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Downtown Redevelopment Authority Board of Directors met March 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 March 12, 2024, 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
Kirby Liu Director
Tiko Reynolds-Hausman Director
William Taylor Director
and all of said persons were present except for Directors Garcia, Hausman, and Taylor Also attending were Allen Douglas, Executive Director (“ED”) of the Authority; Kris Larson, President of the Authority; Jana Gunter, Director of Finance; and staff members Brett DeBord, Jacque Gonzalez, Cassie Hoeprich, Luis Nunez, Jamie Perkins, Albert Sanchez, Ann Taylor and Candace Williams, all with the Authority; Algenita Davis, consultant to the Authority; and Clark Lord with Bracewell, outside counsel to the Authority.
In addition, guests attending from the public included Grace Rodriguez and Rita Hicks with Impact Hub; Andrew Busker with the City of Houston’s Office of Economic Development; and residents Robert Hall and George Gordon.
DETERMINE QUORUM; CALL TO ORDER
Chair Flowers conducted a roll call and quorum was established. The meeting was called to order at 12:08 p.m.
INTRODUCTIONS AND PUBLIC COMMENTS
Chair Flowers invited meeting attendees to introduce themselves and welcomed all. Next, he asked if anyone from the public had comments. Grace Rodriguez stated she did, prompting Chair Flowers to read aloud the statement pertaining to public comments and the Texas Open Meetings Act. He then invited Ms. Rodriguez to share her comments.
Ms. Rodriguez spoke about the Authority’s recent decision to terminate an agreement related to Impact Hub’s use of space inside the Downtown Launchpad. She stated a letter from Impact Hub’s Board will be sent to the Authority’s Board regarding the matter. The Board thanked Ms. Rodriguez for sharing. There were no further comments from the public.
MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
The Board considered approving the minutes of the February 13, 2024 regular joint board meeting. Chair Flowers asked the Board for questions or revisions.
Hearing none, Chair Flowers called for a motion, moved by Director Harrison; seconded by Secretary Mandel; and the minutes of the February 13, 2024 regular joint board meeting were approved as presented.
FINANCE MATTERS
Check Register – February 2024
Chair Flowers invited Jana Gunter to provide an update on finance matters. Ms. Gunter shared highlights from the February check register, then called for questions. There were no questions and discussion did not occur.
Then, Chair Flowers called for a motion to accept the February 2024 check register; moved by Director Harrison, seconded by Secretary Mandel; and the Board accepted the February 2024 check register as presented.
CONTINUATION OF CHI TOP 20 FOR 2024
ED Douglas began with a brief overview of the 2024 Strategic Actions Agenda and noted goals covered at the March Board meeting, as well as the goals remaining to be presented. He continued by speaking on the actions pertaining to Office Conversions, DLI 2.0, and the Montrose Bridge project.
Next, Ann Taylor was invited to talk about the topics of utilizing a third party event hosting program for events held in Downtown Houston+ parks, developing a special events and programming strategy, being intentional and strategic with 2024 holiday décor, and re-envisioning and deploying new street pole banners.
Then, Brett DeBord was called on to speak about goals specific to the Operations team. He began by providing detail about the Flock Camera Network pilot program and concluded with the goal of fostering a new homeless engagement-focused unit within the Downtown District’s safety program.
Cassie Hoprich concluded by describing a goal headed up by the Economic Development Team to produce a store-front recruitment strategy and support program. Questions asked and answered, and discussion ensued. No further action was required.
EADO CAP UPDATE – RAISE GRANT
Luis Nunez, Director of Urban Strategy & Design, was invited to update the Board on the NHHIP EaDo Cap project. Mr. Nunez shared a summary about the RAISE grant opportunity, discussed project phases and the potential use of funds if the grant were to be awarded. He noted that over 30 letters of support were received in favor of the EaDo Cap project and included bipartisan support from local congress members, state representatives, Mayor Whitmire, other TIRZ and Management Districts adjacent to the project and to downtown, and numerus key stakeholders within downtown. The letters of support were included with the grant application submittal on February 28th. Questions were asked and answered. Mr. Nunez closed stating a decision on whether the grant will be awarded will be made by June 27th. No further action was required.
REPORT OUT ON RFQ PROCESS FOR MORE SPACE MAIN STREET
Chair Flowers invited Cassie Hoeprich, Director of Planning & Economic Development to brief the Board on the More Space Main Street project. Ms. Hoeprich reported an RFQ for the design and engineering portion of the project was issued on January 31st. A total of four proposals were received and reviewed by the RFQ Committee. The RFQ Committee invited three firms to interview and discuss the project in person. These meetings are scheduled to take place on March 13th, at which time the Committee will determine which design and engineering firm best fits for the project. Ms. Hoeprich stated a firm recommendation will be brought to the Board in April, with a goal for work to begin in May. Questions were asked and answered, and discussion occurred. No further action was required.
UPDATES ON THE DOWNTOWN LAUNCH PAD
Chair Flowers asked ED Douglas to provide updates with regard to the Downtown Launch Pad. ED Douglas summarized the history of the Launch Pad and explained that in January 2019, the Authority entered into an Economic Development Grant Agreement with MassChallenge, for the purposes of aiding start-up companies and small businesses, which in turn could boost economic development in downtown. Next, he noted that the Launch Pad was built to accommodate MassChallenge with a smaller portion of the space being available for two smaller entities, Gener8tor and Impact Hub, focused on incubating start-ups.
The COVID-19 pandemic altered the effective use of the Launch Pad space. In 2022, as the world began to recover and emerge from the pandemic, discussions between the Authority and MassChallenge began over post-pandemic plans and their utilization of the space inside the Launch Pad. MassChallenge’s decision to permanently shift to a remote business model resulted in forfeiture of their 2019 Economic Development Agreement.
Ongoing efforts to effectively utilize the entire space inside the Launch Pad led to the decision to transition the space for use by a single entity that will effectively use the entire Launch Pad space in the service of Downtown’s economic development. ED Douglas noted that both gener8tor and Impact Hub received notice on March 1, 2024 announcing the termination of the license agreements between the Authority and both companies effective July 1, 2024. Questions were asked and answered. No further action was required.
DISCUSS UPCOMING WORKSHOP – AFFORDABILITY FOR CONVERSIONS
Chair Flowers asked President Larson to talk about the upcoming Affordable Housing Finance Workshop. President Larson explained the purpose of the day long workshop, discussed topics that will appear on the agenda, and noted several esteemed experts in the field will be there to present and answer questions. Questions were asked and answered. He closed by inviting the Board to attend the workshop scheduled for Wednesday, April 24th. No further action was taken.
STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT UPDATES
President Larson was invited to share the latest updates on the cross-organizational Strategic Alignment goals. Questions were asked and answered. No further action was needed.
NEXT MEETINGS
Chair Flowers announced dates for upcoming Board and Collaborative Committee meetings as follows:
• Enhance DT Committee – Monday, March 18th at 12:00 PM
• Connect DT Committee – Tuesday, March 19th at 9:00 AM
• Engage DT Committee – Thursday, March 21st at 12:00 PM
• Thrive DT Committee – Wednesday, March 27th at 12:00 PM
• Board of Directors – Tuesday, April 9th at 12:00 PM
OTHER BUSINESS & ADJOURN
Chair Flowers asked if there was any further business to be discussed. No further business was brought forth to the Board. Flowers then called for a motion to adjourn, moved by Director Harrison; seconded by Treasurer Hamm; and the meeting was adjourned at 1:34 PM.
https://ctycms.com/tx-houston/docs/board-packet-4/9/24