Astrodome Vision Advisor Wayne Ratkovich Passes, Market briefs

In Los Angeles, Wayne Ratkovich, a Los Angeles-based real estate developer who led a panel of real estate experts envisioning a redevelopment of the Houston’s Astrodome, has passed away. He was 82.

Mr. Ratkovich is best known as founder and CEO of The Ratkovich Company, whose stated mission in its 40 years as a Los Angeles development firm has been “to profitably produce developments that improve the quality of urban life.”

In December of 2014, Mr. Ratkovich visited Houston to lead a national panel of development and architecture experts from the Urban Land Institute who conducted an in-depth advisory study of the vacant Astrodome, which opened in 1965.

“We quickly realized that the historic value of the site made retaining the Astrodome structure essential,” Mr. Ratkovich said in 2014.

The ULI panel, which issued its report in March 2015, recommended that the entire 350-acre Astrodome complex be converted into a landscaped place with a reactivated Astrodome. The underground levels of the historic domed stadium should be converted to parking and the interior of the stadium should become a multi-use facility that could be used to extend the game-day experience for fans attending Houston Texans NFL games.

“Our vision for the Astrodome is one of a grand civic space that enhances the entire NRG Park Complex,” Mr. Ratkovich said at the time.

The Astrodome, which is owned by the Harris County government, remains vacant and redevelopment progress has not materialized.