901 Bagby: Inside The Mayor's Office

Gwendolyn Tillotson-Bell, COH Chief Economic Dev Officer: How Houston Invests In Itself

• Houston Mayor's Office • Season 1 • Episode 13

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Most Houstonians have driven on streets, walked through parks, or lived in neighborhoods built with a financing tool they've never heard of. Owen sits down with Gwendolyn Tillotson-Bell, Houston's Chief Economic Development Officer, to explain how Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones — TIRZs — work, why they don't raiseyour property taxes, and how one burned-out apartment complex in the Memorial City area became a $135 million public safety campus: a new fire station, police station, and flood detention facility, all financed through an existing TIRZ without touching the city's general fund.

Tillotson-Bell walks through real Houston examples at every step — Corinthian Point's 500 homes in South Park, Levy Park and Emancipation Park as neighborhood catalysts, the Rice Hotel's transformation into the Rice Lofts downtown, and the Bagby Street corridor itself — before closing with a preview of Opportunity Zone 2.0, a federal program launching in Houston in January 2027 that eliminates or defers capital gains taxes when invested in underserved communities. Her philosophy for all of it: "My goal is to get to a mutual yes — so that you have mutual winners."

If you've ever wondered how Houston actually funds the infrastructure that makes neighborhoods livable, this is the episode.

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SPEAKER_02

Corinthian Point development, which brought more than 500 homes. There's a pharmacy, there's retail, there is a child care facility. All of those vertical development, all of those improvements, the community basically came upon as a result of the creation of a terms.

SPEAKER_00

From city hall in downtown Houston. This is 901 Bank Meet inside the mayor's office.

SPEAKER_01

This week, how does a city reinvest in itself? We're joined by Houston's Chief Economic Development Officer, Gwendolyn Tillotson Bell. Gwen, good to see you. Thanks for coming to 901 Bank Meet.

SPEAKER_02

Thank you. I appreciate it. Good to see you as well.

SPEAKER_01

So, what I love about our show is that we get to learn about how the city works and those who are working for us. And you're one of those people who's been in economic development in the city for over a decade and now is the chief economic development officer. This is a pretty big role for you, but it's not unfamiliar to it. How have you kind of uh attacked this role as you've been in it so far?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. So let me start by saying I started this role when I was 12, since you said a decade. Um, so you know, I came to the city in a very unique way, first of all. So my background has been primarily in the private sector. And about 20 years ago, I was approached by the city to come in to do some financial modeling and to really help the city to be able to make really good, well-informed decisions using data. Um, and that was my introduction to the city. And six years after that, I was recruited by Mayor Parker and my chief development officer, his name is Andy. And they together thought that I would be a really good person for this position. Just given my background, I'd worked a lot with contract negotiations, I'd worked a lot with the public through my private work. And I enjoyed the financial modeling. So they knew that I could help make good decisions. And that's how it started. I don't know that very many people walk into economic development. It's one of those industries that's not very known about. So you just kind of happen upon economic development, and that's what happened.

SPEAKER_01

I feel like it's the same for the public, right? We think about economic development when a big project is starting or when it finishes, but there's all this downtime or the gaps in the middle where they don't, they don't even know what's going on, maybe.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, there's so much that happens before coming into economic development. I knew a project was coming on board when I saw scaffolding or when I saw the contractors or the construction staff in place. But there's so much that happens to put in the infrastructure, and economic development is a lot of that, is really preparing an area community to receive private investment. And sometimes that's putting in the infrastructure. Sometimes that's partnering with the developer to make sure that the right type of development happens.

SPEAKER_01

So, how would you describe in that case the role of the chief economic development officer, duties, responsibilities? I mean, some of this maybe you even take personally.

SPEAKER_02

A lot of it I take personal. So we are responsible for really establishing the policies, the practices, the protocol by which we attract investment. We also establish what type of investment makes sense for the city. And in if you drill down even further, what type of investment makes sense for communities that make up the city? All of our communities have very different needs when it comes to economic development. So it's impossible to have a one-size-fit-all approach. And so we have to look at economic development from a macro level, like when we look at industries. What are our competitive industries? Where are some industries that we have the opportunity to create smaller sub-industries, right? And sometimes we have to look at what's happening within the communities. Are we attracting the right type of investments and businesses to hire the community that it serves, right? To the extent that we have good alignment, it means good economic development.

SPEAKER_01

So then how is a board formed? How does that come together and what role might an average everyday Houstonian have in that?

SPEAKER_02

An average everyday Houstonian could actually serve on the board. So the statute governs how many board members, maybe in a TURS, because again, it goes based on the number of jurisdictions. So most TURS boards comprise of seven board members. And the board members are appointed, five of those members are appointed by the mayor. And then two of those board members are reserved for if there are other jurisdictions. So in the past, it was maybe the county, maybe the school district, maybe another entity. And if after two years there has not been any other participants, then the mayor may elect the additional two. So these appointments come from the mayor. In some cases, for instance, where we have Harris County or Fort Bend County participating, those counties are also allowed to appoint a member, or in some cases, multiple members. But they're all coming from a vetting process. But there's no criteria established that says you, in order to serve on the board, you have to have this professional background. So that voice and those various different voices can really inform the priorities and how we can execute them. Because remember, we are constructing things. So, you know, a person with a financial background that understands a budget, a person with an engineering background, we have people that have medical backgrounds because their attention to detail is meticulous. You know, we have women who are entrepreneurs, we have stay-at-home dads. I mean, you could have because you're all contributing something different and you're bringing in a different perspective. And I think to the extent that we could gel all of those perspectives, it means that we have considered all of the different stakeholder interests when we have that diversity in our board.

SPEAKER_01

Everybody's at the table.

SPEAKER_02

Everybody's at the table. And for every TURS, as I mentioned, there is a counter-redevelopment authority. It's the same people, it's just that they wear different hats because a TURS is just a zone. The redevelopment authority is able to do that using the resources generated by the TURS. So that's why those two are in tandem.

SPEAKER_01

That's why they need to be connected, sure.

SPEAKER_02

Yes.

SPEAKER_01

So what are some of the tools that you have in your disposal, tools in your tool bank to go attract that investment to the city and what maybe some of those partnerships look like?

SPEAKER_02

So we have there there are eight economic development programs within my office. Some of those programs are utilized more frequently or they may have a larger impact. So for instance, tax increment reinvestment zone is probably the program that is utilized the most because of the amount of resources that is allocated to that program to serve a larger city of Houston. And we can talk more about that because I know that that's a hot topic and people are very curious about our TERS program. But there's also tax abatement. Tax abatements are very effective for attracting employers where there is a large job generation. And we've seen those be highly effective. We've modified and amended the ordinance that governs our tax abatement as our city has evolved, as the need to support the private sector with incentives have evolved, so has our tax abatement program. So, for instance, several years ago, we created a tax abatement for green storm water infrastructure so that we could remove the cost barrier for using a green or a clean system versus a traditional system. And what we'd heard from the private sector was that it was more incrementally costly to do green. And so our goal was to remove that barrier. So to give them the option, all things staying equal, to give them the option to really start to look at building infrastructure in a way that was environmentally friendly, that was safe, but that also had some amenities that would really help to beautify the area that was being revitalized.

SPEAKER_01

That's a great example. I think you're right, though, the tax increment reinvestment zone. I said it wrong for many years, tears brings tears to my eyes thinking TURS, it's TERS. Not to my eyes. So I I do want to talk about this. Obviously, as you said, it is a hot topic. TERS. Can you tell me, maybe in in a sentence or two, what it is?

SPEAKER_02

Okay, so you break down the word, it's an acronym that stands for tax increment reinvestment zone. And there's significance to each of those words. So tax simply means that the revenue source within the TURS is coming from property taxes that property owners would pay to the city. There's some misconception that if a property is within the boundaries of a TURS, that there is this additional tax, that they're paying a new tax. There is no additional tax to the property owner, there is no change. Pay the taxes. So the other portion is tax reinvestment. That's really critical because the way that tourists are successful is when there is investment or reinvestment into that area that we refer to as the zones. Without the investment, without the private sector coming into the zone and making those investments, there is no increment. Right. So it's tax increment, reinvestment, and zone. So the zone is the geography. It's we're and we're in in Houston, we're unique in that I think we're the only city within the country that uses the TERS as a reference to the tur to the zone. Many cities and states refer to it as TIFF. And what that means is TIFF is tax increment financing. So we are applying the concepts or the approach of tax increment financing into a geographic area. Therefore, it's TIFF being applied to a zone. Therefore, it's a TERS.

SPEAKER_01

So for property owners in the zone, what you're saying essentially is that some of the property tax is reallocated to, again, reinvest in that particular zone. And then the hope is, right, that the the neighbors, the property owners, they see it, they feel the reinvestment, and eventually what? It just becomes a bigger, better zone.

SPEAKER_02

So yes. So the way that it works, when a so our first church was created in 1995. So our program has existed since 1995. But the way that all churches work, and keep in mind that we are governed by state statute. So while this Houston, other major cities are known for utilizing this program, it is a state program. It's a state statute. It's Chapter 311 of the tax code, the Texas Tax Code. So everything that we do, even the ordinance that we created, has to be subject to the state, right? So all of our compliance, all of our guidelines are dictated from the state. And so we you create a zone the year that it was created, all of the property taxes that has been going to the general fund up until that creation continues to go to the city of Houston's general fund. So the city continues to get benefit from a tours even after a tours is created. The incremental portion means after that base year, the property taxes, as the property tax, the taxable value or the property taxes increases. And it increases, sometimes it's just natural depreciation, right? But oftentimes it's because investment is happening, new buildings are being constructed. We don't really count on homes, single-family homes, because there are some restrictions as to the amount of residential that may be contained within a zone. So again, there are some restrictions and people don't really understand that. So there are not many residential single-family homes that's within the boundaries of a TURS. It's primarily in commercial corridor areas. So every year that the value increases beyond the value that was established at the base year, that creates your increment. So I say all the time, private investment is really critical. We, the city, may build public facilities, but public facilities are non-taxable. So while we may make investments, that investment only benefits the tours if it is a taxable private investment. That's the criticality of attracting investment.

SPEAKER_01

So you really, I mean, that's where the goal comes in. It's it's why when we talk about Houston, we talk about these public-private partnerships and how important they are to our development. Because without them, how would we? I mean, we'd have these some of these other tool tools, but clearly TURS is the big one.

SPEAKER_02

Turs is the big one. And not all TURS have been, I'm not going to say successful, they have not grown or increased revenue at the same rate. TURS are created for different purposes. So for instance, TURS 9, which is a TURS in the South Pole Stoke area, it was created for the purpose of building infrastructure to create single-family housing. So anyone who's familiar with Corinthian Point, that Corinthian Point development, which brought more than 500 homes, it brought some, there's a pharmacy, there's retail, there is a childcare facility, all of those vertical development, all of those improvements, the community basically came upon as a result of the creation of a TURS because the infrastructure was critical. Infrastructure is not sexy, but you can't build a house if you don't have access to water, wastewater, storm, and the basic amenities.

SPEAKER_01

So let's talk a little more about these zones. Do they last forever? Do they expire? Like what's the future of a zone after it's created?

SPEAKER_02

So the state the statute does not limit a term of a tours. Now, as a policy and as a practice, the city creates Turses with a 30-year term. So most Turses are created with a life 30 years. But if you can imagine TURS that were created in the 1990s, the needs of the community may have changed dramatically 30 years later, 25 years later. So the city has the ability to assess and evaluate whether or not it makes sense to extend the life of a tours to allow for more resources to be reinvested. Again, it has to be reinvested in the zone. And it has to be the way that we use the tourist funds, different from the private sector, is it has to be for public assets. And so when you think about the things that I mentioned, tours are used to build public infrastructure, public facilities, those things that ultimately become assets of the city. And so people don't really think about that. So when we build streets, we convey those streets to the city. When we build a sewer system, we convey that system to the city. And those infrastructure improvements become assets on our balance sheet. And so those things are very, very important. But after the 10, 15, 20 years when tourists really start to be able to make those significant improvements, sometimes it's necessary. For instance, we found that 15, 20 years when there's enough increment, a tourist may need to build a major sewer system. It may need to redo its entire mobility grid or completely rehab or completely reconstruct a major street or roadway. You cannot do a pay as you go and just wait until there's enough resources to be able to do that. So the TURS does have an ability to issue bonds through a local government corporation structure. So each of our TURS are managed, if you will, by a local government corporation that we refer to as redevelopment authorities.

SPEAKER_01

Connected.

SPEAKER_02

So that we, the city, the TURS, gets the benefit of a better financing, an ability to spread that cost over a longer period of time so that we're not creating a burden. And all of this has to be paid with the revenue that's being generated to make sure that the TURS and the redevelopment authority remains financially solvent. So all of those considerations go into whether or not the city decides to extend the TRE.

SPEAKER_01

And ultimately, do those decisions, I mean, obviously they have to fall within the statute, right, of the state and what the ordinance that we've created in the city, but where do those decisions fall? How much of them fall into your office versus council versus mayor versus anyone?

SPEAKER_02

We all three of those that you mentioned touch those decisions. Sometimes an extension request comes to us directly from a council person because they recognize the importance of the tourist program to be able to affect positive change within their council districts, right? And so they may make a petition or submit a proposal to our office for consideration of a life extension. The life extension sometimes comes from representatives in the community, sometimes they come from the development. We typically don't just make those decisions random. We have to make sure that we're vetting them, we're assessing. We also established a set of tourist policies about four years ago that also gives a criteria that we look at for, you know, in terms of whether or not we're going to extend the life. Is the life extension going to support a new infusion of capital, for instance? We have an example with just to give you an example of how this works, Memorial City Tours has been a tourist that was created, I want to say, in the late 1990s or the early 2000s. And the mayor visited the whole Memorial City area and recognized that there was a need for a new fire station, a new police station. We always need detention in the area. And he reached out to me and said, we have all of these needs. And, you know, had a conversation with the Tourist board chair and some of the other members. And what we did was the Tourist is going to issue bonds. They're going to invest $135 million to bring a public safety campus, which is going to house a new fire station, a new police station, and detention to mitigate flooding. That's a really great example of how the Turs program is being leveraged to make sure that we are executing on the mayor's priority.

SPEAKER_01

That's a good example that almost answers my next question. Is why do these zones matter so much to Houston neighborhoods? And I mean, I guess public safety is a big, a big idea, a big example, I should say, of that. And then my next question is do neighbors living near those tiers, do a lot of the TURS, I did it again, do a lot of them even understand that they're so close to a tax increment reinvestment zone?

SPEAKER_02

Some do. You know, what's really great is that our communities, they're so engaged. They're very curious. They really want to play a very active civic role in improving and enhancing the communities that they call home. I would say, you know, I've been in the economic development office for 14 years, two of those as a chief economic development uh officer, thanks to Mary Woodmeyer. But I've spent a lot of time, and I will tell you that community engagement, community participation has increased dramatically, I would say over the last six or seven years, in particular as it relates to the tourist program, because they now understand that good infrastructure, good roadways, flood mitigation, the public facilities, all of those things really are essential to making and ensuring strong, sustainable communities. And they recognize that this is a resource that they may be able to influence. So, yes, the community is very much aware. Um, and we try to, you know, my goal in my office, whether I'm dealing with developers or negotiating a deal with another public entity, is to try to get to a mutual yes. Like how can we always think that they're winners and lose losers. In my office, I try to look at ways that we can get to a mutual yes so that you have mutual winners, right? We we all may give up a little bit of something, but at the end, we all recognize that what we're doing is for the best interest of the community at large.

SPEAKER_01

And you do welcome community feedback with these. You have plenty of meetings as well, right? With a lot of these projects.

SPEAKER_02

Absolutely. So all of the tours meetings are public, they are subject to the same open meetings and public meetings act as we are, as the city. So all of the meetings are published, they're posted. Many of the tourists have their own website. Um, and so the public can simply, you know, they can actually go. There's a really great portal that the planning department has created called My City. And so if someone goes to that portal and put in their address, it'll provide a lot of information, including including jurisdictions. Or you can look at your tax record, your uh central district tax record. And if you are your property is within the boundaries of a TURS, it'll have that reference on your tax record. So any property owner will know whether or not they're impacted by TURS.

SPEAKER_01

So if we go back to the mid-90s when we had our first TURS, I mean, that's over 30 years of history working with this as a tool for economic development. How would you grade this tool at this point? It seems pretty effective to me. What do you think?

SPEAKER_02

You know, I believe that many council members will also grade that but for the TURS, economic development would not happen within their respective council districts. I would say the same thing is the TURS allows us to use resources for the purpose of attracting investment. We have an amazing public works team, right? Randy Mackai is amazing at what he does. They're responsible for maintaining all of this infrastructure. They have a big responsibility. It is our responsibility to make sure that the infrastructure that is in place has a specific purpose. It's not just building a street. It's building a street or improving sidewalks or adding turn lanes because now we have traffic. People are in an area that's a major shopping area. We want to make sure that people are moving safely. But the whole objective of that roadway and those improvements is to stimulate our economy. So what we do is similar, but it has a different objective, a different purpose.

SPEAKER_01

There are a lot of benefits. I mean, you do. You have those economic benefits, clearly. It's the economic development office, but the physical benefits that come with that, brand new roads. I mean, nobody likes sitting through the construction and the traffic, but when they're done, it's gorgeous. It's like, it's like a fresh, fresh neighborhood, if you will.

SPEAKER_02

Absolutely. So when people find out that I work for the city of Houston, it never fails. Someone will always make a comment about when are you guys going to do something without the streets? You know, and I'm like, we're doing something about the streets. You know, Randy's is tackling that, but you know, the streets that I build is intended to have a high return on investment. I think that's what people need to really understand about the tours is we look at the return on investment. So I'll give you an example, Levy Park, Emancipation Park, those are investments from the tours. We built those parks. We invested millions of dollars. And if you look at all of the development that has occurred in and around those parks, the townhomes that are coming up, the lofts, the restaurants that are opening up, because we created this amazing amenity that now people want to have access to. And there's a return. We get sales taxes, we get mixed beverage taxes, we get an increase in property taxes. Even though a large portion goes within the zone, there's also development that happens outside of the boundaries of the zone that is spurred by the investment that has happened within the zone. And those aren't impacted by the zone. Those good, those dollars go directly to the deficit.

SPEAKER_01

The zone itself has an impact that spreads out, right? Yeah. In a good way.

SPEAKER_02

The zone is a catalyst. I mean, if you look at it, the zone is the catalyst. And if we treat that catalyst in in that way and we make the right kind of investment, you are going to see investment happen in and around that zone. But you will also see this investment that happens as a result of it. And it continues to kind of, you know, it perpetuates more and more investment that is outside of the zone, but it has been benefited by the creation of the zone.

SPEAKER_01

And to your point, whenever you have one of these zones, there is the infrastructure part. You've got the road, you've got the sewer system, but then you got the physical stuff, the buildings and the other parts of that. It uh it's it's multi-purpose in that sense.

SPEAKER_02

It is multifaceted, it is very complicated.

SPEAKER_01

I can see that.

SPEAKER_02

I need that really price to simplify this program, uh, you know, and they'll ask, you know, does the city have a plan to sunset and dissolve tours? I think, you know, we have to evaluate each of these zones on a case-by-case basis. Is it still serving an objective? Even if that objective may have altered slightly or may have changed slightly. All tours are created with a project and financing plan. And so we define what those project priorities are when we create the tours. And sometimes we have to amend those project plans because the community evolves, the need changes, and the state statute allows the flexibility to be able to do that. So, yes, it has it has many, many benefits.

SPEAKER_01

The the examples you gave were good ones. I think everybody loves the parks. Emancipation's a beautiful one. Levy Park was another example. What are some other examples of TURS that uh people would recognize and say, well, you know what? I I didn't even know that was a TURS, maybe.

SPEAKER_02

Downtown. All of the Bagby Street, that was financed by a TURS. So you've got it, you know, downtown is really unique in that there is a tax increment reinvestment zone. It's Market Square, so it was the third TURS that was created, so it was the 1990s. Market Square was and the TURS was created in part to redevelop the Rice Hotel into the Rice Loft, right? And so that history goes way back. But that area has now, as the downtown area has grown and we've attracted more investment, so has the boundaries of the zone. Now, in addition to extending the life, we may also extend or change the boundaries. So what may have been, you know, a smaller geographic area could be expanded depending on what the where the needs are. So downtown has had several expansions so that a larger portion of the downtown is contained within the zone.

SPEAKER_01

Interesting. Are there any current projects or ones that are coming up that you're especially excited about?

SPEAKER_02

Well, the one that I mentioned, the the public safety campus, I'm super excited about that because, you know, the the the in addition to building the campus, we are, we acquired, the tourers acquired a an apartment complex that had been more than an eyesore. It was highly deteriorated. It had been abandoned. There had been multiple fires there. The Westview Apartments, I think this the news reported in front of it many times. But the Tours acquired that property, and I'll tell you why that's exciting to me. Deteriorated and abandoned buildings is a contrary to economic development. It is the is the antithesis of economic development, right? And so the fact that we were able to acquire and demolish that solved for an economic development challenge, number one, because we got rid of something that was preventing more investment. No investor is going to invest next to a building that is going to bring down the value or that may minimize the number of patrons that will visit that. So not so that one excited because it it got rid of an eyesore. So it improved economic development opportunities immediately. And then we were able to solve for public safety and attention. That is like a win-win-win. And the community applauded that one. This was one where there was no need to try to get to a mutual yes. It was like an easy It was an easy yes. It was an easy yes. It was like yes, we all need to. They're not all like that, but when you get one, no, the majority of them are not like that. No.

SPEAKER_01

Right. But that's part of your job. And do you enjoy that part and the negotiating, the kind of figuring it out how do we bring everybody together to really make this work for the greater good of the city?

SPEAKER_02

There is never a dull moment in our office because nothing gets repeated. So even when we are able to negotiate what we think is a template type of agreement, because the city is so diverse, because the communities are so different, because the needs vary so dramatically, those things are never repeated in this exact form, right? So it almost always requires us to look at what we did before and ask ourselves ourselves: does the same model work for this situation, for this community, for this type of development? Very rarely is the answer yes. We have very few templates that we could just apply. So I and I say that to say that we really take our time to vet and to assess and to evaluate. Um nothing is a cookie cutter approach in our.

SPEAKER_01

Is there anyone they can talk to or anyone they can call?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, they can. I mean, so my telephone number is available online and it's actually you get me, right? I mean, my assistant may answer the phone, but oftentimes it's uh it's a it's not, you know, just going into like an automatic voicemail.

SPEAKER_01

It's some voicemail uh closet somewhere, right?

SPEAKER_02

It's answered, you know, we are a small team and we are very committed and intentional about the work that we do. So if someone sees an abandoned building, you know, yes, reach out and say, hey, are there plans to redevelop this abandoned building? I will also mention another program that is going to be really, really important is the Opportunity Zone Program. It's a it's a federal program. It the first program was enacted in 2017 under the Tax Cut and Jobs Act. And it has it is going to be renewed. It's a 10-year program. And so now under the Big Beautiful Bill Act, the Opportunity Zone 2.0, the reason that's so important is because of what you just said. There is this is exchange of capital gains, taxes can be eliminated or deferred if those capital gains are invested in opportunity zones. Opportunity zones are underinvested, underserved, high poverty communities. So this is really an opportunity for investment to come into communities that might otherwise be overlooked or not considered. So this is, we're going to be rolling this program out in January of 2027. So if anyone is interested in learning more about that program, investors, developers, and this is one that we really truly partner with the community because we want to understand from the community what the needs are, what is deficient in your neighborhood, what do you need in your neighborhood so that the community can be stronger and more sustainable? Oftentimes it's retail to grocery stores, nothing usually over fancy. It's really just making sure that their basic needs have been met. And this Opportunity Zone program, we were highly successful in our first 10-year program. We're doing things much more collaboratively. We're working with the medical center, we're working with other agencies, large agencies and institutions to make sure that we are identifying and submitting those zones that we think will be most likely to attract investment so we can maximize that program.

SPEAKER_01

So if you had to pick one thing maybe that you're most excited about when you look into our city's future from an economic development standpoint, like where do we stand? How is Houston? I mean to me, maybe I'm biased because I've lived here for so long, but it feels like a healthy city. How do you see it?

SPEAKER_02

You should be biased. I am quite biased. And so I don't know if I'm the right person to answer this. And it's my job. So I'm, of course, I'm gonna say we're, but our our economy is just really great. It's really strong. You know, we talk about the diversity, and it's you we're usually referring to people or cultures, but our economy has become so much more diverse. If you've been at Houston for, you know, past the 19 or since the 1980s, you know that we were dominant oil and gas industry. Now the oil and gas industry makes up about 35 to 40 percent of our economy. And so we're so much more diverse, which makes us much more resilient. So I love that. And I also love that we continue to create these sub-industries. And so the sub-industry that I'm most excited about is what's happening around our the, you know, the advisor is uh recently, I'm sorry, not advisor, sort of all the other big cut.

SPEAKER_01

Is it an employer? No. No, so it's what can I say to to to wreck to trigger your something in your brain about it? Oh, oh, oh goodness. Eli Lilly. Eli Lilly. That's right.

SPEAKER_02

So so one of the sub-industries is what we're doing in the form of biotech pharmaceutical. And so Eli Lilly announced, I think it they announced initially that they were gonna make a $2 billion investment. That investment has gone up. And then there's a second pharmaceutical company that has recently announced that is it is also looking at the Houston region. What that means is that there are companies that are going to be part of their supply chain that will want to locate near this major investment, right? In this major manufacturing company. There are also companies that might be part of the downstream, right? Maybe customers or users of those products that will also want to come into Houston. So when we are able to create sub-industries or grow our ecosystem, leveraging the medical center, for instance, to me, that is a great story. And that is how Houston has brewed and evolved. We started off with what our strengths were, and we continue to build on those strengths and kept creating sub-industries and new industries. And the reason it feels organic is because it is. We didn't force industries, industries grew out of need, necessity, and opportunity.

SPEAKER_01

It's like a natural evolution that sort of occurred. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

I think that's that's just that's Houston. And the Mr. Houston.

SPEAKER_01

And the diversity of the economic picture really makes us resilient in that in that sense. And speaking of diversity, well, we've got, you know, thousands of people from all over the world here this summer for World Cup. I have to ask you before we go, have you seen any games? Have you caught the World Cup fever at all?

SPEAKER_02

Okay, I'm I'm I'm a city executive, and I'm not saying that, you know, I make pennies, but it's have you seen the price of those tickets? So, but I did get to experience some of the fan fest. And what I love the most is seeing people who are new to the city or people who have come back to visit the city loving the city. Like the energy is just crazy. The excitement, you know, part of it is because of the game, but I think a large part of it is because of the warmth and the hospitality. I saw a reel of somebody that posted something a couple of days ago, and he and his brother are here. He didn't say the country they were from, but they were visiting. And he goes, People don't really understand the food scene here in Houston. Like I thought he was going to talk about the game and one and all the hoopla around the sporting event. But no, he was talking about food. He goes, We've been here seven days. We've never eaten at the same restaurant. And he said, every restaurant experience was amazing. And he said, We had food. We have Italian and Mexican. And, you know, he didn't, we did not have the same culture of food any given two days in a row. Correct. And he goes, the only drawback is that we eat so much and they serve such large portions that we have to limit our restaurants. Because we would like to sample and experience multiple restaurants while we're here. So when I hear things like that, I'm like, this is this is what our city is. This is who we are.

SPEAKER_01

It's beautiful. Beautiful picture you've painted. Gwen. Thanks for your time. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02

Thank you so much.