Land Use Changes Allow for Development Wave Near the Texas Medical Center

"Parking lots and grassy patches are interspersed with non-descript office buildings and medical towers along Old Spanish Trail, one of Houston's main arteries into the gleaming Texas Medical Center," according to an article by Erin Mulvaney, to describe the context for a story about change coming to the area.

Land-use covenants allowed the Medical Center to flourish into the world's largest health care complex, but they also discouraged private enterprises from catering to the 100,000 people who work there and the more than 8 million guests, patients and family members who use it each year.

That's the old way of life in the area, but change is coming, according to Mulvaney:

Signs offering real estate for sale suggest change may be coming. Construction cranes herald such projects as a high-rise apartment building and a luxury hotel along with several major medical expansions. Brokers are actively marketing large parcels of land for a revitalization that is considered long overdue. They envision top-notch restaurants, residential complexes and new places to shop.

The article maps out the potential development investments and describes the hopes for how the investment might impact the local and regional economy.