A Walking Wonderland in the Houston Suburbs — City Place Takes Shape With New Restaurants and Plenty of Buzz

Springwoods City Place is growing and transforming Houston’s north suburbs into something rarely heard of in the area — a pedestrian-friendly zone. With lots of changes, the new development being touted as a “modern Mayberry”  aims to combine the best of both worlds, nature and the city. This change is reflected in the development’s new name.

The tree filled 2,000 acres between the bustling Houston neighborhoods of Spring and The Woodlands will now simply be known as City Place.

“A project can have a great location, which Springwoods City Place does, and it can be highly successful but yet not become a place,” says Warren Wilson, executive vice president of CDC Houston, Inc., a subsidiary of Coventry Development Corporation, the master developer of City Place.

The location itself already is a lure. ExxonMobil now calls the center home. But Wilson and his team are determined to make City Place a place.

“We committed to them (ExxonMobil), and more importantly to ourselves, that we would create a place,” Wilson tells PaperCity. “Meaning a place where the combined elements contributed to more than just a great location — so it would be a place that people would recognize as a destination.

“A place to hang out. A place where there’s more than one thing to do.”

A space for more than just working. Variety and ease-of-access is very important to Wilson and his team. Everything is designed to be within walking distance. Including a fitness club, Star Cinema movie theater, three Marriott hotels, and plenty of restaurants and shops. More of which will continue to open.

One of the newest spots in City Place is Bread Zeppelin. For the Rosa brothers of the Avalanche Food Group choosing this new mega development for the first Bread Zeppelin location outside of Dallas was a natural fit.

“It’s a very daytime oriented center, but it brings all the elements that typically make a Bread Zeppelin successful,” says Vincent Ginatta, Bread Zeppelin’s vice president of franchising. “That high daytime population once people return to work, and all the mix of national brands both in retail and restaurant, and also local favorites.

“That’s kind of the story of how we got to City Place.”

Bread Zeppelin’s Healthy Power

A popular Dallas-based restaurant, Bread Zeppelin is making its Houston move in City Place. Chopped salads meet sandwiches for healthy on-the-go meals in the form of bread zeppelin.

What’s a bread zeppelin? Hollowed-out pieces of artisan baguettes are used as the shell of a healthy meal. With everything you could want packed in. No utensils needed.

City Place’s Green Power

Tucked away in the pines, City Place has become not only a center for business and shopping, but also for nature. Harris County’s Spring Creek Greenway runs from Tomball to Humble — and right through City Place

With a prime location on the Greenway, City Place rests in the center of the miles of green trails.

Stretching more than a marathon course in length, the combined 33 miles of trails is both walker and equestrian friendly. This is a great place to park your bike (or horse) while grabbing a cup of coffee at Common Bond. Want even green? City Place also has it own trails by the lake.

Wilson hopes to completely connect City Place to the rest of the Greenway in the future.

Still, City Place is also built around the idea of distinct restaurants. Uptown Sushi owner Dan Chang plans to open Sushi Rebel in the development in September.

More new restaurants and stores will be revealed in the coming months, including a coffee shop that will take over a prime perch in the plaza. City Place is growing with a purpose.