A few years ago, Jim Crane bought the land Home Plate BBQ site on, with the intent of building a ballpark village mixed use development. On January 6th, Home Plate BBQ quietly closed its doors and auctioned off its equipment. Since then, the entire site has been fenced in. The SP 982 steam engine is slated to be moved this week. The Cohn house will be moved temporarily next to 59 and MMP. While the Astros haven’t publicly said anything, today demolition of Home Plate BBQ began. Considering the timing, I predict the Astros will announce their ballpark village plans during Astros Fan Fest.
I’m all for this. This would be a really great addition to the experience of going to a ballgame at MMP.
I’m on board but it’s bittersweet. My second date with my wife started with Home Plate before an Astros game - first date was at the Russian Bear off Dairy Ashford.
Agreed. MMP has still held up very well, despite being over 20 years old, and the new additions within the ballpark help keep it fresh... but there isn’t that much surrounding the ballpark, other than the Marriott (which is not a bad place to hang before/after). Most teams now have something like this going on. Even Wrigleyville has seen the Cubs develop their own sponsored area.
I hope the architecture / facade matches MMP/Union Station as opposed to trying to match and tie in to the Marriott. Regardless, this is really good news. I'm looking forward to hearing more of what they're planning.
I have to say, since Crane took ownership him and his crew have a done a great job keeping MMP fresh. In this day and age where ballparks retire early, MMP and its vicinity gets stronger and better with age.
I think there’s even more potential. Union Station was a novelty early with rooftop parties and a restaurant there, but now other than housing the team store and offices it really doesn’t contribute to the game day experience. Still waiting for them to give the ok to have seating “carts” on the train and allow people to buy tickets and ride/watch the game from up there. Minus getting run over by the retractable roof, I’m sure they could build some sort of “platform extension” that allows fans to traverse that area but also look out over the green space on the outside of MMP.
With some of the bars shutting down in EaDo, having somewhere to go after games will be something to look forward to once the ballpark opens back up fully for fans.
More updates on this. The land will be come a parking lot first as the design for the Astros mixed use isn’t complete yet. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/bu...MpAL0Xf9ClqRu1G0-BmHfwYBHwD0JSze09RxiQu63Wk7Q
good idea. couldve been cool to incorporate the blue house or especially the train somehow, but still a good idea
^^^ Sweet. As an out of towner, the Rockets and Astros have a great selection of hotels, airbnb, bars, and restaurants nearby. Seems like Covid really killed a lot of the momentum along Main St.
Land where home plate etc was at was sold for 17-18 mill. they need this type of vibe around the stadium.
