Railway Heights Market will be made up of over 50 vendors, offering the neighboring community access to quality food and drink, products, and recreation options throughout the week.
Tenants at Railway Heights Market will pay a reasonable base rent plus a percentage of sales. For each tenant, this will cover almost all occupancy expenses including utilities, cleaning of the shared premises and spaces, repairs, internet, etc. The simplified structure makes it easy and attractive for new tenants, while also allowing Railway Heights Market to scale its costs and streamline operations across the site.
The on-site grocery store and general store concept will be the only business fully owned and operated by Railway Heights Market. All revenues generated from this store will contribute towards the returns paid to investors.
The on-site grocery store will open in the early morning to the evenings, the main market will be open during lunch and dinner and the bar will open mid-day and continue to stay open later into the evening. The team also plans to hold special events in the outdoor spaces on the weekends with a bustling farmers market to accompany it, leading to an increase in the organic traffic brought to the location.
In response to a high level of interest in Railway Heights Market since the project was announced (July 2018), the team has been carefully interviewing dozens of candidates and anticipates a wait list nearly six months in advance. The constant maintenance of that list will allow for a consistently high occupancy rate.
Emphasis will be given to smaller, independent and fresh businesses and concepts in need of a supportive platform to take off — a model that has worked well for Mai and Nguyen in their previous projects. The market will become an incubator that provides resources, backing, and assistance in the form of marketing, human resources, and software support. Given the curation of the various spaces, no two businesses will directly compete, allowing them each to individually flourish.
THE FIRST FLOOR
Ten Market Stalls: Concepts will include bakers, butchers, fishmongers, cheese mongers and more. The tenants of the market stalls will pay base rent plus a percentage of sales generated.
General Store (RHM owned and operated): A catch-all general store section will sell convenient items such as toothpaste, shampoo, and the like. The grocery component will also buy excess produce from the weekly farmers market and from some of the market stall suppliers. The featured selection of “ugly produce” and a zero-waste bulk goods section will offer shoppers an easy way to reduce the environmental impact of their purchases.
Coffee Shop & Roastery (operating partner identified): Roasting fresh coffee beans daily and serving the best coffee beans from all over the world.
THE SECOND FLOOR
Twenty Food Concepts: A food hall-style array of 20 diverse eatery options. Each will occupy its own small modular footprint within the space, signing a renewable one-year to three-year lease with a base rent commitment plus a percent of sales. If a vendor is looking to grow into a bigger space, the flexible layout within Railway allows for adjacent spaces to be merged into one.
Eight Hawker Stalls: Fully built “hawker stalls” will feature pop-up chefs and brand-new food concepts. The stalls will be available for lease in three-month increments to keep the market constantly refreshed. Hawker stalls will share a higher percentage of net sales with no base rent. Hawkers can renew their lease upon exceeding a certain sales threshold.
Twenty Retail Concepts: Independent sellers of goods such as vintage clothing, handmade gifts, jewelry, crafts, and more. Retail vendors will have more flexible lease terms of 3, 6, and 12 months with base rent plus a percentage of sales.
“Puncheon” Wine Bar: The central anchor upstairs, the wine bar will be operated by entrepreneur Shepard Ross (partner at Pax Americana, Brooklyn Athletic Club, Bravery Chef Hall). Wine bottles will be available for purchase under an off-premises license for consumption to go, great for one of the market’s many outdoor spaces. An advanced wine-on-tap system will offer access to a greater sampling of options while reducing inventory spoilage costs.
“Let Us” Salad Bar: The salad bar will offer salad boxes that can be purchased from a vending machine (cutting down on labor costs) and then filled from the plentiful healthy options on offer, including greens grown onsite in hydroponic freight container farms. This first container will be used as a pilot with plans to expand the program to include more growers and containers in the future.
“Watever’s Fresh”: A variety of cafeteria-style prepared healthy foods made from fresh produce from local farmers. Watever’s Fresh will cater to a variety of diets including vegetarian, vegan, paleo and keto diets. Watever’s Fresh will be open during lunch and dinner hours when locals in the neighboring area are looking for a quick and healthy alternative to complement a busy lifestyle.
OUTDOORS
“Rhizome” Beer Garden: The 13,000 square foot beer garden will feature over 100 local, domestic, and imported beers and beer-centric cocktails — like shandy — that can be found on tap. A shipping container will be used in the beer garden to complement the surrounding areas industrial feel, while also reducing material costs. Currently the General Manager at Conservatory’s Beer Garden, Ivan Silva will move over to Railway Heights Market after opening.
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SitBar Dog Park Bar: The first-of-its-kind in Houston, the membership-based dog park will offer a connected bar with a selection of liquor, alcoholic cocktail pouches, and non-alcoholic juice pouches for kids. The park will also offer peanut butter on tap for pets - an exciting game changer!
Family Park: The family park will be a 22,000 square foot amenity meant for visitors of all-ages, offering space for picnics and relaxation. The Railway team will also manage the programming at the park (events, classes, parties, private reservations, and more), attracting more visitors to Railway Heights Market.
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