The council action follows Mayor Sylvester Turner’s announcement on Monday of a $100 million gift from the Kinder Foundation to the Buffalo Bayou Partnership for the transformational development, which will include parks, trails, affordable housing, cultural destinations, and infrastructure improvements over the next 10 years.

The City of Houston is contributing $83.5 million for this visionary plan with  $36.7 million to be  utilized for park projects and $46.8 million for non park projects, according to Mayor Turner.

A total of eight key projects are included in the summary agreement approved by city council.

“The Kinder Foundation gift represents the largest gift to any park in the history of this city. It will transform the Greater East End and the Fifth Ward Communities, two historically underserved communities, by providing additional connectivity to that area with pedestrian bridges,” said Mayor Turner. “It is also significant that the city is investing in this project.  It is a great example of how we have worked to leverage public resources with private funding to make transformational change in underserved communities. I hope it spurs additional development as we move deeper into the East End and Northeast sector because that remains undeveloped territory. I cannot wait to see what transpires over the next decade.”
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