Houston Acquiring Land for New Urban Park

[gc]

City begins acquiring land for new urban park
By MIKE SNYDER
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

The city has begun acquiring property for a 13-acre urban park that is likely to trigger substantial new development on the east side of downtown, Mayor Bill White said today.

White said the city signed a contract today with Crescent Real Estate Equities Inc. to purchase 5.29 acres just west of the George R. Brown Convention Center. The city will acquire the remaining, adjacent property by the end of the year, design the park next year and start construction in 2006, White said. The park should be open by 2007, he said. "You will see an explosion of growth around the periphery of this park," White told the annual meeting of Central Houston Inc., adding that the new development would strengthen the city's tax base and enhance the continuing revitalization of downtown.

White said private contributions would pay for at least 80 percent of the park's estimated $80 million cost. The city's contributions would come from hotel and entertainment tax revenues rather than property taxes, White said. The new park, which would be the largest downtown and one of the largest in the central part of Houston, would attract convention visitors as well as local families, White said. The park would complement the vision for downtown development over the next 20 years unveiled this week by Central Houston and other downtown organizations. The "framework for downtown development" calls for increasing downtown's residential population from 3,000 to 20,000, and downtown leaders said parks were an important amenity to attract families to live downtown.

White said all great cities have preserved land in their centers for major parks. He said this may have been Houston's last opportunity to acquire park property downtown before rising real estate values made it impossible. "This will be a unique urban green space that will last for centuries in this community," White said.

[drumguy8800]

I'd say this is probably way more progressive than Dallas, but who knows how long these plans have been in the works. Does anyone know anything about Houston's government? Is it efficient, or is it kinda like Dallas'?

[Geaux Tigers]

I'd say Dallas is already WAY ahead of Houston as far as land acquisition is concerned. It's just that there are no plans to do anything with the Trinity forest.

[gc]

I'd say this is probably way more progressive than Dallas, but who knows how long these plans have been in the works. Does anyone know anything about Houston's government? Is it efficient, or is it kinda like Dallas'?

Good question. I am not sure of the day to day politics in Houston. I do know that they have a strong-mayor form of government that is very active in supporting DTH. They also have a downtown development corporation....something Dallas leaders did not want.