Rice Real Estate Co. and Lincoln Property Co. plan to develop The Arc at the Ion District, a nearly 200K SF research, laboratory and office building to be anchored by Rice University.
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The facility will be in the 16-acre innovation hub and technology park in Midtown Houston developed by Rice University. The university will occupy about 30K SF of office and laboratory space in The Arc, according to a news release.
Construction is slated to begin in the second quarter of 2026, and preleasing has begun.
Rice said The Arc will be purpose-built to accelerate the transition of ideas from the lab to the marketplace and is intended to foster innovation and collaboration in energy, tech, data science, artificial intelligence, robotics and computational engineering.
“The Arc will offer Rice the opportunity to deepen its commitment to fostering world-changing innovation by bringing our leading minds and breakthrough discoveries into direct engagement with Houston’s thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem,” Rice President Reginald DesRoches said in the release.
The Ion building, a 287K SF office mid-rise in the former Midtown Sears space, is more than 90% leased, including to Chevron, Microsoft, Aramco and BP. The Arc will share its plaza.
The developers anticipate delivering The Arc in the first quarter of 2028. The project adds to an extremely limited office development pipeline in Houston, with only four properties totaling 631K SF under construction, according to Avison Young.
“The Arc at the Ion District represents a rare opportunity to help add to and grow a nationally significant innovation hub right here in Houston — one that fosters breakthrough ideas, fuels inclusive economic growth and anchors the city’s rise as a global leader in science and technology,” Lincoln Property Co. Executive Vice President Gabe Lerner said in the release.
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