Gordon Quan for Harris County Judge—Democrat for Harris County Judge, Houston, Texas.

Gordon Quan, Chair of the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone 15, which will encompass the proposed location of the new Houston Dynamo stadium, today praised the actions of the Houston City Council and Harris County Commissioners Court in ratifying the agreement negotiated by Mayor Annise Parker and Commissioner El Franco Lee in developing the new home of the soccer team in East Downtown Houston. Quan has expressed his support for the project which will be financed by the T.I.R.Z he chairs.

“A lot of people worked very hard to bring the Dynamo’s stadium to this location,” Quan said. “I’m glad that the deal is finally done. I believe it will serve as a linchpin for future development to revitalize the East Downtown.”

As chair of T.I.R.Z. 15, Gordon Quan has been working to bring new development to the area which has qualified as a Regional Center by United States Immigration and Citizenships Services to facilitate foreign investment for the purpose of job creation. Unlike other stadium deals that depended on hotel occupancy and car rental taxes, the Dynamo Stadium will be financed through the incremental increases realized by the TIRZ and by investment by the owners of the Dynamo.

“We have been presented several models for economic expansion of the area but many depended on the development of the stadium as a center piece for attracting new development,” Quan continued. “Investors have found Houston to be an attractive city, this will help us sell the East Houston as a future destination site. As we seek to increase revenues for the County, we need to work to revitalize areas that have fallen in disrepair and bring in good paying jobs.”

Gordon Quan lobbied actively to promote downtown’s East End as a stadium location. And he has taken special pride in helping to revitalize this area because he grew up there working in his parents’ grocery store.

Aside from the economic revitalization of the neighborhood, Quan was pleased to see the agreement included a commitment by both the City and the County to designate $1 million annually from their affordable housing budgets as required by certain TIRZ’s to address the problems of housing for the homeless. Quan, who chaired the City of Houston’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Ending Homelessness, noted that this marks a real commitment to address a problem that has long plagued the area.

“This agreement displays everything that is great about Harris County residents,” Quan said. “We are forward looking when it comes to the health of our economy but we don’t want to leave anyone behind. For once we will have a stream of income that we can bank on to build or renovate housing for this vulnerable community.”