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Construction is expected to begin in May of 2025 and is scheduled to be completed in time for the 2026 FIFA World Cup is Houston.
A seven-block stretch of Houston’s Main Street downtown has received the approval and funding to become a pedestrian-only walkway with extended space for retail stores and restaurants.
The Main Street Promenade project has been spearheaded by Downtown Houston+ — a coalition made up of the Central Houston, Inc., Center Houston Civic Improvement, Houston Downtown Management District, Downtown Redevelopment Authority and Downtown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TRIZ #03).
In March 2023, the city of Houston approved an ordinance to permanently close seven blocks of Main Street, from Commerce to Dallas. The Main Street Promenade project is designed to create guidelines and permanent structures to help turn the area into a more pedestrian-centric space.
Cassie Hoeprich, the director of planning and economic development for Downtown Houston+, said the idea began during the COVID pandemic when additional seating areas were temporarily established downtown.
“In early 2021, we were able to launch the program More Space Main Street, which allowed businesses to take up a larger footprint in not just the existing sidewalk, but in the roadway,” she said. “The program was so successful. Businesses loved the opportunity to have more space for outdoor dining. Residents were very excited to see increased levels of vibrance out on the streets and sidewalks.”
Just over three years later, Hoeprich said the project is already at 100%. Currently, construction is set to begin in May and be completed just in time for the 2026 FIFA World Cup’s arrival in Houston. The improvements will include raised streets and more foliage.
“We’re looking at a five-time increase in shade, thanks to the improvements that are going to come out of the Main Street Promenade Project,” she said. “We’re also extending some of the landscaping improvements all the way down to Main Street Square. We’re not closing any new streets, but we want there to be a really amazing sort of continuous promenade experience from those who visit downtown.”
The estimated $12 million in funding will come from the members of Downtown Houston+, Hoeprich said. Throughout the project’s development, the group has received positive feedback from both residents and business owners alike.
“It was something like 99% of the hundreds of folks that we engaged with in public workshops stated that they were excited or very excited about the project,” she said. “The business owners have been a part of this since day one, with the launch of the More Space Main Street program. … Lessons learned from every stage of the process have shaped the design and where it’s heading today.”
Business owners along the seven blocks are also eligible for a grant program to redevelop their storefronts for the new pedestrian space.
“[It] awards grants of up to $50,000 to businesses and property owners that are looking to make improvements to their outdoor dining experiences,” she said. “It is really going to be a wonderful opportunity for all downtown businesses with storefronts on our sidewalks. … the grant program will also allow for businesses to make improvements along Main Street over the next year and a half, as well as serve as an incentive for new businesses to open up shop.”
Downtown Houston+ President and CEO Kristopher Larson, said being part of a project so important to the city has been an honor.
“The entire project has felt like a great privilege to be able to create something that is so new and novel for Houston,” he said. “The World Cup presents a tremendous opportunity for our city, which will be on a global stage, to be able to showcase these types of assets and these places.”
Completing the project in time for the World Cup has been part of the plan since the beginning, Larson said.
“We see this as an opportunity to really ensure that we are aligning all of the various agencies and businesses and others that will be involved in the implementation, but also manufacturing a deadline so that it compels us to act quickly, to move through construction as efficiently as possible and to be able to deliver this project in time.”
The new promenade will help present the story of Main Street and Houston in a different light, he said.
“Downtown has a lot of great generators of activity, but it’s really the places in between those generators where the experience kinds of falls down,” he said. “That’s where we don’t deliver that modern American metropolitan type of feel and that’s where we think Main Street is a remedy for at least a part of that.”
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