First - here's a link to the story and below pieces from the story that mention the organization and its organization:
- Representatives of Houston First Corp. are proposing to transform the area around the George R. Brown Convention Center into a landscaped and more walkable pedestrian-friendly city center, with more retail and less car traffic, in time for the city to host the NFL's marquee game three years from now.
- Civic leaders have not put a dollar figure to the project, which would be funded entirely by Houston First, the quasi-governmental agency that owns the Hilton Americas Houston and manages more than 10 city-owned buildings including the convention center.
The project, if approved by the Houston First board, would be completed in spring 2016, said Ric Campo, who chairs both the agency and the Super Bowl 2017 host committee.
The convention center area would be a focal point of the city's Super Bowl-related activities. Campo said it could accommodate about 100,000 revelers.
- While releasing detailed renderings on Thursday, Campo described the project as still in the conceptual stage. He said the Houston First board of directors has the authority to approve or reject the design and set the budget.
Here's a link to the organization's website.
It's mission - from the website:
It's mission - from the website:
We are leading the effort to have Houston recognized as one of the great cities of the world. Houston First is a local government corporation that manages more than 10 city-owned building, plazas, and parking facilities. Properties include Miller Outdoor Theatre, the Wortham Center, George R. Brown Convention Center, Jones Hall, and Hilton Americas-Houston.
The primary offices of Houston First are located within the George R. Brown Convention Center.
The organization seems to - primarily - use hotel occupancy tax (HOT) revenue to make developments that are intended to increase travel to Houston, which leads to increased HOT revenue, which leads to more travel, and on and on and on.
Its a relative new organization - follow links to the corporate documents on the website for specifics and dates. Here's a link to the certificate of corporation which includes the parts of the Texas Statutory Code which allows the city to establish the organization.
The link to the board of directors gives a hint about which interests are tied into the organization. Real estate developers are heavily represented - which makes sense since they are among the groups most likely to benefit if more people decide to move to an increasingly attractive city.
The website contains a handful of links to press releases with detail about the group's effort to make Houston more attractive to travelers.
2306 students should keep this story in mind as we begin to discuss cities and the fact that they are economic entities primarily.
