The Arc breaks ground in Rice University's Ion district in Houston

Houston Chronicle · Marissa Luck · 2026-11-05 15:59 UTC

The $75 million Arc will expand Rice University’s Houston innovation district with space for AI, energy, startups and corporate research.

Rice University broke ground on an expansion of its innovation district in Midtown Houston this week, another step in its yearslong effort to foster a stronger startup and tech ecosystem in Houston.

With the new $75 million facility, Rice said it aims to bring academic and private industry researchers across multiple disciplines under one 200,000-square-foot roof.

Known as the Arc, the project will be built infront of the existing Ion building on Main Street within Rice’s roughly 16-acre innovation district. Expected to open in 2028, the seven-story facility will offer a mix of office, laboratory and research space meant to attract companies in fields such as energy, data science, artificial intelligence and computational engineering. The effort, Rice officials said, could accelerate how quickly lab discoveries turn into real-world technologies and products.

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