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George R. Brown Convention Center Redevelopment, Office Building & W Hotel


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  • 2 weeks later...

http://www.houstonconventiondistrict.com/

 

Pace of Garage Construction to Increase

 

The process of building a seven-story garage capable of housing nearly 2,000 cars is a lot of hurry up and wait before it moves into the hold-onto-your-hat phase.

That’s where Houston First now stands in construction of its new parking facility at the north end of the George R. Brown Convention Center. With the cornerstone piece now in place, the structure is heading skyward and there is an expectation that the pace will quicken considerably.

Construction contractors say erecting all the pre-cast concrete that frames the garage will essentially be a summer-long project, meaning the visible structure will go up in about five months. Much more unseen work within the garage, spanning many more months, will remain to be done before the facility is ready for occupancy next year. But the upshot is that the basic framework will look like a garage to the lay person in very short order.

One of the challenging aspects to the project is that the garage will be built above Metro’s new commuter rail line that is slated to open in several weeks. The tracks bisect the construction site. At some point construction will take place at night when electrical power to the rail lines can be taken off line.     

When the garage is complete it will offer parkers access to the convention center, two hotels under construction and design and the new GHP Tower, the future home of Houston First, Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau and its namesake, the Greater Houston Partnership.

First Retail Proposal Under Review

Preliminary interest in retail development in the neighborhood surrounding the George R. Brown Convention Center is very healthy, according to the firms contracted by Houston First to manage the development process.

As many as seven new retail, restaurant, sidewalk cafes and entertainment venues will be added to as part of a bold streetscape makeover. Houston First, which manages the George R. Brown, is contracting with Griffin Partners and Wulfe & Co. for the development process. 

The initial step was to obtain retail concepts from interested parties. The first call produced more than 35 concepts for consideration.

Griffin Partners and Wulfe & Co. will sift through the proposals and make recommendations to Houston First so that approval may be given to begin lease negotiations.  Griffin Partners is a commercial real estate development firm and Wulfe & Co. provides expertise in leasing, sales, consulting, site selection services, property management and investment sales for property owners and retailers.

Ric Campo, chairman of Houston First, said getting the right mix of private-sector development is critical in the overall growth of the area and is in keeping with the Convention District master plan.

“These new people places will be major amenities for the Avenida de las Americas (the boulevard in front of the GRB), the Hilton-Americas Houston hotel, Discovery Green, the new Marriott Marquis under construction and the new offices included in the master plan,” Campo said.

Katherine Wildman and Bunny McLeod of Wulfe & Co. are targeting a variety of full service and fast casual restaurants of various sizes and types, and will assist Houston First in the administration of the process to identify suitable tenants.  The new restaurants will have large patio opportunities fronting Avenida de las Americas, offering vistas to an exciting streetscape.

The new spaces are anticipated to be turned over to tenants by spring 2016 with openings scheduled for late 2016, in advance of the 2017 Super Bowl and close to the opening of Marriott Marquis, the 1,000-room hotel now under construction at Avenida de las Americas and Walker.

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With all the new residential developments in downtown and midtown, the new light rail extensions, and better bike access to downtown, I wonder if we'll ever hit a point where new parking garage construction will start to taper off. 

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If I had the option to live and work downtown, I would do it without a car. In theory, everything should eventually be either within walking or biking distance, or accessible by bus or rail. Outside of that I would Uber it. The savings in car payments and gas would be well worth it.

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