Oktoberfest is back at Gateway Memorial City! Break out your finest lederhosen and enjoy a night of polka music, traditional German fare and craft brews from Houston’s best microbreweries Karbach, Saint Arnolds, Town City and Under the Radar. Dress in your Bavarian finest for the chance to be crowned Best Dressed Fraulein or Mann! For more information, please visit http://memorialcity.com/.
The fun happens Thursday, September 22, 2016, 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. at the Promenade at Gateway Memorial City, 947 Gessner Road.
Bowl & Barrel and The General Public are now open in CityCentre, providing an elevated bowling experience and handcrafted food and drink menus. Located at the corner of Sorella Court and Queensbury Lane, Bowl & Barrel offers a unique experience for both new and seasoned bowlers with 14 lanes of bowling entertainment and classic cocktails, an extensive beer menu, wine on tap and an eclectic selection of gourmet burgers, exotic shared plates and smorgas-boards. The General Public, located inside Bowl & Barrel, is a spirited neighborhood restaurant and bar committed to wholesome food and warm hospitality. Devoted to rewriting familiar recipes, The General Public uses only the freshest ingredients from farmers and suppliers they know personally.
Sephora, the visionary beauty-retail concept founded in France, brings an ever-increasing amount of classic and emerging brands across a broad range of product categories including skincare, color, fragrance, body, smilecare, and haircare, in addition to Sephora's own private label to the district. Located on Town & Country Blvd. next to Allen Edmonds and across from West Elm, Sephora's consultants are now accepting appointments for complimentary classes, makeovers, and expert advice.
A ribbon cutting held on August 30 celebrated the opening of the new Houston Bike Share’s Pearl CityCentre station. The first station in the Memorial Management District, it marks the expansion of the Houston B-Cycle bike share network into West Houston.
Executive director Pat Walters spoke at the ribbon cutting and shared his enthusiasm for this project. “We are very excited to lend our support to Houston Bike Share and introduce this great opportunity to those who live in, work in and enjoy our district.”
The station’s 7 bikes mark the beginning of a 4-year, district-funded expansion project of Bike Share in the Memorial District.
Notice to Property Owners in
Harris County Municipal Management District #1
aka Memorial Management District
The Memorial Management District is issuing a call for utility burial projects in accordance with its established term sheet (found below). Qualified projects could receive up to 60% reimbursement for actual construction costs. Interested property owners must respond to this notice by September 29, 2016 to be eligible for 2017 reimbursement. Please send your request and project description to:
Memorial Management District
Attn: Pat Walters
9821 Katy Freeway, Suite 180
Houston, TX 77024
patw@3.214.207.131
a. At the end of each fiscal year, the Board will determine available funds for utility burial reimbursement projects for the following fiscal year. Based on the availability of funds and any outstanding reimbursement obligations, the Board will issue a request to all District property owners for application to the District for utility burial projects expected to be completed during the following fiscal year.
b. All applications must be submitted to the District within 30 days of the request issued by the Board.
c. Property owners must respond to the District's notice of award within 60 days indicating owner's intent to participate in the Program for the following fiscal year.
d. The Board will enter into a reimbursement agreement with applicants for reimbursement of up to sixty percent (60%) of the construction costs (not design costs) to bury overhead utility lines within the District, subject to all of the following criteria:
i. The overhead utilities to be relocated must be located within the boundaries of the District and adjacent to public streets.
ii. The overhead utilities must be relocated underground within either public street right-of-way or a utility easement.
iii. Reimbursement will be for out-of-pocket construction costs only (not design costs). Applicants will be required to provide the necessary easement(s) and design engineering at their sole cost and expense.
a. If the District enters into reimbursement agreements with more than one applicant in the first fiscal year, the Board will determine the allocation of available funds for reimbursement during the first year of the project's reimbursement period based on estimated reimbursable project costs.
b. In subsequent years, project owners which were not fully reimbursed for a utility burial reimbursement project in the prior fiscal year(s) will be reimbursed pro-rata in the same proportions prior to reimbursements being made for projects to be completed that fiscal year.
c. Any project which is the subject of a reimbursement agreement which is not completed during the fiscal year designated in such reimbursement agreement will be required to reapply for reimbursement during a future fiscal year.
a. Upon completion of a utility burial project, project owners must submit the following documentation for payment:
i. Summary of payment of eligible costs
ii. Proof of contractor payments and waivers of liens
iii. Evidence of project acceptance by applicable utility provider’s
b. A reimbursement audit will be prepared by the District's auditor prior to release of funds.
Residents and visitors of the Memorial Management District have a new, convenient and healthy transportation option. Houston Bike Share has installed the first of 13 stations in the District. The official ribbon-cutting for the new Pearl CityCentre Station will be Tuesday, August 30, at 12pm in front of the Pearl Residences CityCentre, 10401 Town and Country Way.
Houston Bike Share’s Pearl CityCentre Station is funded by the Memorial Management District. The Pearl Station is the first step towards a larger expansion within the District over the coming years. Bike sharing will serve to connect residents and visitors to its thriving business and entertainment venues in CityCentre.
Pat Walters, Executive Director, states, “The Memorial Management District is so pleased to work with Bike Share and businesses in our District to install up to 13 bike stations within our boundaries in the next 4 years. The District is committed to encourage biking opportunities, and we appreciate Pearl CityCentre allowing us to install the District’s first funded bike station.
The new station will mark Houston Bike Share’s 33rd station and will include 11 docks and 7 bikes. Aside from the new station, HBS will begin the first phase of its expansion project with 25 stations coming by the end of 2016.
“Thanks to the District’s leadership, Houstonians who live, work, and play in CityCentre will have access to a first class bike share program. Houston Bike Share is enthusiastic about our partnership with the Memorial Management District and look forward to working with them going forward to increase B-Cycle’s presence in the District”
MetroNational has partnered with Z Resorts to bring a new Hotel ZaZa to Memorial City and the Memorial Management District. The boutique hotel, which is projected to open summer 2017, blends the best of business travel with the luxury of a destination resort. To that end, Hotel ZaZa Memorial City will provide 159 creative and exciting guest rooms including ZaZa’s renowned Magnificent Seven and Concept suites and 10,000-square-feet of event and meeting spaces. Additional amenities will include an outdoor poolside experience with bar and cabanas, ZaSpa, a fine dining restaurant and nightlife-oriented lounge.
The building plan will also include seven levels of luxury apartments atop the hotel. Residents will have full access to hotel amenities, including concierge services and a separate, private pool. The hotel and residential complex will overlook an expansive green space that is being designed as a dynamic venue for live music, community festivals, markets and vibrant year-round programming. Hotel ZaZa Memorial City will serve as the anchor of an existing mixed-use area that includes a rich blend of Class A office towers, retail, restaurants, and luxury residential within Memorial City.
If you drive the streets of Houston for any length of time, you are familiar with the frustration of traffic backups at intersections with signal lights flashing red or out completely. Very soon, those incidents will be greatly reduce in the Memorial Management District when the District installs Uninterruptable Power Supplies (UPS systems) on all of the District traffic signals. The UPS systems will keep the lights working in the event of a power outage for up to 6 hours until power can be restored. This extra level of safety will help motorists during major storm events or power outages. The District is a major shopping attraction year round, but especially busy during the holiday season, the UPS systems will help ensure traffic does not get snarled by an outage. In addition, Memorial Hermann-Memorial City Medical Center will better served by this extra level of protection. Patients and ambulances will benefit by this critical UPS system installation.
The Memorial District’s Differential Response Team Patrols (DRT) have been contributing to a safer experience for patrons, residents, and employers. The Patrol has been active for 3 years and is staffed by off duty Houston Police officers from the Northwest Substation and Storefront.
The purpose of the Differential Response Team is to work with the Memorial Management District Community to reduce crime and improve the quality of life. Additionally, the DRT proactively works with the community using traditional and non- traditional innovative forms of problem solving to impact crime, calls for service, safety issues and quality of life within the Memorial District.
In addition, the DRT addresses diverse problems such as un-kept lots, residential improprieties, apartment complex ordinance violations, environmental lawlessness and business licensing regulations, as well as responding to crime problems as identified through crime analysis. On a routine basis, the DRT also meets with the community members, encouraging the involvement of the community in the problem solving process. Ultimately, the goal is to have an overall impact benefiting the City of Houston as a whole.
When it comes to burying underground power and other utility lines within the boundaries of the Memorial District, The Board of Directors is putting its best foot… and cash forward! Overhead utilities are an eyesore and they are more vulnerable to power outages due to severe weather and traffic accidents. In order to increase the visual appeal of the District and increase electrical reliability, the Board announced its Utility Burial Policy. The Policy allows for property owners to receive assistance when they have a qualifying utility burial project. That assistance comes in the form of a 60% cash reimbursement for qualifying construction costs. The first call for projects went out late last summer and an estimated one million dollars in reimbursements will be given to property owners in 2015. MetroNational has kicked off the first burial project, but interest by other property owners in establishing future burial projects has skyrocketed. In the coming year, residents and patrons of the District will be able to see a remarkable difference in District’s appearance.
“The significant scale of this project - burying overhead utilities, removing power poles and reducing billboards and signs to improve the visual character of our streets - aligns with MetroNational’s dedication to quality design and enriching the community we serve,” said Glenn Fuhrman, AIA, Vice President of Design and Construction, MetroNational. “We’re thankful for the support of the Memorial Management District and CenterPoint Energy, who were integral to this project’s success.”
The current project included removal and burial of wire and poles on the mall side, some on the hospital side of Gessner, those in front of the Westin Hotel and in front of the Gateway Shopping Center where Vallone's is located. The next phase includes the cleanup from the corner of Memorial City Way and I-10 by the end of December this year. The new Air Liquide Center (formerly where Le Peep and Starbucks are located) have wire and poles being removed there now.