Arts group plans to call Midtown home with city's help

A nonprofit group plans to build a community arts complex in Midtown with the help of up to $6 million in reimbursements from the city.

The Houston City Council this week approved a tax reimbursement deal and the $2.5 million sale of 3400 Main, currently a parking lot, to the Independent Arts Collaborative, a group created to run the facility.

The 90,000-square-foot facility will include a performance theater, rehearsal spaces, offices and classrooms, as well as make it easier for various arts groups to work together, said Emily Todd, a board member of the collaborative.

The effort to build the project started in 2004 by arts organizations such as Diverse Works, Main Street Theater and Suchu Dance that were tired of renting. No groups have yet signed a lease.

"They're at the mercy of landlords and spaces that are inadequate," said Todd, adding that the location along the rail line from downtown at Holman and across from the Ensemble Theatre will create a concentration of arts in the area. "These are people who have worked and worked and worked, and this is a way for them to build their audiences but also have much higher visibility."

The Independent Arts Collaborative has raised $250,000 for a down payment and has financed the rest through the International Bank of Commerce. Ensemble/HCC Partners, a partnership that owns two adjacent blocks and of which developer Bob Schultz is a managing partner, is guaranteeing the loan.

Raising $22 millionThe collaborative must now raise the estimated $22 million it will cost to build the project, on the block bounded by Francis, Travis, Holman and Main.

The group's deal with the city, also known as a 380 agreement, requires the collaborative to raise at least $10 million for design and construction of the project. At least 25 full-time workers must also be employed by the building's tenants.

The city will make re- imbursements from incremental increases in sales and mixed beverage taxes generated in Midtown, the area expected to be affected by the development.

The payments start the quarter after the building is finished and has received a certificate of occupancy from the city, city spokeswoman Janice Evans said. If it's not built, the agreement expires and no reimbursement occurs, she said.

The collaborative intends to deed the finished building to the city. It would then be maintained by the collaborative and managed by Houston First — recently created by the merger of the city's Convention and Entertainment Facilities Department and the existing government corporation that runs the city-owned Hilton Americas.

According to the agreement, the city believes the project, along with new retail and parking garages on two adjacent blocks, will attract tourism and more development to the area.

Bob Schultz, who developed some of 3600 Main and the site of four businesses on 3700 Main, plans to build office space, retail and some residential units on 3500 Main and the rest of the 3600 block of Main.

Independent businessesSchultz said he plans to expand on the concept of his nearby developments by bringing more independently owned boutiques and restaurants that are unique to Houston, such as the Tacos A-Go Go and Sig's Lagoon. He envisions the developing blocks along Main becoming an arts district akin to South Congress in Austin or Magazine Street in New Orleans.

"People in the city are gravitating toward areas that are arts districts, and being on the rail, we already get visitors from around the world who are on their way to the Museum District and see interesting activity on our block," said Schultz, president of RHS Interests.

purva.patel@chron.com