By
Rand Stephens (Houston)
The economy in Houston is looking strong. Unemployment is down. The energy sector is bouncing back and
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| Memorial Park Connector - Land Bridge |
the
city is close to full recovery from Hurricane Harvey. And now, Houston is about
to get a little greener, thanks to Rich and Nancy Kinder, the Houston Parks and
Recreation Department, the Memorial Park Conservancy and the Uptown Development
Authority. Recently, the Kinders, via the Kinder Foundation, pledged an
historic $70
million to the Memorial Park Conservancy for improving the 1,500
acre urban park – the largest in the nation and double the size of New York’s
Central Park. This collaborative effort
will have a long-lasting impact on the community and visitors for generations
to come. Connecting public and private resources
and partnerships produce innovative results.
Established in the 1920s, Memorial Park is the only former
WWI training camp in the country that has not been completely developed. With
more than 4 million visitors a year enjoying its running and bike trails, and
sports facilities for volleyball, baseball, swimming and golf, it makes sense
to invest in a plan that will connect neighborhoods to neighborhoods, link the
park to Houston’s expanding hike-and-bike networks and provide access points to
the hundreds of acres of inaccessible land.
Although not part of the plan, connecting Memorial Park to Buffalo Bayou
Park would mean approximately six miles of park trails extending from downtown
Houston to uptown Houston – a bold concept to make this city an even better
place to live, work and play.
Houston leads the nation in implementing public-private
partnerships to improve and care for public assets. Each member in this alliance is to be
commended for transforming their vision into reality. Having the foresight to include Memorial Park
to the Uptown Houston Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) was critical to
making this plan happen. [Unique to
Texas, the state tax code allows a county or municipality to designate a
geographic area a TIRZ to promote development or redevelopment of the area.] Connecting group resources of government, non-profits and
private philanthropy is no easy feat, but Houston emerges as a shining star for
this collaboration which, will have a lasting positive impact on the community
for generations to come.
(Rand Stephens is a Principal of Avison Young and
Managing Director of the company’s Houston office.)
