Wow!

Rising land prices and falling attendance will close Houston landmark Astroworld at the end of the current season on Octover 30.

Something of that size will probably become a mixed-use development, including multifamily housing, retail and office, said Edmonds, who described the property as one of the largest contiguous pieces of land near the Medical Center.

Harris County officials said they did not know that Six Flags would be putting AstroWorld on the market, but they were not completely surprised.

"The park seems to underperform in comparison to some of their other parks," said County Judge Robert Eckels.

Mike Surface, chairman of the Harris County Sports & Convention Corp., which oversees Reliant Park, said: "There have been discussions for years about the viability of that location. You have a park that was obviously an aged park and limited in space needed for expansion."

Surface estimated that the land along the Loop, Kirby and Fannin could be worth $1 million an acre and that non-frontage property might go for $600,000 an acre.

After AstroWorld closes, an investor will likely build an amusement park in the Houston-area suburbs, some said.

"There is strong market in Houston for this type of facility," Eckels said.

Six Flags will continue to have a presence in the Houston area with Six Flags SplashTown water park.

I don't know about building another amusement park. Six Flags has FiestaTexas over in San Antonio, and Six Flags over Texas in the Dallas. Between the water parks in the Houston area and the additional parks in San Antonio (SeaWorld). I wonder how much interest there really will be in another amusement park -- especially depending on where it is located. After all, AstroWorld was close to downtown and centrally located -- any replacement is likely to be out towards katy and the west suburbs, bringing it ever closer to San Antonio .

Posted by: Greg at 11:20 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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