Each year Rice Architecture’s Civic Forum looks at urban and design topics that are of particular relevance to Houston and its region. The civic forums look to provide an open forum to discuss and analyze timely topics that are affecting Houstonians, but which also have a larger national and international relevance. HRDD’s Heather Rowell serves on the Host Planning Committee to develop this year’s forum:
This year, we are exploring the ever-increasing influence of the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) as a tool of planning governance. TIRZs are zones the Houston City Council created to attract new investment in an area. They help finance the costs of redevelopment and promote growth in areas that would otherwise not attract sufficient market development in a timely manner. At its inception, this tool was promised to pull the underserved and thus underdeveloped neighborhoods to a common, higher standard of urban infrastructure. This civic forum program seeks to gather stakeholders in a workshop format to engage in a public conversation about TIRZs, their importance, relevance, and future. — Learn more about Rice Architecture and the Civic Forum here.
Discussants
Andy Icken, Chief Development Officer, City of Houston
Barron Wallace, Partner & Group Co-Head, Bracewell LLP
David W. Robinson, City Council Member, At-Large Position 2
Respondents:
Anna Deans, Vice President, Investment and Development, Midway
Zion Escobar, PE - Founder & CEO, Freedmen’s Town Community Investment Project
Ryan LeVasseur, Principal, LaVass Ventures LLC
Kris Larson, President & CEO, Central Houston, Inc.
Moderated by Troy Schaum, Rice Architecture
The Civic Forum takes place Oct. 21, 2023 at 1:00pm at MATCH: Midtown Arts and Theatre Center Houston, 3400 Main St