HOUSTON PAVILIONS TO BE RENAMED, REBRANDED 
Clearly, former NBA star Earvin Johnson knows the value of renaming — and Houston Pavilions, which Magic and other investors bought back in August, will be given a new moniker of its own, reports the Houston Business Journal’s Shaina Zucker: Today, @HouPavilions tweeted an invitation to a party on April 4 at San Jacinto between Dallas and Polk during which the mall-ish complex will reveal its new name and new brand strategy. “[R]etailers and restaurants,” the invitation says, “will have booths featuring complimentary tastings and interactive activities including Wii Bowling, a basketball hoop-off for the chance to win a signed Houston Rockets basketball and more.” [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Flickr user cjt3
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Yay Wii Bowling, what every 40 year old woman thinks is a fun activity at any corporate event.
Some people seem to have no purpose in life except to find some thing to bitch and complain about in everything, every story, every post, every moment.
Washington Heights District?
Does it mean I have to pay for street parking to attend? Hopefully it is after 6 or is it 7?
I wish them luck, but franky unless they can revamp the layout and get rid of the narrow corridor in the center, letting the retail spaces face the street, I’m not feeling very positive. At least they got it for a good price.
The Comcast SportsNet Studios are a great addition, and fun to check out while strolling by. Unless, I imagine, you work there and have to spend your entire day watching people Instagram you.
They need to find a way to connect the Pavilions to the CBD tunnel system. Maybe when Hildebrand tears down Macy’s and builds his office building (that’s the word on the street) he’ll want to connect over to the Pavilions as an amenity to his employees.
No charm, no sense of place, and no free parking. The place has no chance.
Maybe Hildebrand’s employees will be able to walk across a street without a special bridge or tunnel to make it easier?
Mike – Look at the CBD tunnel map. http://downtownhouston.org/site_media/uploads/attachments/2012-06-15/2012_Above__Below_Map.pdf
From the Pavilions perspective, the point isn’t to connect to Hilcorp’s employees. The vast majority of downtown workers would have covered access to the Pavilions. (Remember we have to deal with Houston weather, not california weather.) It’s an added bonus to Hilcorp’s building that would likely come at the Pavilions expense.
Typically, when a building owner wants to connect to the tunnel system, there are two main expenses. 1. The actual cost of digging, construction, rerouting utilities etc. 2. They have to pay a fee for access to the tunnel system to the neighbor building who is already on the tunnel system. This fee can be VERY excessive and often is cost prohibitive.
In this event, I could see Hilcorp allowing the pavilions to tunnel over simply to make the building more marketable. It’s an amenity and if the Pavilions will pay for it, why not do it?
I concur with SBV, the tunnel system is pretty much an underground mall food court, why not connect it to an existing mall. As far as reorienting the store fronts, not gonna happen unless the whole bldg was demo’d and rebuilt that way.