Houston, Texas Hits a Grand-Slam 

for Brownfields Redevelopment 

Houston, TX

The Houston Brownfields Assessment Pilot is leading the nation in 

brownfields reuse, playing a key role in the assessment, cleanup, and 

redevelopment of more than 986 acres of brownfields and leveraging more 

than $500 million in redevelopment funding. The Houston Pilot focuses on 

the inner-city and downtown areas that were neglected as the city experienced 

an economic boom in the 1970s and 1980s that pulled businesses and residents 

out of the urban core to the expanding development of outlying greenfields. 

Abandoned and idle properties downtown were left with the perception of 

environmental contamination that for years stymied redevelopment. The 

efforts of the City of Houston’s Brownfields Redevelopment Program have 

led to these inner-city brownfields being assessed, cleaned up, and 

redeveloped for such uses as a major league baseball park, a 450-acre golf 

course, a performing arts center, an aquarium and entertainment complex, 

and nearly 1,000 new housing units. The city’s Brownfields Redevelopment 

Program has been aided by funding from EPA with a $200,000 Brownfields 

Assessment grant and $600,000 in Showcase Community awards. 

On March 30, 2000, the Houston Astros got a new home—Astros Field 

(formerly Enron Field)—a 42,000-seat baseball stadium built on a 38-acre 

former brownfield. The Pilot-targeted site historically contained a railroad 

station, an industrial facility, and a number of corrugated-metal buildings. 

The site’s owner, Harris County Sports Authority, funded environmental 

assessments at the site, entered the property into the Texas Voluntary Cleanup 

Program, and funded the site’s cleanup. Astros fans are now enjoying an 

open-air ballpark that features a retractable roof that can be closed on hot 

summer days or during bad weather. Located on the east side of downtown 

Houston, the air-conditioned ballpark offers spectators a spectacular view 

of the Houston skyline. The Astros Field property also includes the renovated 

Union Station, which houses cafes, retail shops, and a tour theater. The 

$310 million redevelopment project has created 223 new jobs and is a leading 

force behind the revitalization of downtown Houston. 

Another recreational reuse project has been completed in the southern area 

of Houston. In the summer of 2002, two championship 18-hole golf courses 

opened to the public on a 450-acre site that served as the city’s primary 

landfill until its closure in 1979. The landfill has been sealed with stateapproved capping materials, and a landfill gas extraction system has been 

installed to address the relatively small amounts of landfill gas that are emitted. 

The site has been and will continue to be monitored. In 1997, prior to the 

Pilot’s involvement, the owner of 422 acres of the site, Browning Ferris 

Housing for senior citizens, 

built on a former Brownfield. 

JUST THE FACTS:


•	 At the request of the property owner 

and developer, the Brownfields Pilot 

acted as a liaison for the $77,000 

purchase of a city-owned brownfield 

to be included as part of a $23 million 

golf course redevelopment project. 

•	 Another of Houston’s former 

brownfields has been transformed 

into a world-class aquatic 

entertainment, dining, and meeting 

complex, using more than $873,000 in 

cleanup funding and $18 million in 

redevelopment funding leveraged by 

the Brownfields Pilot. 

•	 Houston has also redeveloped 

brownfields for residential reuses, 

including a 64-unit affordable housing 

development for seniors and a 74-unit, 

mixed-income apartment building. 

The efforts of the City of 

Houston’s Brownfields 

Redevelopment Program have led 

to many inner-city brownfields 

being assessed, cleaned up, and 

redeveloped for such uses as a 

major league baseball park, a 450-

acre golf course, a performing 

arts center, an aquarium and 

entertainment complex, and 

nearly 1,000 new housing units. 

continued �
One of Houston’s brownfields, 

just prior to redevelopment. 

CONTACTS: 

For more information contact 

U.S. EPA-Region 6 (214) 665-6736 

Or visit EPA’s Brownfields Web site at: 

http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/ 

Industries, selected EnCap Golf LLC to redevelop the site into two 18-hole golf courses. 

property owner and EnCap enlisted the Houston Pilot to help coordinate with government 

agencies to secure various permits and assist with community outreach. 

acted as a liaison for the $77,000 purchase of an adjacent city-owned brownfield 

to include as part of the redevelopment project. 

project by updating and requesting support from the stakeholders involved, as 

appropriate. 

project includes a clubhouse, a practice and training facility, a pitch-and-putt 

course, maintenance facilities, cart paths, and access roads. 

that the city will receive $22,000 per year in property taxes. 

At another cleaned up brownfield in downtown Houston stands the $92 million 

Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. This site was the former location of 

the Houston Coliseum, whose aging structure proved to be beyond a costeffective renovation. 

the old coliseum, and the Houston Music Hall 

Foundation acquired the site to build the Hobby 

Center in Houston’s Theatre District. The property 

owner funded assessments and cleanup of the site, which 

included removal of lead- and asbestos-contaminated soil. 

three-year redevelopment project has been completed, and the 

new performing arts center opened in May 2002. 

includes a 2,650-seat hall designed for a broad range of 

performances, such as Houston’s Broadway Series, and a 500-

seat theater with a full orchestra pit. 

endeavor has created more than 200 new jobs. 

On February 15, 2003, the Downtown Aquarium held its grand 

opening on a former brownfield, a 7-acre city-owned property that 

was previously home to Houston’s Fire Station No. 1 and the nearby Central Waterworks plant. The 

property has been transformed into a world-class aquatic entertainment, dining, and meeting complex 

offering a 400-seat seafood restaurant; a 6,000-square-foot a ballroom; a cafe, lounge, and gift shop; and 

a plaza with fountains, a 90-foot Ferris wheel, and a gas-powered scale model train. 

the complex is a public aquarium with more than 500,000 gallons of water in underwater tanks and 200 

species of domestic and international marine life. helped leverage more than $873,000 in cleanup 

funding and $18 million in redevelopment funding for the site. 

The Houston Pilot has also been instrumental in the transformation of brownfields for residential reuse. 

In a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood in Houston’s East End, the Pilot performed environmental 

assessments at a 2.7-acre site that the Latino Learning Center (LLC) redeveloped as a 64-unit affordable 

housing development for seniors. 

Housing and Urban Development to build the housing complex on half of the property, while the other 

half will house a Seniors’ Day and Health Care Center and a 5,500-square-foot multi-service community 

center. 

Washington Courtyards. This brownfields redevelopment project is part of a larger revitalization plan for 

the Washington Avenue Corridor, which includes a charming traffic circle, a tree-lined entertainment 

plaza, a village center, and a civic plaza. 

The redevelopment projects described here represent only a sampling of what the Houston Brownfields 

Pilot has accomplished in assisting the City of Houston to assess, clean up, and redevelop its brownfield 

properties. 

In 1998, the 

The Pilot 

The Pilot also assisted with the 

In addition to the golf courses, the $23 million redevelopment 

It is estimated 

The City of Houston razed 

The 

The Center 

This public/private, nonprofit 

The centerpiece of 

The Pilot 

The LLC used a $3.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of 

Other residential reuse projects include a 74-unit, mixed-income apartment building known as 

Brownfields Success Story Solid Waste EPA 500-F-03-016 

Houston, Texas and Emergency May 2003 

Response (5105) www.epa.gov/brownfields/