New Name For HSPVA

Houston's richest couple donates $7.5 million for new HSPVA building

Nancy and Rich Kinder are putting their financial clout behind another unique Houston institution. Houston Independent School District officials announced on Monday that the Houston couple is donating $7.5 million through their foundation toward construction of the new High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in downtown Houston.

The new building, at the corner of Rusk and Austin streets, will be named the Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Construction began in February of this year and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2018.

The gift is pending approval by the HISD Board of Trustees, who will vote on the matter on Thursday. (UPDATE 10/13: After a vigorous debate, the HISD Board of Trustees voted 7-2 to accept the donation and rename the school for the Kinders.)

The $90.2 million project, designed by Gensler, will include a five-story, 168,000-square-foot building with an 800-seat main theater, 200-seat mini-theater, 200-seat black box theater, and 150-seat recital hall. The complex will also include academic classrooms and learning center, studios for creative writing, dance, music, visual arts, and recording, a costume and scene shop, indoor and outdoor dining areas, and two levels of underground parking. The campus is designed for 750 students, all of whom audition for placement.

Officials call the collaboration between a private donor and non-profit organization for the benefit of a HISD public school "an unprecedented partnership." The project received funding of $80.2 million from HISD in a 2012 election approved by voters. HSPVA Friends, a non-profit group that supports the school, has launched a $10 million capital campaign to complete the project. The HSPVA Friends Board of Directors has pledged $670,000 and plans to raise an additional $1.83 million, which when added to the Kinder's $7.5 million lead gift, will reach the goal.

The funds will also provide for ongoing maintenance of equipment, furnishings and programming.

Rich Kinder, 71, the chairman and CEO of Kinder Morgan, is No. 69 on the current Forbes list of 400 Richest Americans, with an estimated net worth of $7 billion. He is the richest Houstonian on the list.

The school lists such notable alums as Beyoncé; Grey's Anatomy star Chandra Wilson, jazz pianist Jason Moran, WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg, actress Mireille Enos, soprano Camille Zamora, photographer Mark Seliger, and Grammy winners Robert Glasper and Bryan-Michael Cox.

A nighttime view of the Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.

Rendering of new HSPVA building night view

Rendering courtsey of Gensler

A nighttime view of the Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.

fundraisers

holiday budgeting news

Here's how much Houstonians are budgeting for holiday gifts in 2025

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

San Antonio residents are expected to spend over $900 on their Christmas gifts this year, WalletHub found.

Residents living in Houston's well-to-do suburbs aren't stressing about stretching their holiday spending this year: A new report from WalletHub found Pearland, The Woodlands, and Sugar Land residents are all among the top-25 biggest holiday spenders in the nation for 2025.

Pearland gift givers are expected to spend $3,277 on their festive presents, says WalletHub's 2025 "Holiday Budgets by City" report.

Pearland's holiday budget earned it No. 19 in WalletHub's national ranking of cities with largest holiday budgets, with The Woodlands and Sugar Land appearing right behind as No. 20 and No. 22, respectively.

To determine the U.S. cities with the biggest holiday budgets, WalletHub's experts compared 558 cities across five categories: Income, age, a debt-to-income ratio, residents' monthly income-to-monthly expenses ratio, and their savings-to-monthly expenses ratio.

The three U.S. cities that boast the loftiest holiday budgets are Palo Alto, California (No. 1); Mountain View, California (No. 2); and Newton, Massachusetts (No. 3). Palo Alto residents are expected to spend nearly $4,500 on their Christmas gifts this year, with the latter cities budgeting for $4,266 and $4,069.

Pearland's current holiday budget is $711 higher than it was in 2024, when the city ranked No. 31 in WalletHub's list of U.S. cities with the biggest holiday spenders. It's also much higher than the $2,127 projected budget from the 2023 report, when Pearland ranked No. 36 nationally. They're definitely competing with Mr. Claus for the "best Christmas present" award.

Festive neighbor The Woodlands ranked as the city with the 10th-highest holiday budgets last year, so its current rank as No. 20 is a bit surprising. Even with a dip in the rankings, The Woodlands residents are still expected to spend a lofty $3,265 on their holiday presents this year, or about $51 less than last year.

Residents living in No. 22-ranking Sugar Land are projected to spend $3,191 on their holiday gifts this year, or $19 less than last year, the report found.

Houston proper ranked 285th on the list with a $1,302 projected holiday budget this year, or $6 more than last year's budget.

Five more Houston-area cities landed in this year's report on the heftiest holiday budgets:

No. 34 – League City ($2,997)
No. 291 – Pasadena ($1,294)
No. 321 – Missouri City ($1,233)
No. 412 – Conroe ($1,063)
No. 490 – Baytown ($890)

Regardless of the dollar amount, Houstonians should pay attention to their spending and pick a budget that works for their financial situation, experts say. The National Retail Federation expects holiday sales to surpass $1 trillion this year, and the report warns credit card debt is a major challenge faced by many Americans as they plan their holiday shopping sprees.

"The holidays bring plenty of joy, but they can also spark seasonal stress, much of it tied to overspending," the report's author wrote. "In Q3 2025, the average household carried $10,227 in credit card debt, up 2.3 percent from the year before, according to WalletHub data. Adding holiday shopping on top of that can quickly increase the financial strain, especially if balances roll into the new year."

Other Texas cities that ranked among the top 100 biggest holiday spenders include:

No. 4 – Flower Mound ($3,941)
No. 12 – Frisco ($3,491)
No. 28 – Allen ($3,055)
No. 31 – Cedar Park ($3,028)
No. 40 – Plano ($2,812)
No. 47 – Round Rock ($2,641)
No. 55 – McKinney ($2,502)
No. 56 – Carrollton ($2,498)
No. 82 – Richardson ($2,146)
No. 96 – North Richland Hills ($1,985)

According to the study's methodology, a consumer is considered to be in a "comfortable financial position to engage in holiday spending if they have: 1) enough emergency savings to cover at least six months of expenses and 2) a debt-to-income ratio smaller than 22 percent for a renter or 43 percent for a homeowner."

holiday budgets holidays christmas wallethub houston pearland the woodlands sugar land suburbs