GRB Expansion & Abandonment of Polk: escalation of commitment

Last night, there was a Community Meeting held by Houston First at the George R Brown. Michael Heckman, CEO of Houston First, had promised in March to provide answers about the $2b project as it relates to the abandonment of Polk Street.

TRAFFIC STUDY: The long-awaited traffic report focuses on intersection congestion, with very little analysis of network-wide circulation or east/west detour impacts.

RISK MITIGATION: Discussion of future improvements sounded promising at first, but turned out to be devoid of any commitment to timelines or funding.

WE NEED A HERO: The east side has already shrunk from 14 east/west connections to 4. Heckman says they examined whether or not Polk could be kept open, and that it must be closed "because of our business model" (wait, what? seriously. I'm not kidding. That was the reason, verbatim.). He is missing a huge opportunity. A $2B development could include really innovative infrastructure work to improve east/west connection. He could be a modern day hero!

RIDDLE ME THIS: I cannot figure out the City and Houston First's bizarre commitment to a flawed plan, when they could simply opt to build over the street, like modern convention centers in Chicago, San Diego, etc.; or better yet, design an even more modern, innovative infrastructure plan that actually improves the City's traffic grid.

CONNECT THE DOTS: What accounts for such steadfast allegiance in the face of contradictory information? I remember Tilman Fertitta saying several years ago in the Houston Business Journal that he was going to lean on the City to improve the area, from the GRB to Toyota Center. So maybe that's it? Or that the contiguous ground floor is critical to the Boat Show? Or that this is somehow linked to promises made for the '28 RNC?