Bellaire Town Center To Be Razed, Replaced With Larger Complex

BELLAIRE, TX — Change is the only constant, the saying goes, and that goes for the Bellaire Town Center, the midcentury shopping complex on Bellaire Boulevard, which is slated for demolition and will be reborn in the guise of a 72,000-square-foot combination retail/office center. The current complex comprises 37,000 square feet.

SDI Realty Advisors, the developer behind the project, plans to begin razing the center in the next few months, and will first build a 16,000-square-foot building to house the center's current tenants, which include Costa Brava Bistro and Lemongrass Cafe.

Charles Shears, managing partner at SDI, said that a change in the attitude of Bellaire's leaders prompted the decision to redevelop the property.

"The city of Bellaire has become pro-growth, pro-development," he told the Houston Chronicle. "It can be seen in the redevelopment of H-E-B." H-E-B, the grocery chain, announced earlier this year that is would demolish and rebuild its store in Bellaire.

Shears added that a change in Bellaire's demographic was also a factor in his company's thinking.

"The demographic makeup has changed with higher incomes," he said. "And with that, those residents are truly demanding a better commercial environment."

The Bellaire Town Center project is scheduled to be completed by 2019 and will include a parking garage.

— Image courtesy SDI Realty Advisors