(Houston) - The Marq*E Entertainment Center is about to undergo a major renovation to rectify what the current owner calls flaws in the original design that violate the rules of retail.

The complex — which sits on I-10 just west of Loop 610 — is anchored by Edwards Cinema, Dave & Buster’s and LA Fitness. The owner is now going to tear down parts of the 358,000-sf center that face the freeway so people can see more of what the Marq*E has to offer.

The Marq*E was acquired in 2006 by basketball Magic Johnson’s Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund LP of Beverly Hills, Calif., and Houston-based Fidelis Realty Partners Ltd., which is the managing partner of the center.

Fidelis brought in Hermes Architects Inc. to redesign Marq*E’s midsection and reposition tenants.

As part of the plan, approximately 60,000 sf will be demolished and 50,000 sf of new space will be built. Drink Houston, Pump it Up and the Improv Comedy Club will relocate into new spaces in phases, then their building will be torn down and replaced with surface parking.

Construction on the redesign project will begin in January and be finished by the end of 2010.

Fidelis’ Lynn Davis says the owners began discussing renovation financing in January 2008 with lender Bear, Sterns & Co. Inc., which held the note on the Marq*E. However, the financial institution was subsequently taken over by the Federal Reserve. As a result, Davis says, Fidelis was required to obtain government approval for the private construction project.

The Federal Reserve granted that approval last month by extending and refinancing the loan to pay for construction at the ten-year-old center.

Upon completion of the project, which includes the addition of some recently constructed retail space along Silber, the Marq*E will lose roughly 11,000 sf, but gain more than 230 parking spots.