Project News / Education
Rice Breaks Ground on The Arc, a 200,000-Square-Foot Lab and Office Building at the Ion District
The seven-story building on Main Street in Midtown Houston will house Rice's AI Foundry as its anchor occupant.
Rice University broke ground Nov. 4 on The Arc, a 200,000-square-foot lab and office building in the Ion District in Midtown Houston. The building at 4151 Main St. is being developed by Rice Real Estate Co.
The Arc will have seven floors of flexible lab and office space. Floor plates range from 28,000 to 31,000 square feet, with 15-foot floor-to-floor heights.
The building is designed for advanced HVAC, high-capacity electrical service and emergency power, features aimed at research and technology tenants.
Rice will be a lead tenant, occupying nearly 80,000 square feet, or about 40% of the building. Its AI Foundry will be based inside The Arc; Rice has not separated the Foundry’s area from its wider occupancy.
Rice targets construction completion in the second quarter of 2028 and identifies HKS as architect. Its announcement does not name a general contractor or provide a construction-budget breakdown.
Project Team
Developer: Rice Real Estate Co. Architect: HKS. General contractor: not identified in Rice’s announcement.
