The MKT expects to revolutionize the live-work-play model with everything from retail and restaurant to office and coworking space. Courtesy of The MKT

On a stroll or a spin down the Heights Hike and Bike Trail, you might not notice a complete transformation is eminent. The MKT — a mixed-use renovation and build out project — is getting ready to break ground.

The five-building, 200,000-square-foot project will bring 30 retail and restaurant concepts, and 100,000 square feet of office space together along with four acres of green space, parking, and an outdoor venue alongside 1,000 linear feet of the trail between North Shepherd Drive and Herkimer Street. The MKT name comes from the Missouri-Kansas-Texas railroad — later known as the Katy Railroad — that was transformed into the Heights Hike and Bike Trail.

MKT is a joint partnership between Houston-based Radom Capital, which is behind Heights Mercantile down the street, and Triten Real Estate Partners with capital partner, Long Wharf. The architect behind the project is Austin-based Michael Hsu Office of Architecture. Shop Companies is doing the retail leasing, and JLL's Houston office is coordinating the office leasing space.

"There's nothing in Houston that's like this that's upscale creative office space with a huge retail and restaurant component that's located on a major hike and bike trail right in the city," Russell Hodges, managing director of agency leasing at JLL, tells InnovationMap.

Ultimately, the project, which will break ground in the next 60 to 90 days, is a renovation, as the five industrial buildings that make up The MKT currently exist and were built in the '70s. The transformation will include redoing the facades of the buildings and incorporating green space.

The creative office space, which will be in three of the buildings, is doing something a little different than most office buildings in Houston. Originally, Hodges says they expected interest from TAMI tenants — which stands for technology, advertising, media, and information companies — but the interest they have had so far has been diverse.

"The project caters to the tenant that's looking for something different — looking for, honestly for lack of a better word, cool space," Hodges says. "Someone looking for something to help differentiate their business to leverage their office space to recruit and retain talent."

Another unexpected interested party — coworking tenants. Hodges says the project could house anywhere from 20,000 to 50,000 square feet of coworking space if the right coworking operator comes around.

"I don't think we were necessarily looking for coworking, per say," Hodges says. "But, we've had significant interest from coworking operators. Based on that level of interest, we think that there's demand for coworking in the area. We're looking for the right operator who's brand aligns with the brand of the project. I don't think that's every coworking brand, necessarily."

The team behind The MKT are also planning a second phase of the project for a large space just east of phase one. That concept has yet to be designed, and there aren't any specifics currently available.

Big picture

Courtesy of The MKT

On the project's website, this rendering can be interacted with to see 3D designs and before and after shots.

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Axiom Space-tested cancer drug advances to clinical trials

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A cancer-fighting drug tested aboard several Axiom Space missions is moving forward to clinical trials.

Rebecsinib, which targets a cancer cloning and immune evasion gene, ADAR1, has received FDA approval to enter clinical trials under active Investigational New Drug (IND) status, according to a news release. The drug was tested aboard Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) and Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3). It was developed by Aspera Biomedicine, led by Dr. Catriona Jamieson, director of the UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Institute (SSCI).

The San Diego-based Aspera team and Houston-based Axiom partnered to allow Rebecsinib to be tested in microgravity. Tumors have been shown to grow more rapidly in microgravity and even mimic how aggressive cancers can develop in patients.

“In terms of tumor growth, we see a doubling in growth of these little mini-tumors in just 10 days,” Jamieson explained in the release.

Rebecsinib took part in the patient-derived tumor organoid testing aboard the International Space Station. Similar testing is planned to continue on Axiom Station, the company's commercial space station that's currently under development.

Additionally, the drug will be tested aboard Ax-4 under its active IND status, which was targeted to launch June 25.

“We anticipate that this monumental mission will inform the expanded development of the first ADAR1 inhibitory cancer stem cell targeting drug for a broad array of cancers," Jamieson added.

According to Axiom, the milestone represents the potential for commercial space collaborations.

“We’re proud to work with Aspera Biomedicines and the UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Institute, as together we have achieved a historic milestone, and we’re even more excited for what’s to come,” Tejpaul Bhatia, the new CEO of Axiom Space, said in the release. “This is how we crack the code of the space economy – uniting public and private partners to turn microgravity into a launchpad for breakthroughs.”