Texas Medical Center is loading up the next phase of Helix Park with a hotel, conference hub and a residential highrise.
The package is meant to anchor the fast-growing research campus and finally give the world’s largest medical complex a place to host its own crowds, the Houston Business Journal reported.
The project consists of a 250-key hotel, an 18,000-square-foot conference center and 300 residential units. TMC president Bill McKeon unveiled the plan at the system’s annual State of the TMC event last week.
Construction is slated to start next year. McKeon kept quiet on development partners but said the project fills a glaring gap in the campus: space for people to stay, meet and network without shuttling across the city.
The three-pronged buildout would mark a major expansion of Helix Park, the Old Spanish Trail site that until recently was mostly parking lots.
The first phase opened in 2023, with the TMC3 Collaborative Building and Beacon Capital’s Dynamic One tower, creating a landing spot for commercial tenants hoping to plug into TMC’s research pipeline.
Venture capital firm Portal Innovations is already subleasing to startups there, and anchors like Baylor College of Medicine, Houston Methodist and Rice’s RBL have moved in.
McKeon signaled this next step months ago.
TMC said last year that a hotel, conference center and multifamily residences were always part of the master plan, with the final unit count dependent on market demand and how the buildings stack up on the northern edge of the site.
The hotel and conference center are intended to serve everything from investor summits to scientific gatherings — events TMC has long hosted but lacked the infrastructure to keep on campus.
The project arrives as TMC pushes to make Helix Park a 24/7 district rather than a 9-to-5 research zone. Housing would give the campus its first wave of full-time residents and further blur the line between academic, clinical and commercial activity.
For a cluster that draws millions of visitors annually, lodging and meeting space have been conspicuously absent.
McKeon also rolled out a companion initiative: a $5.5 million overhaul of The Commons at 6550 Bertner Avenue. Elkus Manfredi Architects — the Boston firm behind Helix Park’s design — is planning to convert the concrete structure into a park centerpiece. That project is also expected to start next year, according to a state filing.— Eric Weilbacher
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