Houston's newest urban park, the Acre, to open in downtown

A wide-open plaza on Smith Street invites the public into the Acre, a new park built by Brookfield between One and Two Allen Center. A wide-open plaza on Smith Street invites the public into the Acre, a new park built by Brookfield between One and Two Allen Center. Photo: Office Of James Burnett Photo: Office Of James Burnett Image 1 of / 44 Caption Close Houston's newest urban park, the Acre, to open in downtown 1 / 44 Back to Gallery

As park spaces go, Houston's newest urban oasis is a mere postage stamp, occupying just over an acre of privately held land, developed with private money. But in post-Harvey Houston, the value of every inch of permeable green space suddenly seems more evident.

Known as the Acre, the signature piece of Brookfield's $48.5 million renovation of One Allen Center on the west side of downtown opens Monday. The park contains a wide-open plaza and a linear lawn that will seat up to 1,500 people for special events such as concerts.

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The company created the park prior to Hurricane Harvey, primarily to attract a new generation of tenants in innovative businesses. But a national parks expert said that such small civic gestures can have significant environmental benefits, especially when they are multiplied many times across cities.

"There's no space too small to create the benefits of parks,"said Adrian Benepe, director of civic park development at the Washington, D.C.-based Trust for Public Land. "Private property owners have to be part of the solution."

Even an acre of"green infrastructure" can make a positive difference for the environment: Trees enhance air quality and reduce heat islands, also improving storm-water absorption.

Benepe said the trust has converted about 20 asphalt school yards in New York to permeable playgrounds. Each is about an acre, and has absorbed from a half-million to more than a million gallons of storm water per year.

To squeeze out more space for the Acre, Brookfield reduced One Allen Center's ground floor and re-created it as a "glass box" that will soon have a chef-driven restaurant with views of the park, helping to draw more people toward the space.

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"It's almost like a give-back to the city: Taking building away to create an opportunity for outdoor space," said landscape architect Chip Trageser, a managing partner with the Office of James Burnett, which designed the Acre and is consulting with Brookfield on the center's master plan.

Trageser's team planted 171 new trees, including pistachios, elms and overcup oaks. "As everyone in Houston knows, you've got to have shade to have any chance of being outside," Trageser said. "It's really about creating a micro-climate that feels great in July and August."

Because the Acre sits atop an underground parking garage, many of the trees are growing in specially-designed mesh planters that form green mounds.

Central Houston president Robert Eury called the Acre "a very bold move" for Brookfield, which he said has a "remarkably great track record" of programming arts and cultural events in its buildings. He sees the park as good for downtown business, too.

"It so much reflects changes in the nature of how we view work spaces today," Eury said.