METRORail Stadium Park/Astrodome

[Chris Alexander]

I've now read the entire thread and Tory Gattis's linked article. A few thoughts about the Astrodome as HQ2. First, to cut to the chase, it's not going to happen. Rodeo and NFL/Texans would veto in a nanosecond. The only way Amazon would get that building is if they purchase both RODEOHOUSTON and the Houston Texans. Then there's the complicating factor that the property is owned by Harris County, so the city can't actually submit a proposal to Amazon without full county partnership. City and county are getting along well, but I would be stunned to see that happening by October 19, two weeks from now. 

There's also another stakeholder now, the Texas Historical Commission, which has to issue a permit for any modification to the Astrodome. While my reading of the tea leaves leads me to believe THC is going to be very forgiving in their approval of modifications, I would guess that the scope and scale of modifications required to enable HQ2 are outside THC's red lines.

For several years now Astrodome Tomorrow has been advocating the building of new, multilevel structures inside the Dome, around the perimeter of the main floor. Such vertical construction is NOT part of the $105 M project now in the design stage, but we believe (partly by reading tea leaves) that the FOUNDATION PIERS and other structures needed to support such development in the future ARE being designed into the current project. We have appealed to all the decision makers and the Kirksey architects to do so. It would be tragically short-sighted if they don't, because that additional floor footage is needed if the Dome is to produce floor-lease revenue sufficient to pay for its upkeep over the long term.

The old Astroworld property would be a better fit in some ways. Plusses are access to transit (red line terminus and park/ride across the street, straight shot down Bellfort to Hobby), property size and near-core location, adjacent expansion property. But there are issues. First there's no existing campus of buildings to occupy by 2018, and also there is some occasional street flooding in that immediate neighborhood. Having Amazon across the freeway would be a great assist to success of the kind of Astrodome/NRG Stadium Park redevelopment we have proposed. -- Chris Alexander for Astrodome Tomorrow