So, some group has obtained funding to turn the Astrodome into a hotel/village. What a ridiculous idea.
Sedosi, Tom Kirkendall and Owen Courreges covered the main problems of this impending fiasco very nicely. Here’s Sedosi:
Why does this strike me as a monumentally bad idea?
Could it be due to the fact that the Hilton Americas Hotel is having trouble maintaining capacity at operating levels?
Could it be due to the fact that there is barely enough convention traffic in Houston to satisfy the current available space?
Could it be due to the fact that the Dome is a County-owned property, and this basically would be another high dollar subsidy for private investment?
It could be!
A project of this magnitude would entail working out huge problems, such as how an additional 1,200 rooms can be justified to lenders and equity investors in light of Houston’s current glut of hotel rooms, parking woes during football games and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, and the dubious nature of the pitiful Astroworld Six Flags Amusement Park across the freeway from the Dome as a draw for the hotel. As a result, my sense is that this deal will never come together, but crazier financial decision have been made — just look at the Metro Light Rail line!
Houston has waaaaay more hotel capacity than we currently need, or will need for the foreseeable future. We aren’t a tourist destination, and everything beyond tourism
