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Concept Neighborhood’s principals Jeff Kaplan and Dave Seeburger stand on the first floor of 3218 Sherman which is one of the buildings that will be part of a walkable mixed-use district spanning several blocks in Houston’s East End, Tuesday, June 28, 2022, in Houston. Kaplan helped to launch Axelrad Beer Garden, along with a handful of others including Monte Large, who is also involved in Concept Neighborhood.

The 20,000 square-foot adaptive reuse project, The Plant, offers an example of the type of development real estate firm Concept Neighborhood wants to bring to the former W-K-M campus a few blocks away in Houston's East End district.

Chefs siblings Angelo Emiliani and Lucianna “Louie” Emiliani opened Cafe Louie in May 2022 inside The Plant development in Houston's East End. The adaptive reuse of the former linen plant by real estate firm Concept Neighborhood offers an example of the type of development the firm wants to bring to the rest of the East End.

Little Red Box Grocery has opened in Second Ward.

A rendering of what the remodel of the so-called "Model T" buiilding could look like at 3217 Sherman St in the East End as part of Concept Neighborhood's adaptive reuse project at the former W-K-M campus.

A rendering of what the remodel of the so-called "Model T" buiilding could look like at 3217 Sherman St in the East End as part of Concept Neighborhood's adaptive reuse project at the former W-K-M campus.

Concept Neighborhood's principals Jeff Kaplan and Dave Seeburger stand for a portrait on the second floor of the 3218 Sherman which is one of the buildings that will be part of a walkable mixed-use district spanning five blocks in Houston's East End, Tuesday, June 28, 2022, in Houston.

Too Suit Yourself owner Omar Lisandro talks to Dave Seeburger, principal at Concept Neighborhood, as he tightens up the sleeves of a jacket Dave is trying on at Lisandro's vintage clothing store opening at the former W-K-M Company headquarters historic building, Tuesday, June 28, 2022, in Houston. 

Jonathan and Nonya Grenader with their son Sam led the redesign of the Heights Clock Tower building in The Heights, an adaptive reuse of a former textile mill into small offices and a bakery. The Grenaders started work redeveloping the former W-K-M warehouses in the East End, but recently opted to sell the property to Concept Neighborhood to complete the transformation.

An ambitious group of entrepreneurs aims to transform a four-acre warehouse complex in Houston’s East End into a walkable, mixed-use district that could become an example of socially conscious real estate development in one of the most rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods in Texas.

Houston real estate firm Concept Neighborhood plans to convert more than four blocks of mostly historic properties into a destination filled with hyperlocal businesses, boutique retail, restaurants and small office spaces. Construction is set to begin in late 2022 on the redevelopment of the roughly 80-year-old buildings that once housed the oil and gas equipment manufacturer W-K-M.

The proposed redevelopment, which encompasses nearly 145,000 square feet spread across several sites around 201 Roberts Street, is a few blocks away from another Concept Neighborhood project, The Plant, a 20,000 square-foot mixed-use development on Harrisburg Boulevard, about 1.5 miles east of downtown. Together the projects could bring more change to the 16-square mile East End district, where urban professionals are flocking, property values are rising, and new cafes, condos and storefronts are popping up in the once predominantly industrial area.

Concept Neighborhood’s goal is to create a collection of small businesses reminiscent of the pedestrian-friendly Midtown Houston or the Bishop Arts District in Dallas. The properties are a few blocks from MetroRail’s Green Line, unlocking the potential for a walkable district that urban planners typically only dream of in Houston.

“It will be like Brooklyn in the South,” said Jeff Kaplan, 43, a principal of Concept Neighborhood, who previously helped to develop the popular Midtown beer garden Axelrad with a handful of others.

Kaplan, who lives in the East End, has long had a passion for the concept that residents should be able to access most daily needs within walking or rail-transit distance. His co-principals in Concept Neighborhood - Dave Seeburger, a former private equity professional; David Kelley, a co-housing developer and founder of a community bank;  Monte Large, another Axelrad co-founder and urban designer; Jeremy Roberts, a former real estate attorney; and Zachary Samet, real estate broker  — share his vision. Real estate broker and East End resident Andrea Daniela is also involved.

To get a sense of what Concept Neighborhood wants to create in the East End, take a look at The Plant, the adaptive reuse project that opened in 2020. Colorful murals advertise businesses inside, where splashes of pastel paint and hanging orb lanterns light up the hallways between boutiques and small offices.

In the mornings hip hop music emanates from the HAM Barber Studio as a barber cleans his tools for the day. Bicycle-riding baristas arrive at Café Louie, where they’ll craft oat-milk lattes alongside bakers painting pastries with melted butter. Next door at a bodega-style grocery shop, called Little Red Box Grocery, hipsters peruse locally-sourced tortilla chips alongside residents of a nearby affordable housing complex shopping with food stamps.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Popston, known for Houston-themed frozen pops, opens in The Plant

Evergirl Vintage owner Dawn Bell opened a store at the historic building at 201 Roberts St., Tuesday, June 28, 2022, in Houston.

In 2016, when Kaplan first hatched the idea for The Plant, he said in an interview that his goal was to create a project that wasn’t “just for the yuppies moving into the neighborhood.” So far it seems that dream is coming to fruition. Overall 83 percent of the businesses in The Plant are owned by women, minorities or people who live in the neighborhood.

“What we have here is a really sustainable example of community wealth,” Kaplan said. “When a merchant is an entrepreneur tied to community, odds of success go up. It’s not just about the money, our neighbors are meaningfully invested in these businesses.”

Concept Neighborhood isn’t just leasing spaces, it’s aiming to help small businesses who might not otherwise have the resources to set up a storefront in a standard retail development. For example, in The Plant, Concept Neighborhood paid for a kitchen for one of its tenants, the frozen treat shop Popston opening soon, and is paying for a soon-to-be-built patio outside. Working with the investment firm Next Seed, Kaplan also assisted Cafe Louie’s owners in raising capital for their new restaurant in The Plant. For some tenants, Concept Neighborhood struck sliding-scale leasing agreements with rents rising as businesses prospered. The developer also provided pre-permitted, move-in ready spaces for tenants such as vintage store The Second Shop to minimize tenants’ set-up expenses and timeline.

The goal is to amplify that approach at the W-K-M redevelopment. The property’s historic designation will allow developers to tap into potentially $8 million worth in tax credits over several years, according to Concept Neighborhood. The location within an Opportunity Zone will also allow the developer to defer and eliminate taxes on capital gains tied to their investment.

From the outside, the former W-K-M campus in the East End, comprised of warehouses and adjacent offices, appears rather unremarkable. If not looking closely, one might miss the vintage amber-colored corrugated glass along the windows of the mid-rise warehouses or the W-K-M branding etched atop the 80-year sage-toned and gray structure that once houses the company’s corporate offices. But step inside and one is transported into a piece of midcentury modern design history. The buildings will be transformed into a mixed-use, walkable district by Concept Neighborhood.

Concept Neighborhood purchased 16 buildings in the former W-K-M campus in December from the Grenader family, known for helping to convert a former textile mill into a mixed-use project, The Heights Clock Tower, among other projects in the Houston area.

The W-K-M properties have been in the family for more than 45 years, said Jonathan Grenader, 71. A few years ago he and his wife, Nonya, a retired architecture professor from Rice University, got the properties listed on the National Register of Historic places, enabling them to access tax credits to restore parts of the buildings into office and retail suites. But as they transitioned to semi-retirement, the two did not have the time or resources to redevelop the entire campus and wanted to focus on other endeavors, they said. Instead, they sought to sell to a like-minded developers.

“We really admired (Concept Neighborhood’s) energy and their commitment to continue a certain legacy of the neighborhood, infusing new things and existing things together,” said Nonya Grenader, 68.

Concept Neighborhood plans to redevelop the W-K-M campus over the next four years. The handful of manufacturing tenants in the site will eventually exit the project as it transitions from heavy industrial uses, Kaplan said.

Construction is expected to begin in the fourth quarter on the first phase, which includes 50,000 square feet of retail and 23,000 square feet of office space, according to the developer. The redevelopment is expected to wrap up in 2026.

Like the rest of the East End, the neighborhood around the W-K-M campus is a mismatch of modernity and industrial relics of a bygone era when the district mostly served as manufacturing and shipping hub near the Houston Ship Channel. Less than a mile from the W-K-M site, the former Maxwell House coffee roasting plant looms over mid-rise warehouses, derelict properties with overgrown grass, chipped paint and semi-rusted structures.

In between, restored craftsman-style bungalows, art studios, trendy cafes and modern townhomes are signs of change in a neighborhood where the median household income has more than doubled in the past decade, according to Census data for the 77003 zip code.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Repurposed Cameron Iron Works building debuts

Evergirl Vintage owner Dawn Bell is opening store at the historic building at 201 Roberts St., Tuesday, June 28, 2022, in Houston.

The East End and adjacent East Downtown neighborhoods are peppered with projects converting, industrial sites into residential lofts, retail shops, cafes, restaurants, small offices and coworking spaces. North of the bayou, Midway’s 150-acre mixed-use development, East River, will dramatically reshape the northside of the East End while the nonprofit Buffalo Bayou Partnership has launched a 20-year, $200 million master plan to reimagine of the eastern side of the bayou

Many of these changes build off the expansion of light rail to the East End. Between 2017 and 2019, property values jumped 30 percent on land adjacent to the light rail line along Harrisburg Boulevard, said Veronica Chapa Gorczynski, president of the East End District, the economic development group.

What’s different about Concept Neighborhood’s approach is its efforts to create a transit-oriented neighborhood of hyperlocal businesses “where everyone's from the community and they can get around without being car dependent.”

“And,” she added, “that's the part where they really are breaking new ground and not just for the neighborhood, but I think they're breaking new ground for Houston.”

Marissa Luck covers real estate for the Houston Chronicle.

Originally from Hawaii, Marissa previously covered refining and chemicals for the Chronicle and also had stints at Costar, the Austin Business Journal and The Daily News in Longview, Wash.

She grew up near Seattle and studied international political economy at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash.

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