HOUSTON – For several years, there was a recurring lament within the Texans organization accompanied by a growing vision.
The Texans wanted their own state-of-the-art training facility and a team headquarters that could house players, coaches and all of their staff under the same roof.
The AFC South franchise shares NRG Stadium, the site of their games, with the rodeo along with concerts and other events held there throughout the year. And that has created frequent spacing and scheduling conflicts as they conducted practices during the season along with training camp and offseason activities.
The Texans, including principal owner Cal McNair and his wife, foundation vice president Hannah McNair, have long wanted something modern for the team they could both call their own, and something they could share with the community.
Now, the Texans have achieved something they’ve desired for years as they announced plans Thursday for a training facility, headquarters across 22 acres as the centerpiece of an 83-acre sports and entertainment complex development set for Bridgeland in Northwest Harris County.
It will be called Toro District.
“It starts with being thoughtful, and it starts with understanding what the mission is and the focus and the main thing is football,” Texans team president Mike Tomon told KPRC 2 during an interview at NRG Stadium. “How do we put our team and the overall organization in a position to make their job of becoming world-class and focused in on the goal, how do you make sure, as all of this is going on, how do you make sure it’s the main thing? And that’s been the driver that we started with is how do we create a competitive advantage for the football team? And everything else kind of falling in line thereafter. Starting top down, it’s a commitment to win championships.
“Through Cal’s vision, we started to narrow in on that area. We wanted to make sure we have a competitive advantage for the team. It was also making sure we make a really positive impact on the community. We have some great programs that we’re working in partnership with the county to roll out that will benefit high school students as well as colleges and local residents from a jobs perspective. All those pieces were really important to the McNairs. We’re really excited to land in this spot.”
The project is being built through a public-private partnership approved unanimously by Harris County officials. A projected $150 million share will be paid for through a tax increment reinvestment zone with a portion of country property taxes allocated annually for infrastructure in the area for the project, Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones told KPRC 2 in a telephone interview.
The Texans, in a collaboration with Harris County and Howard Hughes Holdings, the developers of Bridgeland, The Woodlands and Summerlin in the Las Vegas area, plan to break ground this year and move into their new digs during the summer of 2029.
The Texans had clearly outgrown NRG Stadium and needed more space to operate.
“There’s friction on how we go through our day,” Tomon said. “This puts us in a position where we can all be together in this world-class training facility and headquarters and focus in on our goal. We have big aspirations. The organization is growing.
“And this is a great representation of where we’re going and how the best way to get there. I think it feels perfect because it’s identifiable. It’s academic. We can see how we get there. We have the ability to plan and be really thoughtful along the way. We really looked at this as a unique opportunity.”
There will be 175,000 square feet set aside for team headquarters, and an indoor fieldhouse of roughly 150,000 square feet. This will allow the team to practice indoors to account for the Houston heat and unpredictable weather patterns.
“It’s a great day to be a Texans fan,” said Briones, who worked closely with the Texans, Howard Hughes and Harris County Commissioner Tom Ramsey on this project. “This is definitely a win-win-win-win-win-win: multiple wins. This really is a landmark public-private partnership, and I am thrilled and I am thankful. And it really is a great day to be a Harris County resident and to be a Texans fan.
“We’re keeping them here at home. We’re creating jobs, we’re helping students, building roads, building parks, building a county services hub. And it was really about creative solutions and community oriented stewardship. I can’t wait to continue this progress.”
This shift to the Houston suburbs, in this planned development led by Cal McNair and Hannah McNair in partnership with Harris County and Howard Hughes, is expected to create $34 billion in long-term economic impact and create 17,000 jobs while expanding infrastructure and growth in the region.
The development in the community is expected to include hotel, entertainment, commercial, medical space, retail, restaurants, opportunities for youth sports like flag football and other community events.
Inspiration and ideas were derived from several areas calling on Tomon’s background with stadiums and projects nationally and internationally with Legends Global Attractions. That included previously working with SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabe’u Stadium, the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium, the Las Vegas Raiders’ stadium, Notre Dame, FC Barcelona, FIFA World Cup, Highmark Stadium and work with the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
The Texans and their partners looked at the setup for several standalone training facilities and sports and entertainment complexes. That included The Star, the Cowboys’ complex in Frisco, the Las Vegas Knights in Summerlin, another Howard Hughes community, The Battery, the Atlanta Braves’ facility and more.
David O’Reilly, CEO of Howard Hughes, told KPRC 2 the idea was to find “The best of the best of the best” and implement a project the Texans could put their personal stamp and signature on and be proud of.
“I think it’s a really fortunate situation,” Tomon said. “We have a lot of confidence in the experience we have, being able to lean on that. From the McNair’s standpoint and the Texans overall, we have a really great comfort in who we are. When you go into these projects, there’s a tactical piece and there’s a strategic piece. It’s the best of both worlds with that.
“It was really important for us to have the right real estate development partner. Howard Hughes is world-class. Not only did you need a world-class partner, but you needed one that understood two main components Houston and what a sports-anchored environment needs to look like and how it best works. And they have a fantastic credibility sheet, especially highlighted by what they did in Summerlin in Las Vegas with the Golden Knights. And so we really felt like they were the right partners to go do something special.”
The project, a multiple-year collaboration, passed unanimously during county commissioners’ court, a 5-0 balloting, that approves the project.
“This is going to be a major impact for Bridgeland and the neighboring communities,” Briones said. “I was very pleased that unanimously at court we passed the framework for a landmark public-private partnership that will spur transformative economic development for Northwest Harris County, which is one of the fastest growing areas in the country. In the next 25 years, Harris County is projected to grow by 40 percent. In this Northwest area, we’re expecting to see approximately 300 percent growth. This is just astronomical.
“This Toro District will catalyze economic development and growth. Seventeen thousand of the 60,000 jobs created in the next decade will be directly attributed to the Toro District. I used to be a teacher and I’m a mom of three little girls. I am thrilled that there will be internships for students. There will be sports programming. There will be opportunities for the school districts to use the stadium there for things like graduations. I’m also very thrilled that the development will be done with public dollars will adhere to all of our county policies. We’re creating economic opportunity. There’s huge wins on the infrastructure front as well.”
Texans principal team owner and CEO Cal McNair is a Cy-Fair High School graduate
Now, the Texans are going to train around the year in the Cypress area in a fancy training facility and team headquarters.
“Today is a historic day for the Houston Texans, our fans, and the Greater Houston area as we partner with Howard Hughes and Harris County on a world-class sports and entertainment destination, including our new headquarters and training facility,” Cal McNair said. “Our organization continues to grow and this aligns with our goals of bringing a championship to Houston, enhancing community services and making sports more accessible.
“This project reinforces our long-term commitment to Harris County and our focus on driving growth and opportunity for the community. It will set the new standard for the global sports and entertainment industry and it’s the most significant evolution for our organization since our inception.”
The Texans worked closely with Briones and Ramsey on the project. This undertaking will include expanded parks and trails, infrastructure improvements and a future community center.
Toro District is expected to significantly boost economic development in the area.
“This is not just a headquarters, it is a statement about where Houston is going,” O’Reilly said. “When you bring together visionary public leadership, a world-class NFL franchise, and a long-term development partner, you can do something far bigger than any one organization alone.
“Toro District will create jobs, strengthen infrastructure, expand access to services, and deliver a gathering place that families will enjoy for generations. We are incredibly proud to partner with the Texans and Harris County to build something that reflects the ambition and energy of this region.”
As the Texans continue to dig further into ongoing negotiations on their stadium lease that expires in 2032 their central focus remains on finding workable, financially viable solutions to upgrade NRG Stadium.
The priority for the Texans regarding the multi-use, 72,220 capacity stadium built in 2002 at a cost of $352 million is to renovate the facility, which is in need of extensive and expensive repairs and general improvements, in partnership with Harris County, the Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
Relocation to a new stadium isn’t the Texans’ stated goal. They want to refurbish the stadium.
Negotiations are active and ongoing with lots of time left on the current lease. The Texans are attempting to be proactive about the stadium situation.
Contractually, the Texans are not responsible for the repair and upkeep of the stadium. That task lies with Harris County under the terms of the lease arrangement. The Texans have contributed millions of dollars, though, toward multiple repairs and maintenance of the stadium since the launch of the franchise in 2002 by the late founder Bob McNair, Cal McNair’s father.
“Absolutely, our focus is to be here,” Tomon said. “Our focus is to be at NRG Park. As we like to say, ‘You want to see us on our biggest moments? Come to NRG. You want to see us on our day-to-day, the other 350 days a year? Come to Bridgeland. And so that’s kind of how we look at the Toro District. And our focus remains making this our competitive advantage here at NRG.”
The Texans, under the leadership of coach DeMeco Ryans and general manager Nick Caserio, have qualified for the postseason each of the past three seasons and won one playoff game annually. They lost in the AFC divisional round each of the past three seasons, falling to the New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens.
The Texans, including the top-ranked defense in the NFL, are expected to have back the core of their roster for next season.
“We feel really fortunate,” Tomon said. ”We have such great leadership, from ownership to coach to Nick. We have a really special locker room. This is a special time in Houston right now, so we’re excited for the future.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com
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