Good call on this man!!!! http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=107788&highlight=house+blues 01-25-2006, 11:56 AM #14 ima_drummer2k Contributing MemberSince: Oct 2002Posts: 10,732 Member: #7523 Pretty cool news. I think there is plenty of parking downtown but they always have half the lots closed off for no apparent reason. Now the next thing we need to do is turn the Astrodome into something like this.
This is true and all, but Houstons's case might out to be pure cannibalism. These two venues are now going to be competeing head to head for landing conventions in this city. And they are both stacking up on amenities to offer convention goers. GRB adds Hilton Americas and the new downtown park, Reliant is now looking to trumph that addition with the Astrodome project. If the Astrodome hotel deal becomes reality (which it likely will) I bet this might force a total overhaul of the Park Shops near GRB or some other new project to counter the Astrodome Hotel's effect on Reliant Center. Because with the addition of the Astrodome Hotel, Reliant Center has GRB beat when it comes to amenities. And in the convention business, its all about amenities.....
as someone who doesn't have an ownership interest in both and is merely a 4th generation houstonian, i don't care. i just like the idea that we've increased our odds of attracting those events.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/4855990.html June 2, 2007, 12:47AM Plan for Dome '100 percent privately financed' Group submits pitch for vision of stadium; approval remains uncertain A company that aims to turn the Reliant Astrodome into an upscale convention hotel met a Friday deadline for showing that it is on track to obtain financing for the $450 million project, the company's president said. Astrodome Redevelopment Co. missed a deadline three months ago to show it had preliminary approval for financing, but the county extended the deadline to Friday. "We felt like we complied" with the deadline, Astrodome Redevelopment president Scott Hanson said. "We submitted a package with our financing." Willie Loston, director of the Harris County Sports & Convention Corp., which oversees Reliant Park, said he and other county officials could not say whether Astrodome Redevelopment complied because they haven't had time to review the company's submission. Loston said he and Mike Surface, chair of the sports and convention corporation, will review the submission in the coming days. They will report to the sports and convention corporation's board on the issue at its mid-June meeting. County officials have searched for a new use for the Dome since plans were made to build Reliant Stadium. Many are reluctant to call for tearing down the Dome because some residents feel sentimentally attached to the world's first domed stadium, once dubbed the "Eighth Wonder of the World." But it has become a bit of a white elephant, costing the county up to $1.5 million to operate annually, depending on what events it hosts. Razing the Dome wouldn't be inexpensive — it would cost at least $30 million. And the county still owes more than $40 million for improvements made to the building during the 1980s. The sports and convention corporation asked private firms to submit plans on finding another use for the structure. Officials opted for Astrodome Redevelopment's plan to reinvent the Dome as a four-star convention hotel. Astrodome Redevelopment has proposed a hotel with at least 1,000 rooms, a 2,100-space garage around part of the Dome's exterior, and nightclubs, restaurants and retail stores. The entrepreneurs envision the facility as a destination attraction, with winding waterways and gondola rides. Astrodome Redevelopment has discussed building a ramp connecting the hotel parking lot to Loop 610 so hotel traffic wouldn't interfere with other events at Reliant Park. The company discussed whether taxes generated by the hotel could be used to pay for the ramp and possibly other infrastructure improvements needed to operate the facility. But a proposal to rebate the facility's hotel and sales taxes to the county died in the Legislature last month. "Any bill that would have helped fund the infrastructure would have been beneficial," Hanson said. "It was disappointing." The bill's death meant that Astrodome Redevelopment could no longer include contingent plans for some public financing for infrastructure, Hanson said. "We've gone with a different package," he said. Loston said, "Today, this is a 100 percent privately financed project." Commissioners Court would have to approve a plan to lease the Dome to a private firm such as Astrodome Redevelopment. Commissioner Steve Radack has said he has serious reservations about the project's economic viability and would oppose using public money to finance it. bill.murphy@chron.com
