An East End Legacy: Ninfa Laurenzo
Brought to you by the East End Houston Cultural District with support from the Houston Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs and the Houston Arts Alliance. Produced by the stellar team at The Storyhive. Our many thanks to The Original Ninfa’s, El Tiempo Cantina- Navigation, Rep. Christina Morales, and most importantly the Laurenzo family for their help with telling this iconic East End story.
East End Houston Cultural District Unveils Cultural Arts Strategic Plan
Today, the East End District announced the adoption of a Cultural Arts Strategic Plan that will provide a framework for cultivating the cultural landscape of Houston’s East End over the next ten years. Created by Houston-based art advisory firm Weingarten Art Group (WAG), the plan is the result of seven months of research, analysis and community outreach to East End residents, business owners, artists, cultural activists, historians and more. The plan was made possible by a grant from the City of Houston Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs and was officially adopted by the East End District Board of Directors on November 19, 2020.
Houston’s Historic East End Transformation Expands with Mixed-Use Development Called the Mill
Houston’s East End is peppered with fields between former industrial brick buildings, bungalows, recently remodeled parks, farmers markets and new condominiums, but a 6-acre lot stands out. Behind purple fencing, the parcel marks two construction trends spreading across the country: adaptive reuse of buildings and the use of timber in commercial projects.
The site at the moment houses a pop-up drive-in movie theater, but Houston developer Triten Real Estate Partners plans to turn the lot into a mixed-use project that is expected to be a critical part of the East End’s ongoing transformation. Called the Mill after a former 1890s-era industrial lumber mill on the site, Triten’s project is expected to be one of Houston’s first cross-laminated timber office projects, in addition to restaurant and retail space and a 340-unit apartment complex.
