Changing Houston
New $76 million downtown building to promote Houston — and continue the Discovery Green frenzy
Houston's business and tourism champions are upgrading their presence with a new 10-story building just north of the George R. Brown Convention Center, which will include a parking garage, a 2,000-square-foot terrace overlooking Discovery Green, retail space at street level below and along streetscapes at the GRB and the foundation to support a possible future boutique hotel on top of it.
The $76 million building, to be called the Greater Houston Partnership Building, is to become the home for the GHP and other tenants such as Houston First Corp., the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Center and Center for Houston's Future.
The GHP will occupy the two top floors, which includes the terrace. A sky bridge will connect the parking garage to the convention center. Plans for retail space on the street level of the building and along Avenida de las Americas at the GRB are being considered. Both the building and parking garage are bounded by Rusk, Capitol, Avenida De Las Americas and U.S. 59.
Construction is set start this fall, with completion of the office building and garage scheduled for December 2015.
Houston First and the GHCVB aligned in June to encourage "collaboration and a consistent, cohesive vision for the Houston product," according to a release issued at that time.
The new building joins the construction of a new $266 million, 1,000-room Mariott Marquis on Avenida de las Americas between Rusk and Walker streets, which broke ground in April. The hotel, in addition to featuring more than 166,000 square feet of meeting, banquet and exhibition space, will include amenities such as a resort-style deck, an infinity pool and a Texas-shaped lazy river for outdoor activities.
The Marriott Marquis Houston, located on 2.6 acres adjacent to the convention center, is scheduled to open in the summer of 2016 — in plenty of time before the 2017 Super Bowl hits Houston.
