Mike Morris

3 weeks ago | houstonchronicle.com | Mike Morris |Amelia Winger

Now, the November 2022 sale: We'll start with what the agency paid to buy the land in the first place. This 10.2-acre sale combined six properties that Midtown had purchased between 2005 and 2017.

3 weeks ago | houstonchronicle.com | Mike Morris |Amelia Winger

Then, in recent years, the agency sold 16.6 acres of that land to developers or investors - some of which has been divided into lots for new townhomes. Despite Midtown seeking to make a profit on the sales, it didn't offer the land on the open market to the highest bidder. Some of the sales even brought in less money than Midtown had paid for the land in the first place. It was that building, in fact, that helped spur Midtown to sell land.

Jan 7, 2025 | houstonchronicle.com | Mike Morris

The Midtown Redevelopment Authority completed construction of One Emancipation Center, a five-story office building and parking garage at Emancipation and Elgin, in 2021. The building, which contains no housing units despite being built with dollars dedicated to affordable housing, remains half-empty.

Jan 7, 2025 | houstonchronicle.com | Mike Morris

The Midtown Redevelopment Authority spent $22 million in affordable housing funds on an office building and accompanying garage, called One Emancipation Center, where no one lives. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographerHouston’s Midtown development zone for two decades has pursued an ambitious goal: slowing gentrification in Third Ward by buying hundreds of lots in and around the historic Black neighborhood, hoping to build affordable homes on the land.

Jan 7, 2025 | houstonchronicle.com | Mike Morris

Then-Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announces criminal corruption charges stemming from the investigation into the Midtown Redevelopment Authority on Friday, June 21, 2024, in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographerA former Midtown Redevelopment Authority official and two vendors were charged with felonies last summer, accused of misusing some $8.5 million in public funds meant to build affordable housing in Third Ward.