In the News

May 3, 2024

Just as modern parks and public spaces have learned that active programming really draws interest and attendance, downtown Houston appears to be adopting the playbook to boost reasons to work, live, play – and even stay there.

In a 1Q 2024 market report shared by Downtown Houston Plus – which represents Central Houston, Downtown Houston District and Downtown Redevelopment Authority – the findings’ takeaway is in its title: On Solid Ground.

“The pandemic is in the rear-view window,” said Kris Larson, CEO and president of the organization, which stewards and monitors the economic performance of downtown.

May 2, 2024

A Florida real estate firm has purchased Jones on Main, a mixed-use complex that has been a landmark in downtown Houston for about 100 years.

The deal is a sign that some investors are still willing to bet on Houston office space in spite of the broader challenges facing landlords post-pandemic.

The Wideman Co., an Orlando-based real estate firm, paid an undisclosed, all-cash price for the complex on April 30, the company said. The acquisition includes the JPMorgan Chase Bank Building, a 34-story, 794,000-square-foot tower at 712 Main as well as its companion building, the Great Jones Building, a 10-story, 95,000-square-foot tower at 708 Main.

May 1, 2024

The latest progress on that effort is the More Space: Main Street 2.0 project moving into its final design and engineering phase. Downtown Houston+, the organization previously known as Central Houston, is spearheading the project that will permanently transform seven blocks of Main Street, from Rusk Street to Allen’s Landing Park, into a pedestrian promenade.

This is one part of the solution to negating Houston’s notoriety for being a place that requires a vehicle to get around, Downtown Houston+ President and CEO Kristopher Larson told Bisnow.

Apr 14, 2024

A Houston developer is planning a nearly 500-unit district in downtown Houston offering housing priced for low- and moderate-income residents — a unique offering for an area with some of highest rents in the region.
“With 25% of our employment base working in the service industry and similar jobs, providing housing for them is an essential ingredient of a healthy downtown economy,” said Kris Larson, CEO of Downtown Houston+.

Feb 7, 2024

Antioch Missionary Baptist Church has held strong for 158 years through wars, civil rights movements, and two pandemics.
By Uvie Bikomo

Jan 10, 2024

The old days are never coming back, which is fine. Nostalgia isn’t how Houston rolls. The office vacancies today are a chance to make a better city, one where people of all income levels and backgrounds can benefit from the vast potential of creating new housing.

Dec 14, 2023

Service Corporation International (NYSE: SCI), one of Houston's largest publicly traded companies, is one step closer to building a new headquarters tower on the site of KHOU's former home.

The Downtown Redevelopment Authority board, which administers Houston's Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone No. 3, voted on Dec. 12 to authorize a tax increment reimbursement of $13.79 million for public infrastructure improvements and storm resilience related to the $150 million SCI project. The move will provide significant public benefit — including job retention, enhanced public storm water management, pedestrian amenities and environmental resiliency — without incurring upfront cost or new debt for the city, the DRA said.

Dec 2, 2023

Nearly 40 years ago, the U.S. Post Office named its regional post office at 401 Franklin St. after trailblazing congresswoman and Houston icon Barbara Jordan.

Jordan was remembered again Saturday at the same spot with the unveiling of a monument titled “I Am Barbara Jordan” at the site, now home to POST Houston, which bills itself as a dining, cultural and workplace hub.

The sculpture, designed by artist Angelbert Metoyer, features Jordan sitting, facing south toward the skyline with her right hand outstretched.

Nov 22, 2023

Houston shows it’s not inevitable or hopeless. We may not eliminate homelessness altogether, but if we could reduce it by 60 percent, as the city has, we would be a better nation. And one sign of the success of Houston’s approach is that others are copying it.

Nov 3, 2023

Sometime in the future, going to an Astros game might also include a stop at a themed bar for some pregame Karbach Crawford Bocks, shopping for a sweet Tequila Sunrise-style jacket, and shoving down some tacos al pastor with friends mere steps from Minute Maid Park. All within an hour and on the same piece of land.

That’s the idea behind the planned multi-million-dollar "entertainment district" the Astros unveiled Thursday at the 2023 State of Downtown event hosted by economic development nonprofit Central Houston.

Nov 3, 2023

Despite the well-publicized challenges facing Houston’s office market, Central Houston Inc. President and CEO Kris Larson said there are plenty of reasons to remain bullish on downtown as a place to do business.

During Larson’s annual “State of Downtown” address Nov. 2, he said downtown’s office buildings are well positioned to benefit from the ongoing flight-to-quality trend that has been underway across the city for many years.

“Seventy percent of all our downtown office space is Class A space, and 36% has either been constructed or renovated since 2020,” Larson said. “We also have another 375,000 square feet of Class A space under construction.”

Aug 4, 2023

Investments pouring into downtown promise to breathe life into the area. Kristopher Larson, president and CEO of Central Houston, is the person tasked with overseeing downtown’s revitalization. And he has some big ideas about what comes next.

Nov 28, 2022

When Kris Larson landed in the job that made him the new face of downtown Houston, he knew he had big shoes to fill. His predecessor, Bob Eury, had led the downtown economic development group Central Houston since its inception about 40 years ago. Larson is working to knit together the three organizations under a shared vision to shepherd in the next phase of growth for downtown.