Pedestrian friendly: Park Eight Place will feature wider sidewalks, engaging storefronts and landscape buffers that will help promote safe and walkable access throughout the development.
It’s been almost six years since the former Halliburton campus at the southern end of Westchase District was purchased for redevelopment. The new owners – a partnership between Johnson Memorial Ventures, an affiliate of Johnson Development and a group of investors – went to work envisioning the potential for the former campus, eventually deciding to demolish the former Halliburton buildings on the property, and saving the parking garage from the wrecking ball. While that work has been visible to anyone driving by the property, the unseen work that has been accomplished by the partnership has paved the way for the recent public announcements of their development plans.
In September, they announced plans for Park Eight Place – a mix of residential units, office buildings and retail spaces, all integrated into a walkable, community-oriented development. The project is aimed at creating a connected environment that promotes health, social gathering and innovation.
In November, the City of Houston awarded a “Walkable Places” designation to Park Eight Place, which reduces building setback requirements and parking ratios for the developer in exchange for creating a more walkable environment. Park Eight Place is the first developer-initiated Walkable Place application approved by the City.
“This designation recognizes efforts of developers to put the pedestrian experience first and foremost, allowing for safer movement on foot, easy entry into buildings and more spaces to gather organically,” said Houston City Council Member Tiffany D. Thomas, whose District F includes Park Eight Place.
Community engagement led the way
Lee Wong is a partner in the group bringing Park Eight Place to life and also a board member of Westchase District. Within months of purchasing the property, the team had engaged SWA Group and the Michael Hsu Office of Architecture to lead community engagement sessions to learn what community members wanted to see in the development. “We wanted to develop a community where people want to go to visit, to live or work, so we needed feedback from the community,” said Wong. Gensler, the global architecture and planning firm, is currently leading master-planning efforts and TBG Partners is currently leading landscape architecture for the project.
They started hyper-local, engaging the property owners in the Oak Park section of Westchase District where the property is located. The property was originally deed-restricted for office use only. But the owners in Oak Park authorized deed changes, which allows the developer to build a mixed-use development that includes office, residential, hospitality, entertainment and retail.
They engaged in several Livable Centers visioning forums sponsored by the Houston-Galveston Area Council and met with various elected officials. Wong and his partners met with the Greater Houston Partnership to learn what employers from outside the Houston region were looking for when they considered Houston as a destination to relocate. They traveled with then Mayor Sylvester Turner to New York to present the project site as a potential for expansion by a large multinational company.
All along, they continued to meet with local residents, the Alief Super Neighborhood Council, local businesses and city council members and state representatives even as those elected offices changed hands. “We started this process with a blank canvas and asked our neighbors, elected officials, planning professionals and other stakeholders to tell us what they wanted to see,” said Wong. “We showed them other developments and asked a lot of questions, like ‘Is this what you’re looking for’ to help focus the conversation and elicit values and preferences.” Hundreds of people participated in the multi-year process.
Walkability was an early goal
Beltway and Bellaire: Park Eight Place will be integrated with the adjacent Art Storey Park and will have a network of plazas, parks and trails.
When fully developed, it is anticipated that Park Eight Place will have three shared-use parking garages. Guests will be able to park their vehicles onsite and walk to any destination within the 70-acre development. “Walkability is one the elements we’re trying to achieve,” said Wong. “It all stems from convenience. How can we bring things closer together for people so they don’t have to hop in the car to reach their next destination?”
Studies have shown that the benefits of walkable communities extend beyond personal health. Pedestrians and cyclists spend more than motorists at local businesses with foot traffic boosting retail spending by up to 30%. And physically active employees take 27% fewer sick days than their colleagues each year, making walkable districts highly attractive to employers focused on attracting and retaining the best talent.
“We are developing Park Eight Place as a defined walkable place because it’s the right thing to do,” said Charles Lusk, general manager of Park Eight Place. “It’s intended to benefit people who desire being outdoors and want more exercise – even in an urban setting – and create a framework to support local businesses that allows people to easily stop into those businesses.
Construction to begin in 2025
The initial plans for Park Eight Place call for more than 700 multi-family units, an office building, condos, ground floor retail and gathering spaces. They have already started work on the detention pond and will begin work on the underground utilities and roads early next year.
The project will feature a sunken garden around the detention pond and walkable trails that will connect to Arthur Storey Park, the Brays Bayou Greenway and the Westchase District trail system.
