A $40 million parking garage planned for the edge of downtown Houston is the first brick in a sweeping reimagining of the George R. Brown Convention Center and surrounding district.
Houston First Corporation, the city-aligned entity overseeing the convention center and the Hilton Americas-Houston hotel, plans a 950-space precast concrete garage at 1835 Bell Street, near the Toyota Center, the Houston Business Journal reported.
The garage will replace an older structure slated for demolition as part of the expansion and will connect to the Hilton via skywalk.
Houston First CEO Michael Heckman said the filing is “just the first” in a series of planned updates tied to a major overhaul of the convention center.
That first phase also includes the construction of a 700,000-square-foot southern convention building and a reworked central plaza with public pavilions, green space and pedestrian connectivity to the east side of downtown, long seen as disconnected from the city core.
The planned garage is slightly smaller than the one it will replace, but officials say surrounding development, including a large Toyota Center garage, will help meet overall demand.
The broader convention center expansion is being managed by Hines, with design work led by Populous and Jacobs Advance Planning Group. Gilbane and Flintco will handle construction management.
The development is backed by a projected $2 billion in revenue enabled by a 30-year hotel occupancy tax, approved by the Texas Legislature in 2023, to fund capital improvements in the convention district.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire has said the redevelopment will be one of the most significant downtown development projects in half a century. Renderings suggest the venue’s cruise-ship-like facade could be replaced by a more sustainable aesthetic, incorporating mass timber, rooftop gardens and improved public access.
But first, parking. Construction is expected to start next year, according to a state filing.
— Judah Duke
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