SUBJECT: Ordinance enlarging the boundaries of Reinvestment Zone Number Eight, City of Houston, Texas (Gulfgate Zone)
RECOMMENDATION: (Summary)
Approve an ordinance to change the boundaries of Reinvestment Zone Number Eight, City of Houston, Texas (Gulfgate Zone) by adding certain property to the Zone.
SPECIFIC EXPLANATION:
City of Houston Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone Number Eight, City of Houston, Texas (“Zone”) was created by City Council (“City”) by Ordinance No 1997-1524 on December 10, 1997. The City Council approved a Project Plan and Reinvestment Zone Financing Plan (“Plan”) for the Zone by Ordinance No. 1997-1572 adopted and passed on December 17, 1997, and created the Gulfgate Redevelopment Authority (“Authority”) by Resolution No. 1997-0066 adopted on December 10, 1997 to help implement the Plan. Subsequently, the City Council approved the First Amendment to the Plan by Ordinance No. 1997-0707 on July 7, 1999; the Second Amendment to the Plan by Ordinance No. 1999-0824 on August 11, 1999; and the Third Amendment to the Plan by Ordinance No. 2014-1193 on December 17, 2014.
The City Council previously approved enlarging the boundaries of the Zone by Ordinance No. 1999-0706, passed and adopted on July 7, 1999, and Ordinance No. 2014-1192, passed and adopted on December 17, 2014. A Fourth Amendment to the Plan (“Amended Plan”), to be considered by City Council contemporaneously herewith, contemplates annexing 13 acres of additional territory into the Zone and includes provisions for public improvements thereto.
The proposed annexation adds approximately 13 acres of land into the Zone boundaries. The 13 acres to be added to the Zone include (i) a 3.6-acre affordable housing development owned by Houston Housing Authority located at 6000 Telephone Road, in order to assist in obtaining funds from the 9% Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program administered by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, as sites located within a reinvestment zone are favored in obtaining funds from such tax credit program, (ii) approximately 4.4 acres of right-of-way along Telephone Road, from 6000 Telephone Road to the intersection of Reveille Street and Telephone Road, and (iii) approximately 5.55 acres of right-of-way along Park Place, from Hartford Street to Galveston Road (Hwy 3).
The Administration recommends that City Council approve enlarging the boundaries of the Zone as described above.
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Andrew F. Icken, Chief Development Officer