Renovation of a stadium in Houston, Texas. Completed plans call for the renovation of a stadium.

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2024/10/07/minute-maid-park-toyota-center-facilities-studies.html Minute Maid Park and Toyota Center are joining the list of Houston stadiums undergoing facilities assessments. The Harris County Houston Sports Authority (HCHSA) selected Tennessee-based public facility consultant Venue Solutions Group to perform consulting services for conditions assessments of the two downtown Houston stadiums. The resolution, which was approved Oct. 7, comes as both venues reach over 20 years in age and as HCHSA prepares to issue new bonds in the coming years to fund improvements at the stadiums. “Both the Astros and the Rockets are required to maintain the stadiums, and as far as we know, they’re doing a great job,” HCHSA Chairman J. Kent Friedman told the Houston Business Journal. “It’s not really a reflection on them; we’re just doing our own due diligence to assess what the situation is at each of those two stadiums.” At the board meeting, HCHSA also approved the issuance of new revenue-refunding bonds, which will end up saving the organization around $60 million. Houston City Council approved the bonds on Oct. 2. Harris County Commissioners Court will also need to approve the bonds before they are issued. A resolution for the bonds is on the Commissioners Court's Oct. 8 agenda. The revenue-refunding bonds also will increase HCHSA’s bonding capacity as the organization plans to issue new bonds in late 2026 or early 2027. Those funds will be used to address issues discovered through the facilities assessments, Friedman said. HCHSA — the landlord for both Minute Maid Park and Toyota Center — expects that the report will be completed within three to four months, Friedman said. The Houston Astros and Houston Rockets are responsible for maintenance and capital repairs at Minute Maid Park and Toyota Center, respectively, per their lease agreements. The Astros contribute $2.5 million annually to an asset renewal and replacement fund, which it can use to fund repairs. The Rockets contribute $1.5 million to a maintenance fund and $1.6 million to a capital fund annually. HCHSA recently approved repairs for both venues. The Astros will remodel Minute Maid Park's warehouse cooler system, replace the venue's bowl audio speakers and replace the windows at Union Station. Meanwhile, the Rockets will replace the roof at Toyota Center. Meanwhile, the Harris County Sports and Convention Corp., the landlord for NRG Park, is also working with Venue Solutions Group for facilities assessments at the 350-acre development home to NRG Stadium, NRG Center, NRG Arena and the Astrodome. The organization has also approved various design studies for NRG Stadium and NRG Center as Harris County, the Houston Texans and Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo plan for the redevelopment of NRG Park. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2024/10/04/nrg-park-hurricane-beryl-repair-costs.html By far the largest expense was the replacement of three roof panels at NRG Stadium. HCSCC paid Dallas-based Enclos Tensile Structures $577,995 for replacement fabric and $1.92 million for installation, according to the documents. The organization also paid Houston-based engineering firm Walter P Moore $85,000 for a roof assessment and repair coordination. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2024/10/03/houston-sports-authority-revenue-refunding-bonds.html The Harris County Houston Sports Authority (HCHSA) will issue new bonds after gaining approval from city council. Houston City Council approved a resolution Oct. 2 for HCHSA to issue new revenue-refunding bonds. The move will allow the organization to call in outstanding bonds and replace them with new bonds with lower interest rates, HCHSA Chairman J. Kent Friedman said. HCHSA expects to refinance $353 million of bonds, which will save the organization about $60 million, according to Friedman. In addition to lowering HCHSA’s debt service, the revenue-refunding bonds will increase the organization's bonding capacity and set the stage to fund future stadium renovations, Friedman said. He expects that the organization will issue new bonds in late 2026 or early 2027. The value of those potential bonds is speculative at this point, Friedman said, but the organization has been using $150 million as an internal estimate thus far. The revenue-refunding bonds come as Minute Maid Park, NRG Stadium and Toyota Center are all at least 20 years old and in need of significant improvements. Additionally, leases for two of the venues are approaching their expirations. The Houston Texans' and Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo's leases at NRG Park end in 2031 and 2032, respectively, while the Houston Rockets' lease for Toyota Center expires after the 2032-33 NBA season. Lease negotiations and redevelopment planning are ongoing between Harris County, the Texans and RodeoHouston. Meanwhile, in 2018, the Houston Astros extended their lease for Minute Maid Park through 2050. While HCHSA is the landlord for Minute Maid Park and Toyota Center — and thus has the obligation to fund renovations at the venues, per the lease agreements — the Harris County Sports and Convention Corp. oversees NRG Park. Nevertheless, the development will still benefit from any new bonds HCHSA issues. When the new bonds are issued, the proceeds will be split evenly between Minute Maid Park, Toyota Center and NRG Stadium to help fund improvement projects at the venues. HCSCC has approved multiple agreements for consulting services and design studies for various facilities at NRG Park this year as lease conversations continue. Although the Astros and Rockets have made their own investments into their facilities, Minute Maid Park and Toyota Center have not undergone significant renovation projects funded in part by HCHSA — even though both lease agreements stipulate such renovations to maintain the first-class status of the venues. HCHSA has funded smaller repair and maintenance projects, though, such as new bowl audio speakers at Minute Maid Park and a new roof at Toyota Center. Toyota Center’s original lease stated that HCHSA would fund renovations to the arena prior to the expiration of the 15th year of the term “to comply with the then-existing standards for a state of the art arena of a comparable size and location.” A 2014 amendment to the lease removed that section and amended it. The lease now reads that if HCHSA refinances any debt, bonds or other obligations, it will use “commercially reasonable good faith efforts” to use a portion of those proceeds for arena improvements. Meanwhile, the 2018 amended Minute Maid Park lease states that additional funding is needed to keep the ballpark in “first-class" condition, which is defined as “being in compliance with all applicable governmental rules and being in good condition and repair.” The agreement states that HCHSA will obtain that additional funding by Dec. 31, 2030, by lobbying for the increase of the maximum rates of short-term vehicle rental, hotel occupancy and combined hotel occupancy taxes and issuing new debt secured by the new tax structure or through issuing new bonds with the current tax structure. If HCHSA fails to obtain additional funding prior to Dec. 31, 2030, the Astros have the option to terminate their lease effective March 31, 2035, according to the 2018 document. This is the third time the HCHSA has issued revenue-refunding bonds. The organization first did so in 2014 in order to reduce debt service and fund two settlement agreements with its bond insurer at the time. The bonds resulted in net present value savings of $99.7 million, according to a September 2020 city presentation. HCHSA sought revenue-refunding bonds again in 2020 in response to decreased tax revenues due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The organization issued $125 million in bonds to create cash flow and debt service relief through 2024, according to the 2020 presentation. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation at NRG Park (HCSCC) in Harris County is planning to issue competitive sealed proposal (CSP) documents. CSP- NRG Park Sound System Replacement 2024: Complete replacement of the NRG Stadium seating bowl sound system.