On Thursday, March 6, Houston First Corporation unveiled a massive expansion and transformation of the area around the George R. Brown Convention Center. At the ceremony, Houston Mayor John Whitmire and other officials spoke about the need for improvements to the facility, including the construction of a new building called GRB Houston South.

“Step one will be the new [George R. Brown Convention Center] South, which we envision as the most flexible and sellable convention building in the United States, allowing us to layer business in a way that we haven’t been able to before,” said Michael Heckman, president and CEO of Houston First. “We’ll be able to host multiple events in our expanded and reimagined building at once. Which in turn will bring more opportunities to Houston, filling more hotel rooms and hospitality businesses, generating millions and millions of dollars in new revenue for our community.”

The dynamic transformation was made possible through Senate Bill 1057, which passed the Texas Legislature in 2023. Championed by then-State Sen. Whitmire, it allows Houston to allocate revenues from the incremental Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) within a three-mile radius of the convention center to the project, estimated to be roughly $2 billion over the next 30 years.

The convention center will receive 700,000 square feet of new space that provides access to the nearby Toyota Center through a 100,000 square foot pedestrian plaza. The goal is to link two of Houston’s major sports venues with the convention center, Discovery Green, and the nearby hotels, creating a walkable center of entertainment.

Plans also call from construction of the largest ballroom in Texas, as well as flexible areas for a variety of events, new restaurant space, green space walkways, and further connections to the separate areas. The Rustic, a live music venue, bar, and restaurant that's located just south of the convention center, is in the path of construction, but Houston First says they are working to find a new home for it within the convention center area.

Phase one of the expansion should be completed in 2028. Whitmire joked that having the project ready by the 2028 Republican National Convention in Houston was a selling point in passing SB 1057 through the legislature.

Whitmire specifically highlighted how the expansion will connect East Downtown (EaDo) to the downtown district. The East End is often segregated from Houston's various improvements, something Whitmire addressed directly.

"The East End has been left out," he said. "[Interstates] 45 and 59 have divided our community. Can you envision what this is going to do?"

It was these remarks that earned Whitmire some praise from the small group of protesters who showed up to the announcement. They were against the loss of Polk Street, which they said was the only two-way road that leads to the convention center from the east. According to spokespeople from Houston First, that change is actually part of a previous TxDOT plan, the North Houston Highway Improvement Project (NHHIP), and not a direct result of the convention center area reconstruction. Nonetheless, protesters urged the mayor to consider the impact of Polk’s loss.

“It’s an important transit corridor for East End residents as well as residents of Third Ward,” Amy Dinn, an EaDo resident, told CultureMap. “How do we get into downtown with that closed? This project can move forward with a Sky Bridge, so we’d still have connectivity for the events, but allow people to continue to access downtown.”

  

Courtesy of Houston First

Rendering of the expansion project.