A Community Visioning Session with Houston Land Bank Recap
Yellow Cabs were brought to Houston over 95 years ago, but the company, founded by George Kamins, was founded in 1967. Yellow Cab would eventually own and operate complete maintenance, paint, and body shop in-house in the Near Northside community of Houston. Yellow Cab eventually became one of the world’s largest taxi companies and expanded to over 700 taxicabs from the original 67.
Previously the headquarters for Yellow Cab Houston, starting in 1994, this 6.3-acre property was used for office space, vehicle storage, auto/auto body repair, and fleet fueling. Before Yellow Cab’s ownership, the property was used for similar operations, including a maintenance shop, automotive repair shop, paint shop, and oil/hazardous chemical storage. After Yellow Cab operations began to close down, the Houston Land Bank and the City of Houston’s Housing and Community Development Department saw an opportunity to revitalize and reclaim the brownfield site with the Complete Community.
In 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded more than $66 million in grants to cities across the country. The Houston Land Bank received $600,000 to begin site assessment, testing, and reuse planning with the community. According to the EPA, a brownfield is the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.
The 6.3-acre site identified several environmental issues within the soil that were discovered, removed, and cleaned up. Remediation included lead-impacted soil, removal of underground storage tanks, and excavated petroleum. TCEQ review is underway, and the clean-up process of the property is anticipated to be complete by the end of the year.
The Houston Land Bank kicked off the community engagement process on July 14 at Avenue CDC.
The community visioning event yielded 50 attendees from the Near Northside community, all of whom provided insightful quantitative and qualitative feedback during the interactive exercises of the evening.
There were six activity boards provided by the Perkins &Will architectural firm, who the Houston Land Bank is partnered with for the Near Northside revitalization initiative. The boards were of three site analysis, one housing typologies, one community amenities/ recreational amenities, and one site remediation.
The instructions were for the community goers to perform a “Green Dot/Post it” exercise for each board.
What was learned was that within the dwelling of the neighborhoods, the community goers desire to see mixed-use and multifamily home built along with entertainment outlets, well-lit and safe walkable green spaces, diverse grocery store providers and a centralized community hub center.
As it related to the nuclear connectivity component amongst the neighboring families, their sentiments echoed a wish to have a farmer’s markets, elongated polished walking trails and more local businesses.
When presented with housing typology probing questions, Near Northside attendees expressed interest in having a welcoming space that highlighted the kitchen as the heart of the home. Additionally, a want for a front access driveway with a small corner porch, was also noted. Bright, airy, and spacious were the adjectives used when asked to imagine how one would feel, walking into a home that they owned.
With the information gathered, the Perkins &Will architecture firm will provide a design and site plan, of a 3d printed model reflecting the housing and community future rebuilt. Our follow-up community visioning meeting is set to take place on Tuesday, August 2nd from 6pm to 8pm, at the Avenue Community Development Building.