As the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is gearing up for its 81st annual event, officials made a quiet announcement on its website: The organization has acquired 48 acres (of the 92 total acres) of the hallowed Astroworld land, adjacent to Reliant Park.
The property purchase was confirmed in an interview with the Houston Business Journal. As rodeo board chairman R.H. "Steve" Stevens, Jr., explained, "We'd had discussions with them in the past but had really serious negotiations just in the past month."
And just in time, following recent speculation about the site's future as a mixed use development.
So what will Rodeo Houston do with this spacious acreage? That's something that officials haven't quiet determined.
"We'll use it for parking for sure," Stevens told the HBJ. "There could be other uses on a longer-term basis, or we could use it to free up space on the original (Reliant Park) footprint. That's about as far as it goes."
Rodeo Houston said that the purchase price — "after charitable considerations by the seller," MHB Asset LP — was $42.8 million. It is expected to "serve as a long-term investment for the Show, diversifying its investment portfolio."
