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Downtown Redevelopment Authority Board of Directors met Dec. 12.
Here are the minutes provided by the board:
The Board of Directors (the “Board”) of the Downtown Redevelopment Authority (the “Authority”) convened in regular session, in person and open to the public, inside the H-Town Conference Room at the Authority’s office, located at 1221 McKinney Street, Suite 4250, Houston, TX 77010, on December 12, 2023, and the roll was called of the duly constituted officers and members of the Board, to wit:
Curtis Flowers Chair
Michele Sabino Vice Chair
Barry Mandel Secretary
Keith Hamm Treasurer
Regina Garcia Director
James Harrison Director
Sherman Lewis Director
Tiko Reynolds-Hausman Director
William Taylor Director
and all of said persons were present except for Vice Chair Sabino, Treasurer Hamm, and Directors Hausman and Lewis . Also present were Allen Douglas, Executive Director (“ED”); Kris Larson, President; Jana Gunter, Director of Finance; and staff members Brett DeBord, David Gwin, Cassie Hoeprich, Amanda Marquez, Luis Nunez, Jamie Perkins, Albert Sanchez, Ann Taylor and Candace Williams, all with the Authority; Algenita Davis, consultant to the Authority; and Clark Lord, outside counsel to the Authority.
Guests and presenters attending included Sarah Adams and Mike Decell with Service Corp International (“SCI”); Charlie Penland with Walter P. Moore; Zachary Christenson with HOK; Nicole Boudreau and John Mooz with Hines; Sanjay Bapat with Allen Boone Humphries Robinson LLP; Brian and Leah Chambers with Design Workshop; and Andrew Busker with the City of Houston’s Office of Economic Development. In addition, Ashley Watt, Sue Lovell, and Mason Perino with Temple Terrace
Property Owners Association attended from the Public.
DETERMINE QUORUM; CALL TO ORDER
Chair Flowers conducted a roll call and quorum was established. The meeting was called to order at 12:05 PM.
INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS AND PUBLIC COMMENTS
Chair Flowers invited meeting attendees to introduce themselves and welcomed all. Next, he asked if there were any comments from the public. Ashley Watt indicated she had commentary to share with the Board on behalf of the Temple Terrace Property Owners Association (“Association”).
Ms. Watt shared concerns from residents in the Temple Terrace community over the potential SCI Infrastructure and Resiliency Project. She then provided a letter addressed to the Authority Board from the Association which included additional details about these concerns. The letter was accepted into public record and is included as Attachment A to these minutes.
Chair Flowers thanked Ms. Watt for the commentary and no further discussion was had. There were no additional comments from the public.
The Board considered approving the minutes of the October 10, 2023 regular joint board meeting. He asked whether the Board had any changes or points to discuss.
Hearing none, Chair Flowers called for a motion, moved by Director Harrison, seconded by Director Taylor, and the minutes of the October 10, 2023 regular joint board meeting were approved as presented.
FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION
Check Registers – October & November 2023
Chair Flowers asked Jana Gunter to provide updates with regard to finance and administration matters. Ms. Gunter shared highlights from the check register for the months of October and November 2023. No questions were presented, and discussion did not occur.
A motion to accept the October and November 2023 check registers was entertained by Chair Flowers; moved by Director Taylor, seconded by Director Harrison, and the October and November check registers were accepted as presented.
SET 2024 MEETING DATES
Chair Flowers referred to the proposed 2024 Board meeting dates in the materials previously provided. He called for questions and discussion. Hearing none, the Board agreed to the proposed 2024 Board meeting dates as presented.
PRESENTATION AND REQUEST BY SCI REGARDING INFRASTRUCTURE & RESILIENCY PROJECT PROPOSAL
ED Douglas began with a recap of the August 2nd Executive Committee meeting and review of the Authority’s Private Development Agreements Policy and Criteria. He then invited the SCI, Hines, and Walter P. Moore teams to give a presentation. Questions were asked and discussion ensued over the Temple Terrace resident’s concerns, the use of MWDBE companies as contractors for the project, and construction logistics. Ms. Watt stated to the Board that “SCI has not been easy to work with” and asked for this comment to be reflected for the record. Deeper discussion between the Board, SCI and the Temple Terrace representatives continued in an effort to address the community’s concerns and foster stronger partnership between the community, the developer, and all parties involved.
After all questions were asked, discussion concluded, and review conducted, Chair Flowers entertained a motion for the Authority Board to authorize staff to enter into negotiations with SCI to form a development agreement – through incremental tax reimbursement in line with the Board’s Development Policies and Guidelines – to assist SCI in funding the cost of the specific infrastructure and resiliency components discussed in SCI’s proposal, for an amount not to exceed $13,800,000. This motion was
moved by Secretary Mandel, and seconded by Director Harrison, and the Board approved this authorization as presented.
AUTHORIZE ASSIGNMENT OF FAÇADE GRANT
ED Douglas introduced this topic. He explained two properties were recently sold, namely 202 Travis Street and 402 Main Street. Both properties participated in the Façade Grant Program and Assignments were now needed to transfer ownership in this regard. He then shared information on both the seller and buyer. No questions were asked by the Board and discussion did not occur.
Chair Flowers called for two separate motions: (i) the first giving authorization to enter into the Assignment for the Façade Grant located at 202 Travis Street; and (ii) the second giving authorization to enter into the Assignment for the Façade Grant located at 402 Main Street. Both motions were moved by Secretary Mandel, and seconded by Director Garcia, and the Board approved both requests as presented. MORE SPACE MAIN STREET 2.0
Chair Flowers asked ED Douglas to give a brief introduction regarding updates to the More Space Main Street 2.0 project. ED Douglas opened by sharing a statement provided by key project partner David Fields, City of Houston’s Chief Transportation Planner, who was unable to attend in person.
Next, he invited Jacque Gonzales to share a presentation. Ms. Gonzalez began the presentation and provided updates on the project’s progress, noting goals of having a contract finalized sometime in December and an RFQ issued in January. Ms. Gonzalez then invited Brian Chambers to wrap up the presentation and speak on final concept designs. Questions were asked and answered. No further action was required.
OTHER BUSINESS
No further business was brought forth before the Board.
NEXT MEETINGS
Chair Flowers announced the next Board meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, January 9, 2024 at 12:00 pm. He also indicated calendar invites will be distributed to Board members for the remaining 2024 Board meeting dates.
ADJOURNMENT
Chair Flowers announced the Board would meet in Executive Session starting at 1:30 PM. There being no further business to come before the Board in regular session, a motion was called to adjourn at 1:25 PM.
https://ctycms.com/tx-houston/docs/board-packet---1/9/24