Photo by Houston In Pics
The city of Houston has withdrawn from bidding on the downtown post office, Mayor Annise Parker wrote in a letter to City Council members Tuesday.
City officials said they wanted to keep their options open in bidding on the site, saying it could have a number of uses, chief among them as a location for the city’s planned police and courts complex. Parker’s letter also notes the site could give commuter rail an entry point to downtown.
Some developers eager to scoop up the high-profile 16-acre property at Bagby and Franklin just east of Interstate 45 had expressed their displeasure at the city’s interest in the property to council members in recent weeks.
“When we entered the bidding we did not think that the competition with private interests and the concern about us being in that fight would be as strong as they are and, on second thought, we decided it’s probably best if we do pull out,” Parker spokeswoman Janice Evans said Tuesday.
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Central Houston chairman Ric Campo said the site is crucial to improving the theater district and the northwest section of downtown. The city’s interest, he said, generated ample chatter among those active in the central business district.
“It wasn’t a quiet conversation,” Campo said. “There were voices on both sides. Having the city step aside, there must have been louder voices on the private side. It gets to be a political issue whenever you get something like that.” Should the city be involved or not be involved?”
See here and here for the background. While I’m sure it will be better in the long run for the old post office to become some kind of mixed-use development – this Chron editorial made the point that something other than a government building would be a lot more amenable to the overall plan for Buffalo Bayou – I still don’t quite get the fuss about this. If the process was fair and the city was submitting a fair bid, what’s wrong with that? Be that as it may, the city will look elsewhere for its police and courts complex. That’s fine by me. Houston Public Media has more.
My fantasy use for this site would be as a public space hosting the new high-speed rail/Amtrak station, our unique iteration of the Space Needle/Eiffel Tower, and a park linking the other segments of parks along Buffalo Bayou.