At 1085 Gessner Road, just north of I-10, three former warehouse buildings have been turned into storefronts around a planned lawn. The first tenant with its doors open is a fitness studio. [solidcore] opened its Memorial studio at Greenside in early October. The company's own announcement calls it the first of its Houston studios west of the 610 Loop.
The order matters. Greenside is filling from the small end. The tenants on the nearest timelines are a coffee bar, a gelato shop, a smoothie bar, a bowl restaurant and a bike shop. The two largest restaurant spaces announced so far are on 2027 timelines. ChopnBlok is targeting summer 2027, and construction on Hudson House's space is projected to run into April 2027. For the next several months, Greenside will be a place for a workout, a coffee or a scoop of gelato. The big dinner rooms come later.
A Former Warehouse Site With an Acre in the Middle
MetroNational and Radom Capital announced Greenside in December 2024 as a 35,000-square-foot adaptive reuse of three former industrial buildings, designed by Michael Hsu Office of Architecture. MetroNational's project page lists Endurance Builders as the contractor and describes "a mix of local restaurants, curated retail, and a collection of green spaces and patios."
The site sits on the north side of the freeway. Planning materials describe it as a new anchor for the part of Memorial City north of I-10, which MetroNational has been building up alongside its larger district around the mall. Kirby Ice House, Mia's Table and Torchy's Tacos are already established next door. MetroNational's own page treats Torchy's and Mia's Table as part of the Greenside experience. So the corner already had a dinner crowd before any new lease was signed. Greenside's first openings fill the daytime hours around it.
How the Calendar Moved
The opening date has moved several times since the first announcement. Each estimate describes a slightly different milestone, but taken together they show the schedule moving later.
| When it was said | Source | What was expected |
|---|---|---|
| Dec. 9, 2024 | Project announcement | Construction to start in spring 2025; first tenants get their spaces for buildout in spring 2026 |
| April 29, 2025 | Groundbreaking release | Spaces turned over to tenants in late Q1 2026 |
| June 15, 2026 | Shell-completion release | Base buildings finished; first tenant openings in Q4 2026 |
| Current | MetroNational project page | "Opening in early 2027" |
Ground broke in April 2025. The base buildings were finished by mid-June 2026, when MetroNational said retailers and restaurants "will soon begin building out their spaces." After that, each tenant finishes its own interior on its own schedule. A fitness studio with machines and mirrors can open long before a full restaurant kitchen. That is why [solidcore] is open while MetroNational still lists the project as a whole for early 2027.
The Small Spaces Go First
The tenant list reads differently once it is sorted by size. These are the announced tenants with published square footage, smallest to largest:
- Tifa Chocolate & Gelato, 1,121 square feet. A dessert café making gelato daily in small batches, with flavors from vanilla bean to strawberry balsamic, plus fruit sorbets and chocolates.
- Merit Coffee, 1,743 square feet. A café from the coffee company that roasts its own beans locally.
- Epic Cycles, 1,974 square feet. A cycling retailer and service shop relocating from CityCentre.
- Pizzana, 2,800 square feet. A sit-down neo-Neapolitan pizzeria with an open kitchen and a patio.
- Swish Dental, 3,132 square feet. A dental practice.
- ChopnBlok, 3,700 square feet plus an 1,100-square-foot patio. West African cooking.
- Hudson House, 6,095 square feet, according to a state filing. An American seafood restaurant.
Several more tenants were announced without a size. Honest Mary's makes bowls from scratch, and LEEMOO is a Houston health bar serving smoothies, açaí bowls and juices. MetroNational's current page lists both as "coming soon." The list also includes Hiatus, a day spa, and Original ChopShop, a fast-casual spot for protein bowls, salads, sandwiches and juices located in the 10100 office building, which is part of the Greenside development.
The early openings serve mornings and afternoons: coffee, gelato, smoothies, bowls, a bike tune-up, a dental appointment, a workout class. In April 2026, the Houston Chronicle reported Pizzana as expected that fall. In June, the Chronicle reported that Merit Coffee, Tifa Chocolate & Gelato, Epic Cycles and Swish Dental were expected to open between fall and the end of the year. At 2,800 square feet, Pizzana is the one sit-down dinner spot announced at a mid-size footprint.
The Two Biggest Kitchens Run on a 2027 Clock
The two largest restaurant spaces at Greenside are also on the longest timelines.
Hudson House holds the biggest announced space. In September, the Houston Chronicle reported a state filing that projects construction from Nov. 19, 2026, through April 4, 2027. The paper noted that the company had not given an opening date and that filings like this can change. If that schedule holds, interior work on Hudson House starts on Nov. 19, about eight months after the spring 2026 handover target in the original plan.
ChopnBlok is the newest name on the list. The Houston Chronicle reported on Nov. 3 that the West African restaurant plans to open at Greenside in summer 2027. At 3,700 square feet with an 1,100-square-foot patio, it will be the largest ChopnBlok yet. ChopnBlok started in 2021 as a stall in the Post food hall downtown and opened its first standalone restaurant in Montrose in 2024. The Chronicle ranked it No. 8 on its latest Top 100 restaurants list, and it has held Michelin Bib Gourmand status in both 2025 and 2026.
Owner Ope Amosu grew up in southwest Houston. He told the Chronicle that the expansion is meant to serve West Houston, from Alief and Westchase to the Energy Corridor. "Bringing ChopnBlok to West Houston feels like a homecoming," Amosu said in a statement published by the Houston Chronicle. "It's a chance to celebrate the culture that raised me while creating a space where the next generation can build memories of their own."
Together, these two restaurants take up nearly 10,000 square feet of interior space, more than a quarter of Greenside's 35,000 square feet. With ChopnBlok targeting next summer and Hudson House's build-out projected through April, Greenside's largest dining rooms are still at least a season away.
The Acre in the Middle
Plans call for about an acre of central green space with native plants, festoon lighting, canopy trellises, casual seating, patios and a children's play structure. The project is also designed to connect to a regional jogging trail and detention pond, with pedestrian paths linking Gessner Road and Mathewson Lane. Surface parking serves the site.
Those paths explain the tenant mix. A bike shop, a smoothie bar and a reformer studio all make more sense next to a trail. A gelato counter and a play structure make more sense side by side. MetroNational's page describes Greenside as "built for the way Memorial already lives," and lists outdoor trails alongside [solidcore], LEEMOO and Honest Mary's as ways to stay active. The plans were designed around foot traffic between Gessner and Mathewson. Once the daytime tenants are open, that foot traffic can build up before the big dinner restaurants arrive.
For a household nearby, this winter's Greenside starts with a 50-minute class at [solidcore]. Coffee, gelato and a lunch bowl are the next openings expected along Gessner. ChopnBlok plans to open its patio in summer 2027, and construction on Hudson House is projected to wrap up in April 2027.
New developments like Greenside change which errands and evenings stay close to home, and that becomes part of how a block is valued over time. If you own near the Gessner corridor and want to know what north-of-I-10 projects mean for your property, Prestige Realty Group can walk you through it. Get an Instant Home Valuation or Schedule a Market Consultation with Jay Bradley's team.
