Mayor White backs an exemption that would allow the Houston Pavilions to have bigger, brighter signs than current rules allow:
Downtown boosters want the city to relax its sign rules for the Houston Pavilions, a $170 million retail and entertainment complex set to open in the fall.
If approved, the change would allow brightly lit signs and heights up to 80 feet above the ground, neither of which currently is allowed through most of downtown, which is a designated “scenic district.”
Beautification advocates are balking at the creation of a one-time exception for a single project, arguing the move could open the door to demands from other developers.
The City Council could vote on the change to the sign code as early as Wednesday.
The White administration backs the change, which would create signage guidelines for a special “Entertainment and Retail District” in the three blocks occupied by the Houston Pavilions. The project sits between Main, Caroline, Dallas and Polk.
Planners said the Houston Pavilions requires more visibility and branding, to better attract convention goers and to fill a pedestrian void between downtown hotels and the George R. Brown Convention Center.
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Downtown is designated a scenic district, so direct illumination, such as neon signs or bare bulbs, is not allowed. Signs also are not allowed to be higher than 42.5 feet. The special district would allow the tenants at Houston Pavilions to use direct illumination, and would allow signs to be placed as high as 80 feet above ground.
The city has invested $5.5 million and Harris County $8.8 million in the project through the Main Street/Market Square TIRZ, or Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone.
Think big, Houston. Think Vegas.
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