HSPVA may move downtown

Group building case

Jay Blazek Crossley, Oct 19, 09.

At a meeting of the Texas Economic and Demographic Association on Thursday, October 15, Bob Eury, President of Central Houston, presented his view of the opportunities and struggles facing downtown Houston over the next decade. Among other things, he presented a proposal to build a new school downtown, that as reported in the Houston Chronicle, Eury and others have begun to build support behind. The idea is to move the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts to downtown close to the arts district, to provide students with ready access to the community of professional artists working downtown and provide an accessible high school for downtown. The Chronicle notes that those proposing the move believe that they can gather $15 million in private contributions to support the project, which they estimate could cost around $45 million. The Houston Independent School District has taken no official action on the matter, but a representative said that HISD is discussing the issue.

The Houston Chronicle Prime Property blog ponders what a relocation of the school to downtown would do to the attractiveness of the downtown residential real estate market, citing the myth that suburban schools are better than urban schools.