Midtown Superblock Park and Garage
Visionary solution transforms and enhances historic neighborhood
Project Facts
| Location | Houston, Texas |
| Owner | Midtown Redevelopment Authority |
| Status | Completed 2017 |
| Capacity | 400 spaces |
Overview
Tremendous growth in the historic Midtown neighborhood brought with it parking and traffic issues requiring attention as the area became a thriving, pedestrian-friendly urban environment. Dually serving as a catalyst for Midtown redevelopment, the innovative Superblock addresses these growing pains while creating a beautiful, central place where people can easily gather by foot, car, light rail, bus, or bike.
Services
About the Project
To meet the demands of pedestrian, parking, and traffic issues, the Midtown Redevelopment Authority developed the Midtown Superblock Park and Garage. This landmark project includes a 2.5-acre park with an underground 400-car parking garage, a 3,000-square-foot entertainment pavilion, water features, and a 7,500-square-foot restaurant. An eight-story residential tower being developed by a different owner is incorporated into the site.
Many innovative design methods were utilized to seamlessly blend four distinct program elements into one integrated development: Garage, park, restaurant, and residential tower.
To complete the project in time for the 2017 Super Bowl in Houston, the owner selected Walter P Moore as the lead consultant to take full advantage of our comprehensive services and long-standing relationships with the City of Houston and the Metropolitan Transit Authority (METRO).
We designed a special stormwater management system that also serves as detention for the site and a 70,000-gallon vault that collects rainwater from the park and garage drainage system. Our traffic impact study estimated and mitigated traffic flow to and from the site and coordinated with METRO on bus stop locations.
One of the biggest challenges was how to have a living, sustainable park above a below-grade parking garage. Our structural and diagnostics engineers worked closely with our parking consultants to design an operationally efficient garage while allowing the park’s trees to grow and thrive, modeling sustainable redevelopment in Midtown.
