Hines to Lead Convention Center Development

HOUSTON – (Realty News Report) – Hines, the global real estate developer based in Houston, has been selected to lead a major expansion of the George R. Brown Convention Center in Downtown Houston.

The expansion is expected to add 500,000 SF of space on the south side of the convention center, enabling Houston to attract larger and more lucrative conventions.

Houston’s convention complex currently includes 1.8 million SF. Planned construction will expand Houston’s convention facilities to about 2.5 million SF, if all goes as planned.

A new skybridge is expected to connect the new convention center building to the Toyota Center arena.

Finalized plans have not been disclosed, but Houston First will be hoping for more “activated’ sidewalks, storefronts, restaurants and foot traffic around the convention center. Creating outstanding restaurants and retail venues within easy walking distance is a vital part of a successful convention city.

“We are honored to partner with Houston First on the convention district transformation project,” said John Mooz, senior managing director at Hines. “As a significant stakeholder in Houston’s Central Business District for over 50 years, we understand the vital importance of this ambitious and truly impactful project. Our team is committed to helping Houston First create a convention campus and entertainment district that showcases the best of Houston and catalyzes economic growth for the entire city.”

Hines founder, Mr. Gerald D. Hines, developed the 50-story One Shell Plaza, which opened in downtown in 1971 as the first of many downtown Houston high-rises built by the firm.

Houston First Corp., the city’s convention agency, is preparing to buy 2.7 acres of downtown land for the convention center expansion. The property (known as Block 309 and Block 310) is east of Jackson Street and north of Bell Street.

The scope of the work sets the stage for a transformative expansion of downtown Houston to the east.

The prevailing future vision calls for the eastern boundary of downtown to essentially be erased.

Today, Highway 59, a freeway that runs beside the convention center is the de facto boundary of downtown. But an ambitious effort to rebuild and re-route the freeway network in downtown will depress the freeways below grade, clearing the way for a deck park to be constructed over the roadway below. The depressed-freeway tactic created a platform for Dallas’s Klyde Warren Park, a public green space that is now surrounded with new high-rise residential and office towers, including the global headquarters of location-minded CBRE, the largest commercial real estate firm in the world.

Houston’s future park over the freeway improvements may not be completed until a decade from now. The 30-acre deck park, suspended above the freeway at the back door of the convention center, will be a transformative location for the city’s growth. The 12-acre Discovery Green park in front of the convention center has been a big success – and the new larger eastside green space behind the convention center will be an important place for even more Houstonians someday. Economic growth will invigorate properties and neighborhoods on the east side.

So this convention center expansion is critical to setting up the connecting gateway to the east, including for pedestrians headed to the EaDo area. A false step and this convention center expansion could become a barrier to the eastward flow, rather than something that enhances it.

“This is a generational opportunity for Houston to transform the eastern edge of its downtown and ensure that we remain a Tier 1 convention city for years to come,” said Michael Heckman, president and CEO of Houston First Corp.

According to a Houston First press release, “The development is being planned in coordination with the Texas Department of Transportation’s I-45 re-routing and US 59/I-69 lowering projects to ensure seamless integration and connectivity.”

Funding for the convention center expansion will be financed through the state’s portion of the Hotel Occupancy Tax. The legislation was authored by former state senator – and now Houston mayor – John Whitmire.

Construction on phase one of the convention center work will start in 2025.

At 2.5 million SF, Houston’s convention center won’t become as big as the 4.6 million SF Las Vegas Convention Center, considered by many to be the nation’s top convention city.

Some say Houston’s weather is a barrier to becoming America’s top convention city. But compared to Las Vegas, where the forecast calls for a high of 109 degrees, Houston’s weather will be quite balmy.

Image: Courtesy Houston First Corp.

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