UH-Downtown to expand its campus north
School wins OK for purchase of 17 acres north of its campus for $13.2 million; science and technology building planned
The University of Houston-Downtown plans to buy a large swath of land north of its campus for an expansion that will bring it new academic and student life facilities.
T HE UNIVERSITY of Houston-Downtown plans to buy a large swath of land north of its Main Street campus for an expansion that will bring new academic and student life facilities to the university.
The school received approval from the University of Houston System Board of Regents to pay $13.2 million for the 17-acre property currently owned by a partnership that includes the Metropolitan Transit Authority and a Houston real estate developer.
The partnership, Wellington Fisher, has owned the acreage for more than a decade, after buying it from Hakeem Olajuwon, the former Houston Rocket star who’s also been a real estate investor.
“This land has been on the university’s radar for a long time,” said David Bradley, UHD’s vice president for administration and finance. “We hoped one day we could own it.”
It was once being considered for a intermodal transit project, but Metro abandoned
those plans several years ago after spending $41 million on it.
The authority owns the land in partnership with developer Rocky Stevens. Metro referred questions about the sale to Stevens, who was not immediately available for comment.
“I believe that the new campus footprint will be viewed as among the most significant developments in the university’s institutional history,” board Vice Chairman Welcome Wilson Jr. said in an announcement Monday. “This land acquisition assures UHD has the needed acreage for enrollment growth, campus expansion and development of new academic programs.”
The land is expected to house a new science and technology building, approved by the Texas Legislature last spring.
The university is in the process of selecting an architectural firm to design the building, which UHD hopes to have open by summer 2019.
Much of the land is in the 100-year floodplain, so development will require approval from the Harris County Flood Control Districts, Bradley said.
“Our plan is to leave a lot of it green for the foreseeable future,” Bradley added.
The acquisition will increase the size of the university’s downtown digs to 40 acres on both sides of Interstate 10.
The 17-acre tract announced Monday will give the university control of 27 contiguous acres bordered by White Oak Bayou to the west, North Main to the east, the Union Pacific railroad tracks to the north and the existing UHD campus to the south.
The land, once owned by the Union Pacific Railroad, used to contain warehouses and a rail line.
Bradley said the university is aware of a plan by the Texas Department of Transportation to expand and rebuild highways around downtown, which potentially could affect the newly acquired site.
He said the portion of the acreage the school wants most would not be affected.
Until TxDOT’s plans become more clear, the land in its proposed path will be used for green space and ball fields.
The land deal is expected to close in August.