News

Night Shift Opens

07.29.21 / Culturemap Houston

Anyone who follows enough Houston bartenders on Instagram already knows that Night Shift has opened. They’ve been posting pictures from the eagerly anticipated new cocktail bar that recently debuted at 3501 Harrisburg Blvd.

Night Shift unites two veteran bartenders. Justin Ware brings experience from Johnny’s Gold Brick, where he worked as the general manager for five years. His business partner Patrick Abalos has both worked and consulted for a number of places around town. Together, they teamed up with local design and construction firm Rootlab (Giant Leap Coffee, Cafe Louie, Penny Quarter) to transform a warehouse into a stylish, modern cocktail bar.

Agnes Opens for Business

06.08.21 / Houston Chronicle

Agnes Café & Provisions, a new all-day café, bakery and boutique grocery, will open on June 8 at 2132 Bissonnet, in the former Tropicales space at Shepherd.

The Mediterranean-inspired concept, which will be open for breakfast and lunch (followed by dinner later in the month), is a project from friend partners Molly Voorhees, president of Becks Prime and The Chocolate Bar, and Carolyn Dorros, executive vice president of Wolff Companies; both are graduates of St. John’s School, Stanford University and Harvard Business School.

Ronin Art House opens at 3501 Harrisburg

04.15.21

Ronin Art House has opened for business at 3501 Harrisburg. The airy space was designed by Garrison Design Office, and built out by Rootlab. Come check them out for any event rental needs!

2116 Bissonnet Purchased

03.01.21

Platform has purchased 2116 Bissonnet Street and is working with Michael Hsu on an overall building renovation. Construction will begin later this year and leasing information is coming soon.

Bissonnet Cafe Leased

02.01.21

The second-generation ground floor of 2132 Bissonnet has been leased to Agnes Cafe & Provisions. Opening Summer 2021. We’re excited to welcome them to the building!

Shared Office Completed

08.01.20

The shared office space on the third floor of 2132 Bissonnet is fully completed and begins occupancy this month. Michael Hsu Office of Architecture completed the architectural and interior design of the space, and Pruitt Structures was the contractor. Contact us for leasing availability.

Westlake Dermatology Opens at 2132 Bissonnet

02.15.20

Westlake Dermatology has opened for business on the second floor of 2132 Bissonnet. Their beautiful space was designed by Michael Hsu Office of Architecture.

3501 Harrisburg Fully Leased

07.30.19 / Instagram

Leases for 3501 Harrisburg were signed by special events space, Ronin Art House, and a new bar concept, Night Shift. This will be the fifth location in Houston for Ronin, and their largest to date at 4,320 sf. Night Shift will take the remaining 2,880 sf and will be led by Houston bartenders Justin Ware and Patrick Abalos with design and construction by Rootlab.

Small Footprints, Big Impact — an Architect Couple is Making Houston More Walkable With Little Slices of Development

07.18.19 / PAPERCITY

Steve and Hilary Ybarra imagine living in a more walkable neighborhood, a more walkable city. This is no passing daydream, quickly forgotten in the haze of a Houston summer day. The Ybarras are setting out to help make it happen.

Husband-wife team to unveil mixed-use project in Boulevard Oaks

05.01.19 / Houston Business Journal

The Platform Group, a Houston-based real estate and investment group, will open its first project, a mixed-use retail and office development, this May. 

Steve and Hilary Ybarra, a husband-wife team and principals behind Platform, will develop, lease and manage the 11,500-square-foot space at 2132 Bissonnet, per a press release. 

The development will include an all-day café and restaurant, Tropicales, a concept created by David Bueher of Greenway Coffee. The first Houston branch of Austin-based Westlake…

Boulevard Oaks convenience store site transformed into mixed-use project

04.16.19 / Houston Chronicle

Almost immediately after a “for sale” sign went up at the northeast corner of Shepherd and Bissonnet, husband-and-wife developers Steve and Hilary Zaic Ybarra made an offer on the property. Within a few months, they had closed on the site, still unsure what they would do with it.

The Ybarras, who live in this area just north of Rice University, decided a restaurant with an outdoor patio would be an amenity residents would embrace…

Artist Installation Launches at 3501 Harrisburg

01.07.19

Local artist Allison Hunter has launched her video installation “Hive” at 3501 Harrisburg. The projections will appear nightly from 5pm to midnight on the facade of the building.

Bissonnet Construction Update

06.01.18

Construction on our 2132 Bissonnet mixed-use project is progressing on schedule for a fall 2018 completion. All site and slab concrete has been poured, and steel erection begins this month.

Construction Starts at 2132 Bissonnet

12.04.17

Burton Construction breaks ground today on our Bissonnet mixed-use project. Expected completion is Fall 2018.

How can we make sprawling Houston feel urban and walkable?

11.08.17 / urbanedge.blogs.rice.edu

With thorough research and careful planning, existing regulations and incentives do offer the opportunity for walkable, creative, and urban-feeling development in Houston. But with strict regulations and only optional incentives, developers are not always motivated to put in the extra effort. Even so, individual developments can only do so much, as connections and context are paramount in placemaking and walkability.

Construction Starts at 3501 Harrisburg

11.06.17

Excavation and demolition begin today at 3501 Harrisburg on the new parking lot and landscaping improvements. Once completed, the parking and exterior aesthetic improvements will support the already renovated historic structure.

Fill Up on Art on the Corner of Bissonnet and Shepherd

10.02.17 / houstoniamag.com

At the corner of Shepherd Drive and Bissonnet Street just south of 59, there is a gas station where the pumps have been removed, along with the former tenant, 4949 Convenience Store. Swamplot reports a 3-story cafe and office building will soon take its place.

Until then, the vacant space has been handed off to installation artist Trey Duvall, who outfitted the otherwise undisturbed…

A First Look at the Three-Story Cafe and Office Building

09.27.17 / swamplot.com

Here are a couple renderings from the Michael Hsu Office of Architecture in Austin of the new 3-story building the firm is designing for the corner spot at 2132 Bissonnet St. in Boulevard Oaks. A representative of the Platform Group, the building’s developer, tells Swamplot an “all-day cafe/coffee shop” is being planned for the ground floor, and that the upper 2 floors will contain “boutique office space.” The cafe won’t be a Gringo’s Tex-Mex, but the…

Demolition Inside 4949 Proceeding Extremely Slowly

09.27.17 / swamplot.com

If you’ve ever wished you could watch a wrecking ball go wild inside a convenience store, here’s your chance. A crowd gathered outside the former 4949 C-store at the corner of Bissonnet and Shepherd over the weekend to watch artist Trey Duvall’s kinetic demolition installation in action. The installation features wrecking balls connected to computer-controlled motors mounted on the ceiling wreaking havoc on what remains of the…”

How urban or suburban is sprawling Houston?

09.21.17 / urbanedge.blogs.rice.edu

As the nation’s fourth most populous city, Houston is clearly an urban center, and yet the lifestyle it provides is largely suburban. Many people live what could be mistaken for a typical suburban life – residing in single-family detached homes, driving cars to work, shopping at big-box stores and dining in strip centers. How urban, or suburban, is Houston really? How do we even define what is urban and suburban?