HCSC: Project Vector will bring excitement to Baytown
August 9, 2024
Ryan Walsh, CEO and executive director of the Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation, said he is excited for Baytown and Project Vector.
The project involves building some sort of sports-like facility somewhere in Baytown. Walsh appeared before city council Thursday night to give them an idea of what to expect from the finished product.
“We are energized, and we are ready to make this project a reality and create a new destination for Baytown and for Project Vector,” Walsh said. “We are here to help move Baytown forward.”
Economic Development Manager Brian Moran told council the city and HSCC had entered into an interlocal agreement “to advance our collaborative efforts and demonstrate our commitment to the Baytown residents to improve and enhance the quality of life.”
“This agreement has enabled us to effectively leverage the (corporation’s) expertise and resources during these preliminary stages,” Moran said.
Moran added than an amendment to the agreement would be presented about the corporation’s representative services and project management services at a future council meeting.
Walsh said Project Vector would provide a new benefit to the community and beyond. It will also engage elements with regional appeal to bring in visitors from outside of the city and create an enhanced quality of life and living for Baytown residents, he said.
Giving examples of what the Project Vector facility would look like, Walsh showed council a few facilities located around the country that might mirror the future venue.
One was the Rock Hill Sports and Event Center in South Carolina. The 170,000-square-foot facility has mixed use around it, Walsh said.
“It is part of a retail center that has outdoor venues around it,” he said.
The Rock Hill facility has office space, mixed family living, multi-family living and mixed-use retail. It also has a conference center, a basketball championship court, a volleyball court and basketball courts.
“It is a great use of this kind of facilities,” Walsh said.
Another example was the Legends Event Center in Bryan, Texas.
Walsh said it opened in 2022, and measures about 120,000 square feet. It has many of the same amenities as the one in Rock Hill, Walsh said.
“It has a great use of technology, not just for the sports side but for the community side,” Walsh said. “They have an east side facility, a learning lab, soccer fields, and outdoor water features. It is a really neat building that is going to be part of a larger complex out in Bryan.”
Walsh spoke about the Henrico County Events Center in North Carolina. This facility is about 185,000 square feet and has a championship court, basketball courts, a coach’s room, viewing areas, conference areas, and LED video screens.
Walsh said they have assembled a team with worldwide experience in the sports and entertainment venue industry for Project Vector. This includes Venue Solutions Group, ASM Global Facility, NRG Park’s operator, and HuschBlackwell, the corporation’s legal partner.
“It is a great team and whose primary focus is he success of Project Vector and the City of Baytown,” Walsh said.
City Manager Jason Reynolds was asked about where the Project Vector facility might be constructed in Baytown.
“We do not know at this point. We have things lined up,” Reynolds said. “We’ve done roughly two years of due diligence at this point. We are having a feasibility study to show that the concept is viable. That will be able to support the vision. (The corporation) also sees that this has a path forward and that is why they have partnered with us to help bring that vision to life.”
As far as a timeline, Reynolds said there are a few things that the council and citizens are still owed at this point.
“We are getting our ducks in a row, so all of our partners are on board with our timelines,” Reynolds said.
When the city made a 35-year, $717 million tax abatement deal with ExxonMobil in 2022, they also signed a long-term contract that provided them with $75 million to design and build a multi-purpose stadium. Reynolds added that they are preparing to put everything out including costs, where the facility will go, putting in any infrastructure necessary to move forward, and then publicly laying all of it out before they spend any funds. Reynolds further explained that the funds from ExxonMobil will go into a separate fund and that it would be in the proposed 2024-2025 budget.
“It is in the budget but not any impact on the general fund,” he said.
Reynolds also quelled some of the rumors that have come up in relation to Project Vector, such as a hockey team coming to Baytown or a UFL team.
“They are not coming to Baytown,” he said. “But this opens the doors for us to be associated with professional teams in the region.”