Westchase District Seeks Public Input As It Mulls Live Performance Venue

Houston’s Westchase District is exploring the viability of developing a new performing arts venue to keep the area lively after quitting time, and it is looking for public input as part of its research.

Westchase District hired TheatreDNA and Assembly Arts to conduct a feasibility study of the potential for a live performance venue in the district, which encompasses just over 4 square miles near the intersection of Westheimer Road and Beltway 8. 

As part of the study, the district is conducting a community survey seeking input on entertainment, the arts and cultural events, it said in an email blast. The survey closes Sept. 6.

Conducting research to “understand how this space could serve the community” and learn its preferences for live entertainment is one of the first tasks in determining the viability of the venue, the survey website says. 

Developing a performing arts venue could help the Westchase District with its goal of attracting people outside of typical office hours. The district has an office inventory of about 15M SF, but it had a 31.6% vacancy rate in the second quarter, according to Colliers. 

While that surpasses the market’s overall office vacancy rate of 26.9%, Colliers' report shows Westchase has two of the seven top-performing office buildings in Houston. Westchase and other nearby submarkets have attracted some of the largest office leases this year. 

To keep people around, the district has focused on diversifying its offerings over the past six years, including adding more housing. It has 48 apartment communities, Bisnow previously reported.

The district is continuing those efforts with the construction of Camden Park, a $13.7M project named for its primary donor, Camden Property Trust. 

The 3.4-acre park will offer a 30K SF activity lawn with a multipurpose pavilion for free concerts and cultural performances, an on-site restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating, a large children’s playground with rolling hills, play structures and a water feature, and a fenced dog park, according to its website. The park is expected to open in 2025. 

The potential for a live performance venue is in much earlier stages, but Westchase District is encouraging community members to help shape the project.

Survey questions include how many entertainment and cultural events respondents have attended in the past year, how much they paid for them and what kind of activities they did along with them.