As multi-million-dollar development projects expand across Sunnyside, long-time residents and community leaders are voicing concerns about gentrification and being priced out of neighborhoods they grew up in.
One such capital plan is already taking shape. The Sunnyside capital plan, which includes six new projects totaling $21.85 million in design and engineering work, is nearly complete, according to representatives of the Sunnyside Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (26).
But as a $21.8 million investment that addresses long-awaited infrastructure and development issues heads toward Sunnyside, residents ask what the impact on affordability will be once the projects are done.
At a public meeting of Southeast Houston’s super neighborhoods, Damon Williams, principal of Touchpoint Strategies, which serves as the administrator of the Sunnyside Redevelopment Authority, presented the plan.
The design and engineering investments for the next fiscal year include:
- Sidewalk Gap Program, priority corridor design (Bellfort, Scott, Reed): $6 million
- Sidewalk pilot corridor package: $500,000
- Utility and infrastructure site readiness: $1.5 million
- Commercial corridor design (Cullen Boulevard, Scott Street): $2.5 million
- Drainage co-investment studies: $1.2 million
- Development incentive and support structuring: $10.15 million
Eleven years in
The City of Houston created TIRZ 26 in 2015 through an ordinance. It is set to run until 2045. Dwight Boykins, who was then a council member, led the effort with the TIRZ board to attract investment to the Sunnyside neighborhood.
Boykins emphasized the need for the TIRZ because of the neighborhood’s “lack of infrastructure and economic development,” with residents feeling neglected.
But TIRZ developments are accompanied by the challenges of gentrification, per Melanie Young, president of Sunnyside Super Neighborhood #71 and a board member of Harris County Improvement District #10. Referring to new developments in the Sunnyside area, she said they are “changing the character” of its neighborhoods and what affordability means for its residents.
“What it comes down to is that we really don’t have the proper protections in place,” said Young.
To remedy this, a coalition of super neighborhoods in the area is working with attorneys on a pro bono basis to shore up deeds so that residents are not priced out of Sunnyside.
“We’re working on a template for areas within Sunnyside that do not have deed restrictions,” Young added.
Black Americans have faced challenges with land ownership, tracing back to a special field order that aimed to distribute land and economically empower them. But the promise was short-lived and only benefited a small group of former slaves, creating a history of distrust in transferring property informally, without deeds, known as “heirs’ property”. Therefore, the need for deed safekeeping is essential, per Young.
While the South Acres community is relatively new, it is not as prone to gentrification as Sunnyside residents, she observed, but it is only a matter of time.
“You’re not seeing a lot of the teardowns and the rebuilds in your neighborhood, but there will come a time when that will start to happen just based on time,” Young said. “This is a good time for you all to start to explore what your deep restrictions are.”
The lessons from the Third Ward and South Union are soon to trickle down to South Acres, as they have in Sunnyside, she warned, adding HOA boards now comprise members who are not native to the neighborhood.
Holding elected officials accountable is also important, per Young, as they approve Capital Improvement Plans (CIPs), five-year plans that address infrastructure needs in the city and are updated annually. Council members are responsible for filing amendments that cater to the districts they serve.
The Sunnyside TIRZ, now 11 years old, is drawing down on the final projects in its CIP, including Heritage Green; beautification projects such as the Phase-I area and Cullen Boulevard (between East Orem Road and Fuqua Street); Sunnyside Park; and Gateway at Airport Boulevard.
The Sunnyside Park will undergo a redesign, per Williams, for which the redevelopment authority has budgeted $37 million. There will also be improvements in front of Attucks Middle School on Belfort and intersections, he added, funded partly by a $1.8 million grant from Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis’ precinct office.
“You’re gonna start to see more intersection improvements,” said Williams, adding that the length of Cullen that runs through Sunnyside will be repaired by the end of the year. “As you all know, some of those intersections, for lack of a more technical term, are janky. The crosswalks have concrete impediments in them.”
The money for the sidewalk project came from a city request. Per Williams, the city offered the redevelopment authority $800,000 last year for sidewalk improvements, identifying segments within the TIRZ area. But the TIRZ board members “were not able to discern what the rhyme or reason was for those particular sidewalk segments.”
Instead, Williams suggested reaching back out to the city once the TIRZ had identified sidewalk priorities based on three criteria: Safe routes to school, access to parks, and access to transportation and community facilities. A subsequent study ranked needs into tiers, with $6 million allocated to Tier 1.
The neighborhood wants affordable grocery stores. Can the Sunnyside Park help?
Sunnyside has long been known as a “food desert”, a neighborhood where many families do not have cars to access quality grocery stores.
Referring to residents’ repeated requests, Williams said grocery store chains determine their locations using economic metrics such as average disposable income rather than community needs.
“You’ve all been asking…we want this, we want that, we want a grocery store,” Williams said. “All of those are economic development outcomes; they’re not inputs. Nobody starts getting better because a nice grocery store shows up. The grocery store shows up because economic conditions are better on the ground.”
The Sunnyside Park, comprising a large investment, is intended not just to provide a green space for the community but to become the “new economic engine” in the area.
The land value in the TIRZ 26 zone was $200 million, which increased to $800 million with new “annexed” land. Now, it stands at $2 billion, according to Williams’ estimate.
“We can either watch these things happen piecemeal with no sense of order, or we can try to use public dollars to help guide that development, that growth, in a way that is most respectful to what the neighborhood, what the community wants,” Williams said.
“It is very important that Sunnyside dollars be spent in ways that reflect the people of Sunnyside.”
Damon Williams, principal of Touchpoint Strategies
What’s next?
The next steps for the redevelopment authority board involve five steps:
- A committee review, refining scoring and tier assignments
- A board presentation and adoption of the plan
- Submitting the formal CIP submission to the City of Houston per TIRZ requirements
- Match the projects to available funding
- An annual update cycle plan
The plan also listed coordination opportunities, including a partnership with Pearland, TDOT, and private plans for the Texas State Highway 288 corridor, streetscape work on the Scott Street corridor (East Orem Drive), and connecting workforce housing to local and federal programs.
The board takes up the budget for the next fiscal year in November, which then proceeds to the City Council.
Services and skepticism
Not everyone left with a clear understanding of the projects.
Julie Jay, a Sunnyside resident since 1981, said the presentation “went over our heads” and left no room for questions.
“I really wasn’t appreciative of that, because you would speak about some things, but then you wouldn’t get the answers, because you were not pausing to hear us,” Jay said.
If given the opportunity, issues of gentrification — “too many duplexes coming up,” as she put it — and affordability would top her list of priorities.
Outside of community presentations, city and state officials should also be held accountable for their campaign promises, said nurse LaTrease Mills.
While issues in the community are being addressed to an extent, “They have a long way to go, of course,” Mills said. “Like, school districts and the schools that are closing down…More about education, especially with HISD.”
Mills, who had to move her children to schools outside HISD, said state-race candidates must step up to protect schools in Sunnyside.
