Greater Greenspoint is a a suburban neighborhood in northern Harris County, Texas, United States, located mostly within the city limits of Houston. Centered around the junction of Interstate 45 and Texas State Highway Beltway 8 near George Bush Intercontinental Airport, the area is a classic example of a planned edge city. The initial retail and office development centered around Greenspoint Mall was a project of the Friendswood Development Company during the 1970s and early 1980s.Bivins, Ralph. "Exxon mulls move to Greenspoint site." Houston Chronicle. Wednesday December 13, 1989. Business 3. Retrieved on August 3, 2009.
In order to create new infrastructure, boost public services (particularly safety), and spearhead urban planning, the Texas Legislature created the North Houston District in 1991. This special government entity is bounded by the Hardy Toll Road to the east, Airtex Boulevard to the north, Veterans Memorial Drive to the west, and West Road to the south."Boundary Map ." (Full map ) Greenspoint Management District. Retrieved on May 19, 2009.
Geography Greenspoint is located at the junction of two major regional highways, Interstate 45 (the North Freeway) and Texas State Highway Beltway 8 and is only west of George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH).
The area is straddled by Greens Bayou, a major tributary of Buffalo Bayou which flows from west to east. The bayou was extensively channelized in the 1970s to improve drainage from the then-new airport; however, rapid development within its environs has compromised its ability to handle high-volume rainfall events. Over Construction also overwhelmed the bayou with uncontrolled sewage overflows in the 1970s and 1980s, and the waterway continues to struggle with water quality issues.
In 2005, the Houston–Galveston Area Council identified Greenspoint as one of the most hazardous communities in Houston for pedestrians.Wall, Lucas, Bill Murphy, and Rosanna Ruiz. "Suburbs often are hazardous to walkers / Two recent deaths point to lack of protection for pedestrians." Houston Chronicle. March 29, 2005. A1.
Demographics The Greater Greenspoint super neighborhood, as defined by the City of Houston, had an estimated population of 42,569 people in 2012. There were 13,859 households, of which 9,235 were family households.
Greenspoint is overwhelmingly majority minority. The population is 5% non-Hispanic white, 29% non-Hispanic black, 66% Hispanic, and 1% Asian. In the 2000 Census, the district was 10% non-Hispanic white, 34% non-Hispanic black, 53% Hispanic, 2% Asian, and 1% other. Greenspoint's proportion of black and Hispanic people is significantly greater than that for Houston as a whole; the city was 26% non-Hispanic white, 23% non-Hispanic black, and 44% Hispanic in 2012.
Since the 1980s, the proportion of families in Greenspoint has dramatically increased. In 2012, there were 13,859 households, of which 9,235 were family households. Between 1990 and 2010, the number of people under the age of 18 in Greenspoint increased nearly sixfold, indicating the departure of young professionals and their replacement with low-income families in the area's apartment complexes. The proportion of Greenspoint residents under 5 years of age is nearly double the city of Houston's.
The Greenspoint area's median household income is significantly lower than the City of Houston's – $26,823 versus $44,648 in 2012. Greenspoint's median household income declined slightly between 2000 and 2012 despite a 22% increase in the city's overall median household income during the same period. A plurality (48%) of Greenspoint's residents make less than $25,000 per year.
Greenspoint's population has lower levels of educational attainment than the city of Houston as a whole. Only 6% of Greenspoint residents had a bachelor's degree or higher in 2012, compared with 29% of Houston residents. Conversely, 45% of Greenspoint residents have no high school diploma, compared with only 25% of Houstonians overall.
History Suburban development first arrived in the area with the construction of Greenspoint Mall by development firm Federated Stores Realty in 1976. By contemporary standards, the mall was state-of-the-art, with the interior designed to mimic an urban streetscape with extensive natural lighting and organic landscaping. Early tenants included Foley's, Montgomery Ward, and Lord & Taylor.
The arrival of the mall and its modern suburban amenities catalyzed a wave of development on the greenfield land surrounding it. In 1978, Friendswood Development Company, a subsidiary of oil giant Exxon, purchased hundreds of acres around the mall for the construction of what the Texas Observer described as a "world-class suburban business district, a hub for the corporate jet set." The master plan included 5,000 apartment units and eight interconnected office towers.
The onset of the 1980s oil glut in the middle of the decade harshly affected Exxon, which cut its workforce by 40%. Greenspoint, faced with a glut of residential and commercial development, quickly lost its luxury appeal and price point. Greenspoint Mall became the apex of a growing crime problem, and by the middle of the decade, motor vehicle theft was endemic to its large surface parking lot. Crime problems in the Mall climaxed with the abduction and murder of Harris County Sheriff's deputy Roxyann Allee at the mall in 1991. After frequent robberies in the parking lot and the infamous murder of deputy Roxyann Allee the mall was nicknamed "Gunspoint." In 1998, Goldman Sachs purchased 24 Greenspoint-area apartment complexes, totaling of rentable space, for over $130 million. 15 of those complexes were extensively renovated and merged into a large development known as "CityView", designed to appeal to higher-income young professionals.
Since 2000, Greenspoint has suffered from multiple catastrophic flooding events, largely due to the presence of multiple high-density apartment complexes within the floodplain of Greens Bayou. The bayou overtopped its banks in 2001 (Tropical Storm Allison), 2002, 2003, 2016 ("Tax Day" floods), and 2017 (Hurricane Harvey).
After Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, Louisiana in 2005, large groups of evacuees settled into apartment complexes in the area.
In 2017, Greenspoint Mall entered into a contract for sale to an international investment group which seeks to replace the ailing complex with mixed-use development.
By 2020 Amazon had established a warehouse in Greenspoint. R.A. Schuetz of the Houston Chronicle stated that a "revival" in Greenspoint was occurring. In 2019 Florian Martin of Houston Public Media reported that year that the "Gunspoint" nickname was still in use and that despite an increase in development and a decline in the crime rate, that "It’s Not Quite Houston’s New Hotspot Just Yet".
Economy
Following the completion of a comprehensive new corporate campus in Spring, ExxonMobil withdrew completely from Greenspoint, abandoning approximately of office space during the mid-2010s. This move severely impacted the area's office market, which saw its office occupancy rate plummet to 60% in 2015, making it the worst-performing office submarket in Greater Houston. Prior to its move, ExxonMobil had consolidated a variety of departments into the district, including computer operations and exploration. The corporation's investment in Greenspoint had been so substantial that it was responsible for the construction of an entire eight-story office building, Greenspoint Eight, in the mid-1990s. ExxonMobil's presence expanded further in the 2000s, when it leased additional space and spent millions of dollars on infrastructure improvements.Sarnoff, Nancy. "ExxonMobil may be frontrunner for Enron Center South building." Houston Business Journal. Friday February 8, 2002. 1. Retrieved on April 5, 2010.
Corporate operations
Greenspoint contains the headquarters of the following companies: Canrig Drilling Technologies Friendswood Development Company"SUPPLEMENTARY DECLARATION OF COVENANTS, CONDITIONS AND RESTRICTIONS ANNEXATION OF KINGS MANOR SECTION TWELVE (12) ." Kings Manor Association at SCS Management Services, Inc. Retrieved on August 2, 2009."550 Greens Parkway." PRS Realty. Retrieved on August 2, 2009. Additionally, these corporations have major operations in Greenspoint: Nabors Industries"Contact Us ." Nabors Industries. Retrieved on October 18, 2012. "515 W. Greens Road, Suite 1200 Houston, Texas 77067 " Saudia"Saudi Offices in the United States ." Embassy of Saudi Arabia Washington D.C. Retrieved on January 5, 2008. Servisair"Contact Us ." Servisair USA. Retrieved on September 13, 2011. "Servisair USA 151 Northpoint Drive Houston Texas USA 77060" Aetna
Former operations
ASP Westward"ASP Westward, L.P." Google Finance. Retrieved on April 14, 2014. "523 N. Sam Houston Pkwy E., Ste. 600 Houston, TX 77060 USA""Houston ." ASP Westward, L.P. Retrieved on April 14, 2014. "Houston Community Newspapers 523 N Sam Houston Parkway E, Suite 600 Houston, TX 77060" ExpressJet Airlines was headquartered in Greenspoint and in Houston."Contact Us." Retrieved on May 19, 2009. "CORPORATE MAILING ADDRESS 700 N. Sam Houston Parkway West, Suite 200 Houston, TX 77067"
Anadarko Petroleum was headquartered in the Anadarko Tower. Around 2002, Anadarko moved to The Woodlands, Texas, Montgomery County.
At one time the headquarters of Atofina (now Total Petrochemicals USA) were in an area in Houston in proximity to George Bush Intercontinental Airport and in proximity to the Greenspoint district.Dawson, Jennifer. "ATOFINA to move from Greenspoint to downtown." Houston Business Journal. Monday July 19, 2004. Retrieved on April 5, 2010. The lease to the former space was scheduled to expire in 2010, but the company had the right to cancel its lease in 2007. The firm, which occupied a similar amount of square footage in the previous office that it has in its current office, planned to sublease the space from 2005 to 2007.
Tax exemptions Due to efforts from the North Houston Greenspoint Chamber of Commerce, in May 2003 the Aldine Independent School District (AISD) ratified approval of the freeport tax exemptions, which waive ad valorem property taxes on types of business inventory. 150 of the 5,000 companies operating in the Greenspoint area qualified for freeport tax exemptions. The chamber asked the school district to exempt the taxes because neighboring school districts had adopted the exemption and put the territory in AISD in a competitive disadvantage. As of 2003 the portions of Greenspoint covered by the City of Houston are under a freeport tax exemption from the city government, while the areas of Greenspoint in unincorporated areas do not have that exemption.Colley, Jenna. "New tax break may mean 'green' for Greenspoint." Houston Business Journal. Friday June 20, 2003. Retrieved on April 5, 2010.
Government and infrastructure
Local government and special districts Greater Greenspoint straddles the city limits of Houston, with portions lying in unincorporated Harris County. Since Greenspoint is not an incorporated area, it does not have fixed geographic boundaries.