Momentum swing
Golf course is first look at East River project’s vision
Twilight on a golf course is usually a time when players pack their bags for the day as darkness settles in over the field. But on a recent evening at East River 9, a new golf course opening this week in the East End, golfers are just starting to get out their clubs to practice their swings at the course’s driving range as the downtown city lights twinkles in the distance.
Aidar Svyatov, above, tees off at the East River 9 golf range, which opened Friday with the restaurant, Riverhouse, at left.
Nearby, globe string lights illuminate an expansive outdoor patio where the hum of an Astros game mingles with ‘80s rock emanating from a restaurant. Soon, restaurant visitors will be able to lounge on oversized patio chairs while watching blue herons swoop over a man-made lake as evening
golfers meander under the course lit up by stadium-style lighting.
Midway’s new East River 9 isn’t a traditional golf course with a stuffy country club and pricey fees. It’s a communityoriented take on the sport that proposes to offer a fun experience for experts and beginners alike. East River 9’s driving range and restaurant, called Riverhouse, quietly opened last week at 65 Hirsch Road, about three miles east of downtown Houston on Buffalo Bayou. The rest of the golf course officially opened Friday – and already about 800 golfers have signed up to play its first weekend.
East River 9 represents the public’s introduction to East River, the game-changing, 150acre mixed-use rapidly rising in the East End by Houston-based real estate firm Midway. While it will take 15 to 20 years to realize Midway’s entire vision for the $2.5 billion project, the opening of the restaurant and golf course gives visitors their first taste of how Midway is aiming to transform the public perception of Buffalo Bayou.
“This is an opportunity to really change the way people interact the bayou,” said Anna Deans, vice president of investment and development at Midway. “We’ve been talking about how this can become this amazing public space. But I think until people see it and experience it, it’s still kind of hard to grasp.”
Located on the eastern edge of the East River development, the 25-acre golf course is on a peninsula surrounded by water on all three sides. That creates a unique view of downtown and the bayou that previously was closed off to the public because of the site’s former use as an industrial property by the construction firm Brown & Root (which later became the engineering and construction firm KBR).
“It’s a side of Houston that has not been widely traveled or experienced by many before,” said Clayton Freels, vice president at Midway. “We were thinking of ways to bring Houstonians out and we had to do to something special.”
Midway ripped out about 10 acres of asphalt and cement on the site to install a verdant swath of grass rolling alongside the water. The company partnered with Houston Audubon Society to plant native species such as live oak trees, crepe myrtles and muhly grass to create a better environment for birds and wildlife. The lush grass will be irrigated by untreated bayou water rather than relying on city drinking water.
“It’s less about the golf and more about opening up this site for the first time in 75 years,” Freels said. “The golf course creates this greenscape and natural beauty. You’re in the city but you feel so removed from the hustle and bustle of the urban sprawl.”
With accessibility in mind, Midway opted for a smaller golf course with only nine holes (instead of a standard 18 holes). The par-3 course takes about one mile of walking from start to finish; players can complete a game in a little more than an hour.
The shorter holes are good for beginners, but also for experienced players with time constraints or those who want to practice short-game golfing skills such as pitching, chipping and putting.
The smaller size also makes it easier to illuminate the field with stadium-style lighting, allowing golfers to play past sunset. East River 9 will open into the late evening on weekdays, with the last tee time starting at 9 p.m.
Midway is working with the nonprofit PGA Reach Southern Texas and Fifth Ward-area Phillis Wheatley High School on various programs aimed at getting veterans and young people to experience the site through events or afterschool programming.
Non-golfers can enjoy the site, too. Alongside the golf course, Midway constructed six courts for pickleball — an increasingly popular sport that combines tennis, badminton and ping pong.
A new restaurant, called Riverhouse, is located inside an old warehouse converted into 10,000 square-foot eatery with a laidback, brewery-like atmosphere. Texas restaurateur Don Cristopher founder of DKC Companies, the group behind Cyclone Anaya’s Tex-Mex and Otto’s BBQ — crafted a new American menu of panini sandwiches, honey-habanero salmon, wagyu chicken fried steak, cheeseburgers and roasted pecan pies. So far Riverhouse has hosted a handful of small events at the site through a soft opening in recent weeks.
“So far our guest have been very excited about the venue, especially with the views looking back to downtown Houston and the bayou. “It’s been neat to see it come to life,” Freels said.
Another major piece of the East River project is coming to life soon on the western edge of the property. A little more than a year after breaking ground, construction crews have topped out on two office buildings and a parking garage, meaning the structures have reached their highest point. Meanwhile, Austin-based contractors OHT Partners’ construction of a 360-unit apartment project, called The Laura, is also progressing quickly with residents expected to start moving in next summer.
Phase one of East River encompasses 26 acres, or roughly half the size of CityCentre, Midway’s popular mixed-use development in West Houston.
This section of East River encompasses 300,000 square feet of office space, 100,000 square feet of retail space and a five-story apartment complex.
Office tenants — including Texas-based design firm Method Architecture, Illinois-based technology services firm Impact Networking and Houston-based hot water systems company
Teal — are expected to begin moving into the project next spring. A coffee shop called El Condor Coffee Roaster will likely be the first retailer to open on site followed by other retail tenants, including a grocery store by James Beard Award-nominee Johnny
Rhodes, called Broham Fine Soul Food & Groceries, as well as Lick Honest Ice Creams, Tomi Jewelry, URBN Dental, a museum for Houston Maritime Center and an event venue by the owners of Houston wedding venue, The Astorian. Midway is targeting a fall 2023 date to host a grand opening event for Phase One.
Construction is also starting this month on 13,000 square feet of public greenspace for outdoor events, live music and hike and bike trails, which should be open by next summer.
“We wanted to create an amenity not only for our project, but something that could be enjoyed by all,” Freels said.