When a grocery store or new apartments open in Houston, a street usually gets built, or at least widened. A new development in Midtown is flipping this process, removing a street and aiming for more pedestrian access.

The project, between Elgin and Anita along Smith and Brazos, is expected to include a Whole Foods Market on the ground level, with four floors of apartments above. It is one of many mixed-use projects in Midtown, and the first to include a large grocery store. Parking for the development will be provided above and below the market.

Getting a grocery in Midtown, however, is coming at what some consider a minor cost: losing Rosalie Street between Brazos and Smith. The new development will occupy most of the two-square-block site.

Situated between two one-way streets in an area of Midtown where Elgin is the main east-west thoroughfare as it becomes lower Westheimer, Rosalie has limited traffic use. Cutting it off at Smith leaves only a small remnant of the street where it connects to Bagby.

"It's hardly used," said Jim McIntyre, 45, who lives nearby. "It's stubbed in there, with no place to go."

The city’s Joint Referral Committee – a multi-department group that vets transfer of city property to others – approved that bit of Rosalie to the developers, Morgan Group Brazos/Rosalie, LLC, in 2014. The City Council approved the sale, for $774,269, in July. The price was based on two independent property appraisals, said Julie Gilbert with Houston Public Works.

The next step in developing the property comes Thursday, when the planning commission will consider variances to city rules allowing the building to sit closer to Brazos, Smith and Elgin than normally allowed.

Variances are common in Midtown, where management district and city officials focus on adding pedestrian access rather than parking.

“Constructing the buildings close to the street is seen to be a major factor in creating a pedestrian-friendly streetscape – one which makes pedestrians feel safe and welcome and which is interesting and pleasant to walk along,” Vernon G. Henry & Associates, Inc., said in its application on behalf of the property owners. “When urban buildings are set back from the sidewalk, the area between the sidewalk and the street usually gets fenced and becomes a ‘no-man’s land,’ keeping pedestrians out and building occupants in. This is usually felt to be an unfriendly environment which discourages walking and encourages everyone to drive from one location to the next.”