Memorial City, Houston

Memorial City sign

Memorial City is a district located in the Memorial area of Houston, Texas, United States. The Texas Legislature created the Memorial Management District in 1999. The district is along Interstate 10 between Beltway 8 and Bunker Hill Road. The Memorial City Mall and the Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center are in Memorial City.

History

A five story obelisk installed along Interstate 10 in 2009

The Texas Legislature created the Memorial Management District in 1999.[1]

By July 2009 the district planned to create identifying markers to mark the area as Memorial City. In late 2009, the district installed four five-story obelisks with lighted tops along Interstate 10. The $548,000 ($604440.51 when adjusted for inflation) used to fund the improvements originated from commercial businesses within the district boundaries subjected to assessments for improvement.[2]

Cityscape

The district is along Interstate 10 between Beltway 8 and Bunker Hill Road.[1][3] While consisting mainly of retail, medical and office complexes, the district includes four apartment complexes with a combined total of 988 units. One, the Terrace at Memorial City, is only for senior citizens. The Villas at Bunker Hill is located north of the Memorial City district boundary at the southwest corner of Bunker Hill and Pine Lake Drive.[4]

As is the case in several of the special management districts of Houston, Memorial City uses street name signage of a different graphic design style and color scheme than the standard white-on-green signs used in many neighborhoods throughout the city.

Economy

Memorial City Mall

Many of Memorial City's employees live and work within a 10-mile (16 km) radius from the intersection of Interstate 10 (Katy Freeway) and Gessner Road. The radius includes areas in Harris County and Fort Bend County.[5] The three largest employers include Memorial City Mall, with 5,000 local employees, the Chase Bank Service Center, with 1,100 local employees, and the CEMEX United States operations, with 1,000 local employees.[6]

There are 24 retail centers in the district which each have more than 10,000 square feet (930 m2) of space, making a total of 3,620,000 square feet (336,000 m2) of space. The Memorial City Mall has over half of the retail space in the district, with 1,900,000 square feet (180,000 m2) of space. There were no gross retail sales figures for the Memorial City area that were available from public published sources, so the district used the publication the average sales per square foot statistics for shopping centers in the Southern United States stated in the publication "Dollars & Cents of Shopping Centers/The SCORE 2006." To calculate sales of single tenant big box stores, the district used average national sales data for specific stores such as Great Indoors, Home Depot, and Sam's Club. Using the data the district estimated that its annual retail sales were $1.1 billion in 2006 dollars, making an average of about $300 per square foot.[4]

Cemex offices

There are 20 office buildings with a total of 2,900,000 square feet (270,000 m2) of space. Most of the buildings are multi-tenant, while some, such as the Chase Service Center, each have a single tenant.[7] 11 distribution, industrial, and warehouse facilities in Memorial City have a total of about 700,000 square feet (65,000 m2) of space.[8] Three hotels, the Candlewood Suites ‐ Houston‐Town and Country, the Four Points by Sheraton Houston, Memorial City (formerly the Radisson Suites Hotel West) and the Westin Houston Memorial City are located in the district.[9][10] The Westin, with 250 rooms, is located between the Memorial City Mall and the Memorial City Hospital. 75 residential units are on the top floors of the hotel.[11]

Group 1 Automotive has its corporate headquarters in One Memorial City Plaza.[3][12] Dow Chemical operates a purchasing office in Suite 600 at Two Memorial City Plaza. The office, which opened on 1990, has operations involving co-product marketing, energy and hydrocarbons purchasing, optimization and pipeline activities, and polypropylene commercial and corporate auditing.[13] Sumitomo Corporation operates its Houston Office in Suite 1000 in Three Memorial City Plaza at 840 Gessner Road. Industries supported by the office include Chemicals, Plastics, and Tubular Products.[14][15]

Demographics

A 2006 demographic projection stated that 4,324 people lived within the district. The population lived in 1,756 households. Of the population, 2,371 (54.8%) were Hispanic, 1,529 (35.4%) were non-Hispanic White, 283 (6.5%) were Asian, 72 (1.7%) were African-American, and 11 (0.3%) were Native American. There were no Pacific Islanders living in Memorial City.[16] 2,878 residents were over 24 years of age.[17]

The same demographic projection stated that 1,388,425 people lived within the 10 miles (16 km) "commute zone." The population lived in 535,249 households. Of the commute zone population, 513,362 (37%) were non-Hispanic White, 493,336 (35.5%) were Hispanic, 231,020 (16.6%) were African-American, 121,876 (8.8%) were Asian, 25,189 (1.8%) were Other, 2767 (0.2%) were Native American, and 874 (0.1%) were Pacific Islander.[16] 894,500 were over 24 years of age.[17]

Government and infrastructure

Memorial City Management District is headquartered in Suite 1530 in Two Memorial City Plaza.[1][18]

Parts of Memorial City are within Houston City Council District G,[19] and parts are in city council District A.[20]

The United States Postal Service operates the Memorial Park Post Office at 10505 Town and Country Way in Memorial City.[1][21]

Education

Colleges and universities

Houston Community College Spring Branch in Memorial City

Houston Community College (HCC) operates the Spring Branch Campus (formerly the Town and Country Campus), a part of the Northwest College.[9] The campus is in Memorial City, at the northeast corner of Beltway 8 and Interstate 10.[3] The facility was known as the Town and Country Campus until 2009.[22] The college is inside the former Town and Country Mall.[23] In 1999 a former 112,000-square-foot (10,400 m2) AMC Theatres and KMart building in Town and Country was re-tenanted to HCC.[24] HCC signed its lease to occupy portions of the Town & Country Square Shopping Center in 1999. During that year the owners of the Town & Country Square Shopping Center filed a lawsuit against HCC for trying to stop a Barnes & Noble from opening in the shopping center premises.[25]

Other colleges and universities within the commute zone include other HCC campuses, Houston Baptist University, and the University of Houston System at Cinco Ranch—a multi-institution teaching center offering courses and degree programs from the three UH System universities (University of Houston, UH–Clear Lake, and UH–Victoria).[26]

Primary and secondary schools

The residential space within Memorial City is within the Spring Branch Independent School District.[3][27][28]

Residents south of Interstate 10 are zoned to Wildcat Way School in Houston for preschool. Residents north of Interstate 10 are zoned to Tiger Trail School.[29] Three elementary schools, Bunker Hill Elementary School in the City of Bunker Hill Village, Frostwood Elementary School in the City of Bunker Hill Village, and Shadow Oaks Elementary School in Houston serve sections of Memorial City.[30] Residents north of I-10 are zoned to Spring Oaks Middle School in Houston, while residents south of I-10 are zoned to Memorial Middle School in Houston.[31] Residents south of I-10 are zoned to Memorial High School in the City of Hedwig Village while residents north of I-10 are zoned to Spring Woods High School in Houston.[32]

Adult educational attainment statistics

A 2006 demographic projection said that of the 2,878 Memorial City residents over 24 years of age, 522 (18.2%) had less than a 9th grade education, 383 (13.3%) had some high school education but did not possess a high school diploma, 582 (20.2%) had graduated from high school or received a GED, 515 (17.9%) attended college but did not have a degree, 104 (3.6%) had an associate degree, 520 (18.1%) had a bachelor's degree, 158 (5.5%) had a master's degree, 67 (2.3%) had a professional school degree, and 27 (0.9%) had a doctorate degree.[17]

The same projection said that of the residents of the 894,500 Memorial City commute zone over 24 years of age, 91,249 (10.2%) had less than a 9th grade education, 94,688 (10.6%) had some high school education but did not possess a high school diploma, 160,757 (18%) had graduated from high school or received a GED, 184,495 (20.6%) attended college but did not have a degree, 43,150 (4.8%) had an associate degree, 207,704 (23.2%) had a bachelor's degree, 67,755 (7.6%) had a master's degree, 30,984 (3.5%) had a professional school degree, and 13,718 (1.5%) had a doctorate degree.[17]

Health care

Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center

The Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center opened in 1971 as Memorial City General Hospital, taking its current name in 1988. It has 527 beds and cares for over 25,000 patients per year.[9]

Transportation

Interstate 10 (Katy Freeway) bisects the Memorial City district and provides east-west access. Beltway 8 provides major regional north-south access. Gessner Road provides additional north-south access.[33]

Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas provides public transportation. The 72 Westview Circulator connects Memorial City with Spring Branch. The 70 Memorial route connects Memorial City to Downtown Houston via Memorial Drive; this allows people living in other parts of Houston to transfer in Downtown to the 72 route servicing Memorial City. The 131 Memorial Express connects Memorial City to Downtown and the western Memorial Drive area.[34] The 46 Gessner route connects Memorial City to Spring Branch, Westchase, and Sharpstown via Gessner Road.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "About the District." Memorial City District. Retrieved on January 25, 2009.
  2. ↑ "Memorial City stages all-star branding show." Houston Business Journal. CityBeat. Friday July 17, 2009. Retrieved on July 18, 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Memorial Management District Boundary." Memorial Management District. Retrieved on January 25, 2009.
  4. 1 2 "2007 Inventory and Database." Memorial Management District. 18. Retrieved on May 31, 2010.
  5. ↑ "2007 Inventory and Database." Memorial City Management District. 4-5. Retrieved on May 31, 2010.
  6. ↑ "2007 Inventory and Database." Memorial City Management District. 9. Retrieved on May 31, 2010.
  7. ↑ "2007 Inventory and Database." Memorial City Management District. 20. Retrieved on May 31, 2010.
  8. ↑ "2007 Inventory and Database." Memorial City Management District. 21. Retrieved on May 31, 2010.
  9. 1 2 3 "2007 Inventory and Database." (Archive) Memorial Management District. 22. Retrieved on May 31, 2010.
  10. ↑ "The Westin Houston Memorial City Makes Debut", Starwood press release, March 24, 2011. Retrieved June 12, 2011.
  11. ↑ Sarnoff, Nancy. "Real estate: Condo, townhouse sales still slipping." Houston Chronicle. April 20, 2008. Retrieved on October 28, 2013.
  12. ↑ "Contact Us." Group 1 Automotive. Retrieved on December 8, 2009.
  13. ↑ "Memorial Plaza - Purchasing Office." Dow Chemical. Retrieved on February 5, 2009.
  14. ↑ "Office Network." Sumitomo Corporation. Retrieved on January 25, 2009.
  15. ↑ "Three Memorial City Plaza." MetroNational. Retrieved on January 25, 2009.
  16. 1 2 "2007 Inventory and Database." Memorial City Management District. 7. Retrieved on May 31, 2010.
  17. 1 2 3 4 "2007 Inventory and Database." Memorial City Management District. 8. Retrieved on May 31, 2010.
  18. ↑ "Two Memorial City Plaza." MetroNational. Retrieved on January 25, 2009.
  19. ↑ City of Houston, Council District Maps, District G." City of Houston. Retrieved on November 5, 2011.
  20. ↑ City of Houston, Council District Maps, District A." City of Houston. Retrieved on November 5, 2011.
  21. ↑ "Post Office Location - MEMORIAL PARK." United States Postal Service. Retrieved on May 11, 2009.
  22. ↑ Casey, Rick. "Suburbs: ‘Raise our school taxes'." Houston Chronicle. August 8, 2009. Retrieved on March 25, 2010.
  23. ↑ Georgandis, Nick. "HCC officials determined to fight governor's funding vetoes." The Katy Times. Monday June 25, 2007. Retrieved on March 25, 2010.
  24. ↑ "Moody Rambin Interests Inc." Houston Business Journal. Friday May 26, 2000. Retrieved on March 25, 2010.
  25. ↑ Nissimov, Ron. "Article: Bookstore Sparks Lawsuit Against Houston Community College System." Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. November 29, 1999. Retrieved on March 25, 2010.
  26. ↑ "2007 Inventory and Database." Memorial City Management District. 23. Retrieved on May 31, 2010.
  27. ↑ "SN_10.pdf." City of Houston. Retrieved on January 25, 2009.
  28. ↑ "SN_16.pdf." City of Houston. Retrieved on January 25, 2009.
  29. ↑ "Early Childhood." Spring Branch Independent School District. Retrieved on January 25, 2009.
  30. ↑ "Elementary School Boundaries." Spring Branch Independent School District. Retrieved on January 25, 2009.
  31. ↑ "Middle School Boundaries." Spring Branch Independent School District. Retrieved on January 25, 2009.
  32. ↑ "High School Boundaries." Spring Branch Independent School District. Retrieved on January 25, 2009.
  33. ↑ "2007 Inventory and Database." Memorial City Management District. 10. Retrieved on May 31, 2010.
  34. ↑ "2007 Inventory and Database." Memorial Management District. 11. Retrieved on May 31, 2010.

External links

Coordinates: 29°47′10″N 95°32′42″W / 29.786°N 95.545°W / 29.786; -95.545

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