Apparently every month or so, we are going to get the latest Astrodome rumblings. Today the Chronicle has a story:
Astrodome Redevelopment Co. is continuing to look at whether it makes good business sense to spend hundreds of millions to turn the building into a mammoth, luxury convention hotel.
The company, selected by the county to propose a plan for the Dome, is waxing positive about the hotel but will not issue a report on whether it can obtain financing until summer, county officials said Tuesday.
“They are working vigorously to nail down the final piece of the feasibility study,” said Willie Loston, director of the Harris County Sports and Convention Corp., which oversees the Reliant Park complex.
Astrodome Redevelopment is considering leaving the shell of the building intact and essentially gutting the inside. Seats might be replaced with about 1,000 hotel rooms, convention-type meeting rooms, restaurants and possibly retail stores, a cineplex and other entertainment sites.
Because, of course, Houston really needs more hotel rooms. Also, I’d like to learn who the developers are in Astrodome Redevelopment:
Astrodome Redevelopment officials did not return calls.
The story assures us that property taxes won’t be used:
Astrodome Redevelopment is looking to convert the building solely with money from private investors, Loston said. No property tax funds would be used, Surface said.
But there are always other ways to get tax money.
Razing the Astrodome also would be expensive, probably costing $10 million to $30 million, Loston said.
The county spends about $1.5 million annually to host a few events there. If it were mothballed, the county still would spend $500,000 annually on minimal operations.
The county owes about $50 million on bonds issued to pay for Astrodome renovations in the 1980s.
We can continue to shake our heads.
