Two-Minute Tour: Houston

The Numbers
Even Houstonians wondered about being tagged “America’s coolest city” by Forbes. But Forbes said it saw a new aspect to the nation’s fourth-most populous city of 2.16 million – an annual 2.6 percent job growth, and 50,000 new residents in the past year, lowering the median age to 33. Young professionals have led the growth inside the I-610 loop. Houston’s core has added more multi-unit buildings over the past decade than New York, Los Angeles or Chicago; it has also attracted 400,000 new foreign-born residents since 2000, surpassing New York as the most racially and ethnically diverse city.

The Pulse
Downtown is undergoing revitalization. “About 220,000 people visit downtown every day,” says Angie Bertinot, director of marketing and urban development for The Houston Downtown Management District. “More than a million stay in downtown hotels annually.”

The “game-changer,” says David Kaplan, reporter for The Houston Chronicle, was the opening of Discovery Green five years ago, a 12-acre park with a lake, children’s play area, fountains, skating rink, dog runs and venues for public performances.

The Hotspots
Despite Texas-size growth, retail hasn’t flourished downtown at the same rate as office buildings, hotels or even residential. The plan is for luxury retailing to match the city’s above-average residential and tourist demographics, says Bertinot, and to that end, the über-luxurious Hotel Allesandra is being built as part of the GreenStreet mixed-use development.

And a tax incentive program called The Downtown Living Initiative would restore the old retail hub at Main and Dallas streets.

Until that happens, the bellwether for luxury retail remains the 3 million-square-foot Houston Galleria. But the up-and-coming young neighborhood is Upper Kirby, near River Oaks, the city’s most plush address. Jonathan Adler has a furniture store there and Trader Joe’s moved into an old art deco movie theater. Kaplan says the Whole Foods store is the chain’s best performer in the state.

Obstacles/Opportunities
Houston’s total retail sales for Q4 2013 were up 12.4 percent, and have jumped 5.7 percent year-to-date. But those big numbers don’t seem to be producing concomitant retail growth. The Greater Houston Partnership reports, in its July 2014 “Economy at a Glance” study, “given the strength of the overall economy and the growth in local incomes, it’s surprising that retail employment has not grown faster. The Internet continues to siphon sales from traditional brick-and-mortar retailers.”

Houston is the site of the 2017 Super Bowl, and Kaplan says downtown will be the staging area for much of the tourist activity. That will almost certainly include new hotels and restaurants and maybe some retail growth, too.