When it came to picking out restaurants for The Ion, Rice Management Co. wanted to stay local, said Sam Dike, director of strategic initiatives.
Rice Management Co. is developing the 288,000-square-foot Ion facility, at 4201 Main St., as the anchor for a future innovation district in Midtown. Three restaurant concepts have been announced for the innovation hub so far: Late August, Stuff’d Wings and a Common Bond On the Go location. All are homegrown.
James Beard Award semifinalist Dawn Burrell, who’s known for her work at Kulture, will lead Late August. Parent company Lucille’s Hospitality Group is led by Chris Williams, chef and owner behind Museum District restaurant Lucille’s. Late August will focus on Afro-Asian flavors and offer lunch, dinner and brunch.
“(Burrell and Williams are) great; (we're) super excited to have such amazing talent be added to the district. We talk about this district being a place that celebrates everything that’s great about Houston,” Dike said.
Jarrod Rector’s food truck Stuff'd Wings will open its first brick-and-mortar location in the immediate vicinity of The Ion, and Common Bond's fourth on-the-go location will offer both indoor and outdoor seating.
Dike praised Common Bond for its local popularity and for being a well-established brand.
“We’re looking for something that Houstonians love, and a quick, on-the-go service that they offer there was something that we felt would fit right within the district, and in that building in particular,” Dike said.
As for additional restaurants at The Ion, Dike wouldn’t reveal anything beyond the fact that more names will be unveiled in the coming months.
“The district will continue to grow, and further concepts beyond these initial ones are to be determined, but we have an interest in staying local. At least, having a strong local presence in the district,” Dike said.
Burdette Huffman of The Blue Ox Group represented Rice Management in the lease transactions.
The Ion will feature rentable coworking space for startups, dedicated office space for corporate partners and larger startups, retail space and more. Initial construction on the building is slated for completion in the first quarter of 2021, at which point tenants will be able to begin building out their own spaces.
As of December, more than half of The Ion's space had been committed to end users, such as California-based energy giant Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) and Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT).
