HOUSTON – For 36 years, Trees for Houston has been planting and distributing trees across the greater Houston area. The nonprofit urban forestry organization has planted roughly 600,000 trees to date and now is preparing for the next phase of its work: a permanent campus that will consolidate operations and expand its capacity to plant, reach and educate.
Located in the Garden Oaks neighborhood on Houston’s near northwest side, the future site occupies 1.5 acres at 2001 W. 34th St., just west of Ella Boulevard. The parcel previously housed an equipment rental business.
The total project cost for the land and multi-use building is estimated at $8.8 million. About $6.5 million has already been raised during the campaign’s quiet early phase, called Taking Root.
With a lead gift of $3 million from The Kinder Foundation, the project—announced on Earth Day—aims to begin an eight-month construction buildout in December 2021. Other major contributors include a $1 million gift from Kyle and John Kirksey Sr.; $750,000 from Chevron, a longtime Trees for Houston supporter; and $500,000 from both the Ruth and Ted Bauer Family Foundation and the C.T. Bauer Foundation.
The planned Kinder Campus will include an on-site tree nursery, office space and an indoor-outdoor education center. Designed by Kirksey Architecture and Lauren Griffith Associates, the campus incorporates several sustainable features, such as a cistern to capture rainwater for irrigation and permeable surfaces to reduce runoff.
Having a tree nursery on site will significantly increase the organization’s capacity to serve local municipalities, parks, schools, nonprofits, community groups and individual residents, said Barry Ward, executive director of Trees for Houston. Consolidating the organization’s two main tree farms and various private partner farms into a central location is expected to boost annual tree distribution by roughly 20 percent and support more equitable regional distribution for neighborhood greening projects.
A centralized campus will improve accessibility to tree distribution by offering convenient weekday and weekend pick-up and distribution hours, unlike the limited access currently available at private farms.
Over the past year, Trees for Houston distributed and planted nearly 20,000 trees at sites including Memorial Park, the Houston Arboretum, SPARK parks, the Houston Zoo, as well as along esplanades, bayous and trails. The organization’s goal is to add 100,000 new trees within the next five years.
“Planning, planting and protecting trees” is a core commitment of Trees for Houston that The Kinder Foundation is proud to support, said Nancy Kinder, foundation president and CEO.
Beyond increasing tree capacity, the Kinder Campus will provide facilities that better engage volunteers and expand educational programming to foster appreciation and stewardship of natural resources.
The former equipment rental site has been cleared and now awaits construction to transform the property into the new campus, Ward said. The recent fundraising milestone prompted the Earth Day announcement and moves the project closer to breaking ground.
April 22, 2021 Realty News Report Copyright 2021
Image CREDIT: Trees for Houston rendering by Kirksey Architecture and Lauren Griffith Associates
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File: Growing a New Campus for Trees of Houston
Earth Day Note: New timber office tower announced by Hines in Fort Lauderdale.