What with that  30-ish-story tower planned for on top of them, the businesses at the far end of the River Oaks Shopping Center (including Café Ginger, the King Ranch Saddle Shop, and Local Pour) now appear to have an ambiguous expiration date on their current locations. Café Ginger has already found a new place to crash when the time comes: staff at the restaurant confirmed today that they’ll be moving just a few blocks down W. Gray St. to River Oaks Plaza, which hosts Marshall’s, T.J. Maxx, and Office Max in some of its bigger boxes. The move probably won’t happen until next year, but restaurant’s name is already included in the leasing flier for the center (as is the new Carter’s Babies & Kids scheduled to open in the complex at the end of March).
Café Ginger is shown filling in the pair of retail spots on the strip mall corner near Dunlavy St. that previously housed Austin pan-Asian chain Mama Fu’s and Austin Mediterranean chain VERTS Kebap:
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A King Ranch Saddle Shop employee says that the leather goods store, which opened at the location on W. Gray early last fall, has just renewed their lease for another 8 months. An employee at Local Pour says that for now, the bar is planning on staying put until 2018. Brasserie 19, which will flank the planned highrise but doesn’t fall within its footprint, plans on business as usual.Â
- River Oaks Plaza [Fidelis Realty Partners]
- Previously on Swamplot:Â Where Weingarten Plans To Stab That 30-Story Residential Highrise into the River Oaks Shopping Center;Â Mama Fu’s Making Houston Debut in W. Gray Shopping Center;Â You May Yet Have Your Chance to Live On Top of the Sur La Table by the River Oaks Theater;Â Weingarten Hoping To Improve Classic Taste of Art Deco River Oaks Shopping Center with New Cheese Topping
Photos: Katie Schon
It’s the new and improved Mama Ginger Fu Cafe !!!
Losing yet another art deco piece of River Oaks Center. Weingarten has no repect for history. They could figure out a way to incorporate the existing structure, but they lack imagination. This has been done beautifully in other cities.
I’m glad to hear that Cafe Ginger is not moving too far. They will class up their new area inhabited by Office Max, TJ Maxx, and Marshall’s.
Well fine. Just what we need, yet ANOTHER RESIDENTIAL TOWER. Not enough people to fill what has already been thrown up. Regurgitated onto our town.