Results tagged “andyicken”

>> City offers $15.5M for possible stadium site: The Chronicle reports that the city has said it'll pay more than $15.5 million for five downtown blocks that could become the site of a stadium for the Dynamo. The parcel is bounded by Texas and Walker on the north and south and Dowling and Hutchins on the east and west; it's just east of the Lofts at the Ballpark and immediately south of a vast Minute Maid Park parking lot. The city's offer assumes the land is worth $49 a square foot, which is less than an outside assessor's estimate of $50 to $55 but way, more than Harris County's appraisal of $12.50 a square foot. The offer doesn't mean a stadium on the site is a done deal, though: Andy Icken, the city's deputy director for public works and engineering, said a stadium will only be built if the city can reach an acceptable agreement with the Dynamo owners.

Issues with the development - dear to many Houstonians - is whether or not there will be adequate parking and increased traffic congestion. Lamesa has ensured that there will be public parking included in the plans, and that there is enough parking planned for the development itself. Area resident Bill Faloon though, is still worried. He said that the developers repeatedly have said they'll build with or without seizing Bolsover St., and also that he hasn't heard of any tenants signing on yet - that means there isn't an accurate way to assess true parking needs and traffic flow. Andy Icken, the city's Deputy Director of Public Works, seems to feel differently:

"Not to say the traffic in Rice Village isn't a difficult situation for people to navigate," but, he said, Sonoma and the closing of Bolsover should not make it worse.

Continue reading "Bolsover or not, Sonoma's coming"

Earlier this month, we talked about the proposal to build a youth sports complex on the site of the Wortham Park Golf Course, one of three public courses inside the Loop and an East End institution for a hundred years. The complex proposal is part of Houston's push to keep the Dynamo in town — the team is looking for a new stadium and has stipulated that a youth soccer/sports complex be part of the deal, and Houston is keen to keep the men in orange from moving to the suburbs.

Since the Houston Dynamo moved to town last year, it's been a foregone conclusion that someone somewhere would have to build the team a stadium. But where — and who — is still up in the air, and as the Chronicle reports today, Houston is trying to put together a plan that would keep the Dynamo from rocking the suburbs. The focus of the Chron's report is a proposal to put a Dynamo stadium downtown...