The Harris County-Houston Sports Authority approved a $180M renovation of Toyota Center during a special meeting on April 8. The project will commence once the Rockets’ 2025-26 NBA season ends, and will be completed by the start of the 2027-28 season. The Houston Chronicle reported the city’s mayor, John Whitmire, saying Wednesday that $95M of the project costs would be covered by the state with Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta providing the remainder.
The Rockets’ lease to play at the venue runs through the 2032-33 NBA season. The Harris County-Houston Sports Authority oversees the arena (along with Daikin Park and Shell Energy Stadium), which in recent years received a new scoreboard and sound system, and roof.
The renovation’s most visible element is a 20,000-square-foot glass atrium at the corner of Polk and La Branch streets, giving the arena’s main entrance more aesthetic oomph. The new atrium will provide 3,000 square feet of covered gathering space at the venue’s front door, with a season ticket members lounge overlooking the indoor portion of the atrium.
Toyota Center’s renovation was designed by Generator Studio, which recently led design of the K.C. Current’s CPKC Stadium and the Blackhawks Ice Center in Chicago. Whiting-Turner is the contractor, with CAA Icon managing the project.
The venue’s south entry will be reconfigured to provide an easier arrival experience featuring a new visual opening into the seating bowl. The Skybridge entrance, connecting the arena and the Toyota Tundra Garage for premium ticketholders, will also be overhauled.
On the suite level, the 6,000-square-foot Summit Club will contain multiple dining and lounge areas designed to accommodate a variety of uses. Sixteen suites will be converted into 24 theater boxes. And all existing (remaining) suites, which have been untouched since Toyota Center opened in 2003, will be renovated and modernized, with updated interiors, furnishings and finishes.
The new atrium structure will create new upper concourse space above the remade main entrance. The Sky Bar and HOU Market will be added in the approximately 5,000 additional square feet, providing views of downtown and elevated hospitality for GA ticket holders, too.
The 23-year-old arena’s vertical transportation (for accessing the venue’s five levels), network connectivity and broadcast, building systems, wayfinding and guest navigation, and food service infrastructure will all be updated and improved.
Beginning in 2027, Toyota Center will be home to the second iteration of the Houston Comets, following Fertitta’s $300M acquisition of the Connecticut Sun. The Comets were one of the WNBA’s original eight franchises but disbanded after the 2008 season and a prolonged stretch of mismanagement.
Accordingly, the arena renovation includes a revamped Rockets and Comets team store that will more than double the footprint of the current team store. And Fertitta plans to invest in Comets-specific facilities at the arena (that investment was included in the $180M figure) with more information coming later this year.