These Five Developments Will Change Houston Forever

A new decade means a new look for the city.

Downtown Launchpad 

Location: Downtown 

• Major players: Central Houston, Downtown Redevelopment Authority, Gensler Architects
• What it is: An anchor of the upcoming 4-mile Innovation District spanning downtown to the Med Center, this start-up incubator will take up the 10th floor of the Amegy Bank building.
• Why it matters: Hundreds of entrepreneurs will cycle through every four months to develop start-ups that could address climate change, advance medicine, and more.
• Why we’re excited: We don’t know what the future of tech looks like, but Houston aims to be a vital part of it between the Launch Pad, Rice’s Ion, and the TMCx.
• Fun fact: Two of America’s top accelerators, MassChallenge and gener8tor, were recruited to anchor the 17,000-square- foot Launch Pad. The Cannon Houston will also run two floors of co-working space at Amegy, a “virtual village” where start-ups can land post-Launch Pad.
• Construction status: Almost finished
• Opening date: Spring 2020 

MFAH Nancy and Rich Kinder Building

Location: Museum District

• Major players: MFAH, Nancy and Rich Kinder, Steven Holl Architects
• What it is: The third and final gallery building on the museum’s 14-acre, $450 million Sarofim campus
• Why it matters: Two floors of modern and contemporary art featuring never-before-seen collections, plus a restaurant, a 215-seat theater, an atrium, 400 parking spaces, and tunnels to sister buildings
• Why we’re excited: The building’s 7 site-specific commissions include a dragon sculpture by Ai Wei Wei and a tapestry by Trenton Doyle Hancock.
• Fun fact: Come nighttime, vertical glass tubes on the trapezoidal concrete building will glow in patterns. 
• Construction status: Underway 
• Opening date: Fall 2020 

Lynn Wyatt Square for the Performing Arts 

Location: Downtown Theater District 

• Major players: Houston First, Rios Clementi Hale Studios Architects
• What it is: A $29 million facelift for Jones Plaza
• Why it matters: The square will anchor the bustling Theater District, host performances on its new lawn, and no longer resemble a toilet.
• Why we’re excited: The dazzling water features, great for selfies 
• Fun fact: Wyatt donated $10 million to the project—hence the naming rights.
• Construction status: Starts summer 2020
• Opening date: Summer 2021

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