Ion Innovation District

Ion Innovation District
The Ion construction as of December 2020.
General information
Town or city	Houston, Texas
Country	United States
Coordinates	29°44′02″N 95°22′57″W / 29.73396°N 95.38259°W / 29.73396; -95.38259Coordinates: 29°44′02″N 95°22′57″W / 29.73396°N 95.38259°W / 29.73396; -95.38259
Current tenants	Chevron Greentown Labs Microsoft
Construction started	2019
Inaugurated	April 22, 2021
Owner	Rice University
Landlord	Rice Management Company
Grounds	16 acres
Website
iondistrict.com houinnovate.com

The Ion Innovation District, The Ion District, or Rice Innovation District is a technology park and innovation district in Midtown Houston which was established as a joint initiative between Rice University and the City of Houston. It has also been called the South Main Innovation District.^[1] The first building, the Ion, was originally a Houston's first Sears department store until it closed in 2018.^[2]

History[]

Rice University has owned the land where the original Sears building sits for most of its store life. In 2018, Sears announced it would be closing the store as part of an effort to close unprofitable stores. Rice purchased the remaining portion of Sears' lease as well as a few surrounding acres to bring the land total to over 16 acres.^[3] They also announced they had plans for future use of the land.^[2]

Mayor Sylvester Turner made a push to open a high-tech innovation district as a priority. He cited Rice, the University of Houston and the University of Texas as potential institutes to lead the district.^[2]

In early 2019, Rice announced the site where the original stood along with its surrounding area would be transformed into an innovation district. "The Ion" was the name selected for the former Sears building. President of Rice, David Leebron stated "We chose the name Ion because it's from the Greek ienai, which means 'go'. We see it as embodying the ever-forward motion of discovery, the spark at the center of a truly original idea. It also represents the last three letters in many of the words that define the building's mission, like inspiration, creation, acceleration and innovation."^[4]

Project manager HR&A Advisors, with offices in New York and various other cities, is overseeing the design and construction, assisting with the master plan for the innovation district as well as the development strategy.^[5][6] HR&A has prior experience in Houston with Hurricane Harvey recovery and Buffalo Bayou Park.^[7][8] New York-based companies James Corner Field Operations and SHoP Architects are leading the project's design.^[9]

Houston-based Public Content is a media contact for The Ion.^[10] Finn Partners, a global PR agency with offices in many cities outside of Houston, is a press contact for The Ion.^[11]

Community Benefits Agreement[]

Since The Ion's groundbreaking in July of 2019, students of Rice University and other Houston-area universities have advocated for a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA), a contractual agreement between a developer and a community coalition.^[12] In a January 2020 open letter, representatives of 17 different Rice student organizations advocated for the Rice Management Company (RMC) to enter into a CBA with the Houston Coalition for Equitable Development without Displacement (HCEDD).^[13][3] Without such an agreement, there are widespread concerns about a lack of community accountability that will result in the perpetuation of problems seen in other cities' tech hubs.^[12] According to Sam Dike, Manager of Strategic Initiatives, RMC has chosen to create a Community Benefits Working Group made up of up to fifteen members to help provide input on an agreement between RMC and the City of Houston.^[14]

Houston Coalition for Equitable Development Without Displacement (HCEDD)[]

The Houston Coalition for Equitable Development without Displacement, also known as HCEDD, formed in October and held its first community meeting in November of 2019 in pursuit of a community benefits agreement with Rice Management Company.^[15] The Ion's executive director at the time, Gaby Rowe, was invited to give a presentation on the innovation district and field questions before the public forums held by Rice and the City of Houston in September of 2020.^[16] In addition to a CBA, student members of the coalition seek a Racial Equity Impact Assessment, as well as public transparency about Rice's community engagement efforts and neighborhood survey.^[17] Over the course of several months of public meetings, the coalition came to make up over twenty organizations, formed working groups, and elected a negotiation team.^[18][19] HCEDD has also held public workshops about the research behind the CBA process with Dr. Murtaza Baxamusa, known for his research on community benefits agreements.^[20]

City of Houston[]

Shortly after a January 20 open letter from a Rice student coalition demanding a CBA with the Houston Coalition for Equitable Development without Displacement and the introduction of a January 27 Student Association resolution, Mayor Turner on January 29 wrote to the president of Rice's Student Association that he has told Andy Icken, the city's chief development officer, to negotiate a "CBA" with Rice Management Company and coordinate community input.^[21][15] Such an agreement between a municipality and a developer is traditionally described as a development agreement rather than a community benefits agreement, which by definition must include a community coalition.^[18] The City of Houston facilitated online informational webinars alongside RMC in September and October of 2020 on job-training, housing affordability, and hiring opportunities.^[22]

Rice Student Association Senate Resolution #8[]

The Rice University Student Association Senate passed a resolution on February 17, 2020, in support of a community benefits agreement process for the Innovation District.^[18] The resolution states that a CBA is "project‐specific contract between developers or cities and community coalitions. CBAs are legally binding, enforceable agreements that call for a range of benefits to be produced by the development project. They allow community groups to have a voice in shaping a project, to press for community benefits that are tailored to their particular needs, and to enforce the developer's promises," and asks that RMC make HCEDD an equal party in the CBA negotiation process, as well as create processes for public openness and transparency.^[23] Allison Thacker and Ryan LeVasseur, RMC's president and director of real estate respectively, argued against the resolution, stating that HCEDD does not have legal authority to enter into a CBA contract and that the large coalition represents a substantive portion, but not the entire community.^[24] Students also shared that RMC "threatened to disown the [Student Association] as a legitimate campus body if the SA Senate passed a resolution supporting the HCEDD as a signatory party in the CBA."^[23]

Funding[]

Rice Management Company has announced plans to invest $100 million in renovation for The Ion.^[3] The Ion falls within Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) #2, and RMC is seeking $75M in cost reimbursement from City of Houston taxes that are expected as a result of development on properties within the innovation district.^[25] The Ion falls within a Texas Census block group that is both a Texas Enterprise Zone and an Opportunity zone, qualifying it for certain financial incentives at the local, state, and federal levels.^[26][27] These can also result in tens of millions of dollars in cost savings for the developer through taxpayer subsidies over the course of a decade.^[28]

Texas Enterprise Zone[]

Enterprise Zones are census block groups in Texas with a poverty rate at or above 20%. They are a way to collect various local and state incentives together to spur innovation in order to revitalize an area that is considered distressed. Local benefits may include but aren't limited to tax abatement, permitting fee waivers, publicly-owned buildings transferred below market cost, and low-interest loans. State benefits may include state sales and use tax refunds, depending on the level of investment and the number of jobs created.^[26]

Opportunity Zone[]

This federal program is also for areas that are considered distressed, providing tax benefits such as tax abatement to private investors in hopes of creating economic development and jobs in those areas.^[29] These census tracts were nominated by Governor Greg Abbott, seeking to address issues including risk of economic disrupters such as hurricanes, relatively low population density, and persistent unemployment. A 2020 report found that many opportunity zone beneficiaries are real estate investors who were likely to still do the development even without taxpayer subsidies, rather than companies that are creating jobs.^[30]

Midtown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) #2[]

On August 26, 2021, the board of the Midtown TIRZ voted to approve an economic development agreement between the TIRZ and Rice Management Company.^[31] In exchange for leading construction and repair projects within the Innovation District, the TIRZ will provide $65 million in cost reimbursements for RMC's investment. Despite months of critical feedback requesting that the TIRZ require RMC to enter into a Community Benefits Agreement with a community coalition before approving the deal, six of the seven board members voted for the agreement. Board member Caton Fenz, CEO of ConnectGen, noted that the development may incidentally result in some affordable housing, however the agreement does not include any mention of affordable housing or any measures to address gentrification, particularly in the Third Ward community neighboring Midtown. The Midtown TIRZ has bought an estimated $72 million worth of land in Third Ward covering 4 million square feet.^[32][33]

Facilities[]

The Ion along with the surrounding innovation district plans to be a center where businesses, entrepreneurs and students combine. Houston-based commercial real estate company Transwestern will provide comprehensive property management for The Ion.^[34] Dallas-based Common Desk has been selected to operate 58,000 square feet on the second floor for co-working, office space, a training room, and a coffee bar.^[35] Leasing is led by Drew Morris at Savills, a global company founded in the United Kingdom.^[36]

Academics[]

Rice University's Glasscock School of Continuing Studies was the first school to announce coursework at the Ion, including data science and financial services.^[37]

Tenants[]

• Aerospace Innovation Hub (NASA partnership)^[38]
• Baker Botts^[39]
• Chevron Technology Ventures^[40]
• Greentown Labs
• Microsoft^[41]
• Common Desk^[35]

Recreation[]

Restaurants[]

The district has the following restaurants either open or in development:

• Common Bond^[42]
• Late August^[42]
• Shipley Do-Nuts
• Stuff’d Wings^[42]

Campus[]

List of buildings[]

Name	Photograph	Year Built	Architect	Description
The Ion		2021	SHoP Architects	The original building of the innovation district is The Ion. Technology companies lease office space in the building and have access to entrepreneurs and the student body of Rice University and other invited institutions. Students attend classes in the building and aspiring entrepreneurs showcase ideas.
Greentown Labs		2021		Climate tech incubator that seeks to innovate ways to improve the climate.
Ion Garage		2022		Parking garage with ground level retail

References[]

External Links[]

• Houston Coalition for Equitable Development Without Displacement website
• Official website
• The Ion District community engagement website