East End Maker Hub

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

A former oil manufacturing facility sat vacant in Houston’s East End. Urban Partnerships Community Development Corporation targeted the building for redevelopment to create living wage jobs for the surrounding underserved community.

Soon, the city’s up-and-coming East End will be home to Houston’s only industrial makerspace and manufacturing center.

When completed, the massive facility will include areas for Crafting, Innovation, Light Fabrication, and Heavy Fabrication.

PRISM provided the renderings to assist in marketing available lease space at the Maker Hub by visually highlighting the building’s features and amenities to potential tenants and local organizations.

Houston’s emerging Maker Movement is bringing together creative problem solvers through open-source collaboration and the use of powerful technology like 3D printers and industrial machinery. Makers are entrepreneurs ranging from product inventors, fabricators and small-batch manufacturers to crafters, artists, glassblowers, ceramicists and more. 

PROJECT SIZE OR JOB SIZE ($$, SQ FT, ETC)

The new 300,000 s.f. East End Maker Hub is set to open later this year at 6501 Navigation Blvd and aims to redefine entrepreneurship by providing equitable access to affordable production space—along with other tangible support for small businesses like workforce training and programming with community partners.

The team leveraged $1.25 million in equity to raise $37 million in capital.

TIMELINE

2020

STAKEHOLDERS

Urban Partnerships Community Development Corporation, an experienced nonprofit developer, and TXRX Labs, a manufacturing and hardware innovation incubator, formed a joint venture to overhaul an existing aging industrial building in the East End.

AWARDS

HOUSTON’S ULI 2022 DEVELOPMENT OF DISTINCTION AWARDS

• ULI, the champion organization for responsible, transformative land development, hosted their 15th Annual Development of Distinction Awards in Houston last night. PRISM was privileged to produce renderings for finalist East End Maker Hub. Congrats to all finalists! We were a proud sponsor of the honorees’ reception.