local boutiques and ice cream shops that give Rice Village its traditional urban vibe and the hot new restaurants and luxury apartments recently added to the shopping district.
But across the street, a set of buildings known as the Village Arcade looks more like it was plucked out of a master-planned community. It's a collection of hulking red brick buildings erected 25 years ago and defined by such suburban touches as a fountain centered in the middle of a plaza, monument signs and bulky architectural columns.
"They contrast greatly with the rest of the Village and what people think the Rice Village is: an eclectic, funky, hodgepodge urban district," said Tommy Miller, managing director and chief investment office of Trademark Property Co., a Fort Worth-based real estate firm recently hired to manage and revive the outdated Village Arcade.
That's all about to change. The Village Arcade was recently turned over to new management by its landlord, Rice University, and a plan is in place to transform the property from a staid suburban-style shopping center to a place with a hip, urban vibe has a similar character to the shops around it.
The changes, still being planned, are expected to include adding to and upgrading the common spaces, widening the sidewalks and removing dated architectural features like the heavy columns that block the storefronts.
Shoppers will start seeing some of the physical changes next year, but they won't happen all at once.
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