As noted in this earlier post on the improbable Astrodome hotel redevelopment project (previous posts here), the Chronicle continues to beat the drum in support of the deal without any meaningful financial or economic analysis. The intro to the editorial reveals the depth of the Chron editorial board’s analysis — “The public favors preserving the world’s first indoor stadium; all parties should cooperate to do that.”
Here are just a few of the questions that the Chronicle editorial board should be asking:
If the Astrodome were not in Reliant Park, would anyone in their right mind even be thinking of investing over a half billion dollars to build a 1,300 room resort hotel in the middle of Reliant Park?
If the answer to the prior question is “no,” then why should anyone in their right mind even be thinking of investing over a half billion dollars to build a 1,300 room resort hotel in the middle of Reliant Park simply because the decrepit hulk of the Dome is there?
In one of the tightest credit and equity markets in years, and with many economic forecasters predicting a U.S. recession over the next 12-18 months, who realistically is going to fund the half billion dollars that the promoters claim is necessary to convert the Dome into a resort hotel?
If the promoters have not been able to put together a viable plan for redevelopment of the Dome in over three years of trying, then why are we still talking about this?
They are all drooling over the potential to get generous tax abatements, federal grants, and the issuance of Harris County Revenue Bonds.
This is not unlike the Horse track funding scheme back in the late 1980’s, or more recently, the “incentives” allowed the Houston Pavillions project.
They will likely get their profit “up front and off the top,” so why worry if it is feasible?
The plain truth is that letting the Astrodome go to rack and ruin would be sacrilege. Back in the 1980s, there were calls for tearing down the old Rice Hotel, now home to the resurgent yuppie class in downtown Houston. For crying out loud, Houston surely can do something to preserve what is arguably its greatest landmark. Far too much history has been played out at the Dome — Astros, Oilers, and UH games, OTC conferences, and the never surpassed Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo — to let this historic venue die a slow and unmemorable death.