East Downtown Houston (EaDo) is a district in Houston, Texas. The East Downtown Management District (EDMD) manages the area with offices headquartered at START Houston, a co-working space 1121 Delano Street."EaDo's Contact Information ." East Downtown Management District. Retrieved on August 1, 2009. The community is located east of Downtown Houston and north of Interstate 45 (Gulf Freeway)."Welcome to EaDo ." East Downtown Management District. Retrieved on August 1, 2009. It is between the George R. Brown Convention Center and the East End district.Moreno, Jenalia. "Chinatown no longer." Houston Chronicle. October 17, 2009. Retrieved on October 19, 2009.
The Old Chinatown, an area within East Downtown bounded by Interstate 69/U.S. Route 59, Preston Street, St. Joseph Parkway, and Dowling Street (now Emancipation Avenue), is the older of the two Houston Chinatowns.Patel, Purva. "Pay-for-visa plan could revive Houston's Old Chinatown." Houston Chronicle. August 18, 2008. Retrieved on January 20, 2009. The East Downtown Chinatown is not the same as the Chinatown in southwestern Houston.Rodriguez, Lori. "Opinions vary over naming the growing Asian community on Houston's southwest side." (). Alternate version without Chinatown map: "DIVERSITY DEBATE / Chinatown outgrowing name / Opinions vary over naming the growing Asian community on Houston's southwest side." Houston Chronicle. Wednesday May 9, 2007. A1.
History
In the 1930s, Cantonese immigrants moved to the former Houston Chinatown, then a part of the Third Ward area, from Downtown Houston in an effort to find more inexpensive land. The Cantonese opened several businesses, including grocery stores and restaurants, and held Chinese New Year celebrations. Immigrants from other East Asian countries, including Vietnam, moved into the Chinatown.
In the early 1950s, the Chinese Merchants' Association moved to the southeastern edge of Downtown Houston. Many Chinese businesses moved there,Rodriguez, p. 38. as a previous Chinatown in Downtown was replaced with commercial development by the 1970s.Knapp and Vojnovic, "Ethnicity in an Immigrant Gateway City," p. 350 (7/27). The EaDo Chinatown solidified as many Asian immigrants, including Viet Hoa, began moving to Houston in the 1970s. By the 1980s a theater, supermarkets, warehouses, a bank, and restaurants were located there.
Lang Yee "Bo Bo" Woo, from Guangdong province, facilitated development in the 1970s, facilitated development in the old Chinatown.Knapp and Vojnovic, "Rethinking the Growth Machine, pp. 63-64. Traffic increased to Chinatown after Houston Center in Downtown opened. Area newspapers wrote articles about Chinatown.Knapp and Vojnovic, "Rethinking the Growth Machine, p. 64. When the George R. Brown Convention Center was proposed, the Houston Center Improvement Committee stated that it could stimulate Chinatown.Knapp and Vojnovic, "Rethinking the Growth Machine, p. 65. After the center opened, the support did not materialize from the construction of George R. Brown. After Woo died, Dan Nip became the main driving force behind Chinatown.Knapp and Vojnovic, "Rethinking the Growth Machine, p. 66.
By the late 1980s, increasing numbers of Chinese began living in suburbs in Southwest Houston and Fort Bend County.Rodriguez, p. 39. In addition, the Chinatown was geographically hemmed in,Rodriguez, p. 38-39. with surrounding low income African-American and Hispanic neighborhoods and the Downtown area preventing additional growth. Two Chinese religious temples opened about south of the old Chinatown in the 1990s. There were plans from private entities and the city government to promote and assist the development of the old Chinatown, but the economic recession harmed those efforts.Knapp and Vojnovic, "Ethnicity in an Immigrant Gateway City," p. 351 (PDF p. 8/27). Anthony Knapp and Igor Vojnovic, authors of "Ethnicity in an Immigrant Gateway City: The Asian Condition in Houston," wrote that "Into the early and mid-1990s, Old Chinatown had considerable promise and this was evident in just its role in promoting tourism."Knapp and Vojnovic, "Ethnicity in an Immigrant Gateway City," p. 353 (PDF p. 10/27).
The general development plans never materialized. The sewer system was not extensive enough to handle the proposed development. One major street connecting the old Chinatown with Downtown was closed when the Brown Convention Center was expanded.Knapp and Vojnovic, "Ethnicity in an Immigrant Gateway City," p. 354 (PDF p. 11/27). By the 1990s, many of the East Asian businesses left and had relocated to the new current Chinatown in southwest Houston.
In a November 28, 2002 Houston Press article John Nova Lomax described what is now known as East Downtown Houston as "a silent, godforsaken stretch of no-man's-land that's not really the Warehouse District, nor the Third Ward, nor the East End."Lomax, John Nova. "Glamorous Youth." Houston Press. November 28, 2002. 6. Retrieved on March 31, 2009. Lomax said that he used "that bulky definition" since that by 2000, the name "Chinatown", still used in the 1980s and 1990s, "was no longer apt." The area received its current name in the late 2000s.Lomax, John Nova. "Say Hello to EaDo ." Houston Press. Thursday February 3, 2009. Retrieved on March 31, 2009.
In 2008, the management district and its namethedistrict.com website asked for suggestions for a new name for the district."Name the District ." East Downtown Houston. Retrieved on January 21, 2009. Suggestions included "the Warehouse District", referring to the abandoned warehouses, and "Saint E", after St. Emanuel Street, a key street and the location of several bars and clubs. The district selected "EaDo", short for "East Downtown", one of the three most popular suggestions for the name of the district.
During the same year Dan Nip, a developer and East Downtown Management District board member, encouraged people to invest in the Old Chinatown area in East Downtown; if a person invests $500,000 United States dollars in the Old Chinatown and subsequently creates two jobs for ten years, he or she would become eligible for a EB-5 visa."About EaDo ." East Downtown Houston. Retrieved on August 1, 2009. By late 2009 the East Downtown authority began re-branding the district to reflect its current name. By 2010 a community of artists began to form in EaDo.Anders, Helen. "Emergine EaDo: Houston's newest arts community ." Austin American-Statesman. Saturday February 13, 2010. Retrieved on March 20, 2010.
In 2022, there were not many Chinese businesses remaining, and there was a proposal to expand Interstate 45 that would remove several former Chinese businesses.
The Houston FIFA Fan Festival for the 2026 FIFA World Cup was held in the area.
Venues
Shell Energy Stadium is home for the Houston Dynamo and the Texas Southern University football team, which is on a tract of land bordered by Texas, Walker, Emancipation and Hutchins in East Downtown. BBVA Compass is the first soccer-specific stadium in MLS to be located in a Downtown area. The stadium seats 22,039 and besides hosting soccer and football events will hold other events such as concerts and boxing matches.
Cityscape It is located southwest of the Second Ward.
Helen Anders of the Austin American-Statesman said that EaDo "looks like an art installation, with the steamshiplike George R. Brown Convention Center as a backdrop, skyscrapers lurking in the background and angular new condos set against low-slung warehouses, some of them still in use for industrial storage."
Historically many of the Hispanic residents lived in small houses. The opening of the BBVA Compass Park and Daikin Park encouraged development of EaDo, and by 2015 many of the older houses were being replaced by townhouses with wealthier occupants.Miller, Doug. "Old houses vanishing in hot east Houston" (). KHOU. May 1, 2015. Retrieved on May 13, 2015.
Economy
The Kim Sơn headquarters and restaurant is located in East Downtown."Contact Us." Kim Sơn. Retrieved on September 1, 2012. "2001 Jefferson Houston Texas 77003 USA"
What is now EaDo has the former U.S. headquarters of Schlumberger. It uses an Art Deco style. At one point the building became vacant. Circa 2013, Gaurav Khandelwal and Apurva Sanghavi, then the owners, planned to establish retail stores and offices there, but did not do so. In 2016 David Denenburg acquired the building; he announced plans to restore it and add retail.
Culture
The Texas Guandi Temple is located in East Downtown."About US ." Texas Guandi Temple. Retrieved on February 11, 2012. "The Texas Guandi Temple is in the hart of Houston, facing University of Houston across the wide and bustling Highway 45." The temple was established in 1999 by a Vietnamese couple,Davis, Rod. "Houston's really good idea Bus tour celebrates communities that forged a city. " San Antonio Express-News. August 3, 2003. Retrieved on February 11, 2012. Charles Loi Ngo and Carolyn.Martin, Betty L. "Neighborhood's Alive tour hits city's multicultural hot spots." Houston Chronicle. Thursday July 17, 2003. ThisWeek 1. Retrieved on September 9, 2012. They decided to build a temple to Guan Yu (Guandi) after surviving an aggravated robbery, which occurred at their store in the Fifth Ward. They believed that Guandi saved their lives during the incident. A Vietnamese refugee named Charles Lee coordinated the donations and funding so the temple could be built; Lee stated his motivation was to thank the United States for welcoming him and saving his life when he arrived in 1978.Molnar, Josef. "Guandi Temple celebrates New Year." Houston Chronicle. February 27, 2003. Retrieved on May 3, 2014. The temple is open to followers of all religions, and it has perfumed halls.
The Chinese Cultural Center was in the old Chinatown. Dolph Briscoe, Governor of Texas, attended the opening of the facility.
Homeless population The district has long been known for having a relatively large homeless population. Many of the homeless in the Houston area congregate in East Downtown because of the presence of nearby agencies that provide services (which predate the current redevelopment efforts) and several groups that independently provide food, clothing, toiletries, and other items on nearby vacant lots. Nearly all Houston non-profit and faith-based agencies which provide services to the homeless, including food and shelter, are located within Downtown and Midtown. A major shelter for women and children operated by Star of Hope, a faith-based agency, is located on Emancipation Avenue, between Texas & Franklin; the agency operates a men's facility nearby on the west side of US 59, north of Daikin Park.
There has been some tension in recent years between developers who want to revitalize the East Downtown district with commercial and residential projects, and the homeless (and homeless service providers). Some have called for the city of Houston to restrict public sleeping on sidewalks and to regulate charitable serving of food. It remains to be seen whether or not current services to the homeless can continue in East Downtown in the face of ongoing revitalization and redevelopment efforts.
Government and infrastructure Houston City Council District I covers East Downtown.City of Houston, Council District Maps, District I ." City of Houston. Retrieved on November 5, 2011.
Station 10, opened in 1894 in what is now East Downtown;"Fire Station 10 ." City of Houston. Retrieved on May 8, 2010. the station relocated to its current location in what is now the new Chinatown and Greater Sharpstown in 1985."Districts ." Greater Sharpstown Management District. Retrieved on August 15, 2009.