Development
Events
BY CASSANDRA JENKINS
BY ROO MOODY
Texas Medical Center to add new hotel, conference center to Helix Park
businesses, as well as performers, educators and guest speakers.
Hotel, convention center and residential tower
January
February
The buildings will include:
• Feb. 7, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. • $20-$35 (per ticket)
Japan Junction: Oshogatsu Celebrate the new year with live performances, traditional games, omikuji fortune telling and hands-on crafts like calligraphy, origami and mochi pounding. • Jan. 10, 11 a.m. • Free • 3801 Eastside St., Houston • www.levyparkhouston.org/featured-events Houston Autoboative Show The annual auto and boat show displays the latest models on the market and offers the opportunity to ask brand experts questions. • Jan. 28-Feb. 1, times vary • $20 (general admission for one day), free (kids ages 5 and under) • NRG Park, 1 Fannin St., Houston • www.nrgpark.com/event/houston-autoboat-show
• NRG Park, 1 Fannin St., Houston • www.worldodditiesexpo.com
18,000-square-foot conference center
250 hotel rooms
300 residential units
Daddy Daughter Disco The city of Bellaire is inviting fathers and daughters to Bellaire City Hall to get their groove on for a night of daddy and daughter dancing. Attire for the event is glam meets groovy. • Feb. 7, 6:30-9 p.m. • $55 (residents), $70 (non-residents) • 7008 S. Rice Ave., Bellaire • www.bellairetx.gov/837/Daddy-Daughter-Dance Making Tracks Accompanied by an adult, children aged 3 to 7 can participate in the Nature Discovery Center’s new program, which highlights nature’s mess makers by playing with materials such as foam and slime. • Feb. 8, 10-11:15 a.m. • $22 (members), $27 (non-members) • 7112 Newcastle St., Bellaire • www.naturediscoverycenter.org
Officials with the Texas Medical Center are looking to add a place where visitors, patients and residents can stay inside Helix Park when visiting the center’s hospitals, research labs and campuses. What we know Bill McKeon, the president of the Texas Medical Center, announced during the State of TMC event Nov. 20 that a new hotel, conference center and residential tower will break ground in 2026. McKeon said during his speech that the develop- ment is driven by a need for more space to gather and host larger events, as the current capacity of the TMC3 building has begun to reach capacity. “This is the largest medical center in the world with 60-plus institutions—we don’t have a confer- ence center,” he said. “This is something that we have needed forever.”
The new building will take over the entire north end of Helix Park, McKeon said—a space that sits as an empty parking lot. He noted the project is already fully financed, but did not share the overall cost. Construction is slated to start in 2026 and take approximately two years to build. In related news McKeon also announced that The Commons, located at 6550 Bertner Ave., will receive a new facelift. The building serves as a restaurant hub for employees and visitors to use. Improvements include replacing the exterior’s running wall of water with a “kinetic wall.” A kinetic wall, according to Extech, a company that builds them, is a dynamic wind-driven facade that creates the appearance of rolling waves. The green space located outside of the building will
1 Future residential tower
3 The Commons 4 The Waterwall & green space
2 Future hotel &
conference center
JOHN FREEMAN BLVD.
HELIX PARK AVE.
1
Lunar New Year Celebration Celebrate the Year of the Horse with the Asia Society Texas Center and enjoy vibrant performances, arts and craft activities and traditional food inspired by traditions across Asia. Registration is required. • Feb. 14, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. • Free (admission), $12 (ticketed performance) • 1370 Southmore Blvd., Houston • www.asiasociety.org
2
BERTNER AVE.
FUTURE WAY
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4
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SOURCE: TEXAS MEDICAL CENTER/COMMUNITY IMPACT
February
also be transformed to include a park with trees, a shaded bus stop and seating options. New restau- rants and brands are also slated to be added to The Commons. Renovations began on Jan. 1.
World Oddities Expo The traveling oddities festival claims to be where weirdness thrives and features artisans and small
BUFFALO SPEEDWAY 9733 Buffalo Speedway (713) 838-7486
HOLCOMBE 2314 W Holcombe Blvd (713) 669-1722
WESLAYAN 3902 Bissonnet (713) 218-8144
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