This week's trending news definitely has a theme. InnovationMap readers flocked to big news stories about projects or promises not only delivering soon, but with so much more up their sleeves — five promises the mayor had for Houston, a huge mixed-use project already planning phase two, and a supercomputer named Bubba who has a twin already in the making.
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Massive data center officially opens just west of Houston
Matthew Lamont is managing director at DownUnder GeoSolutions' which just opened its new, powerful data center west of Houston. Courtesy of DUG
DownUnder GeoSolutions has officially opened its new data centre in Skybox Houston in Katy, Texas. It's being billed as one of the most powerful supercomputers on earth.
The center, which houses DUG's geophysical cloud service, DUG McCloud, celebrated its grand opening on Thursday, May 16. The company's data hall has 15 megawatts of power and resides in a building designed to withstand hurricane-force winds up to 190 mph. Read more about DUG's new center out west.
Photos: The Cannon enters home stretch ahead of opening next month
The Cannon is expecting to open by the end of next month. Courtesy of The Cannon
If all goes according to plan, The Cannon's new space will be up and running by the end of June. The bulk of the construction, which started a little over a year ago, is done, and the team is on the home stretch. Read the story and check out renderings and progress photos.
3 Houston innovators to know this week
The three Houston innovators to know this week represent new, exciting things for the innovation ecosystem. Courtesy photos
The movers and shakers within the Houston innovation ecosystem come from all kinds of industries — from private equity to supercomputing. This week's innovators to know reflect that industry diversity and are bringing something new to the table. Meet this week's Houston innovators.
5 things Mayor Turner promised Houston in his State of the City Address
Mayor Sylvester Turner talked parks, innovation, firefighter salaries, and more at the Greater Houston Partnership's State of the City. Natalie Harms/InnovationMap
In the 2019 State of the City Address hosted by the Greater Houston Partnership on May 20, Mayor Sylvester Turner took the stage at the Marriott Marquis in front of over 1,500 Houstonians.
Some of the obvious topics were of course on the table — pension reform, hurricane recovery, job growth — but Mayor Turner surprised attendees with the announcement of a public-private parks program and again alluded to the re-envisioned of Astroworld. Here's what the mayor wants to bring to Houston.
Massive mixed-use project to bring creative office and coworking space to the Houston Heights
The MKT expects to revolutionize the live-work-play model with everything from retail and restaurant to office and coworking space. Courtesy of The MKT
On a stroll or a spin down the Heights Hike and Bike Trail, you might not notice a complete transformation is eminent. The MKT — a mixed-use renovation and build out project — is getting ready to break ground.
The five-building, 200,000-square-foot project will bring 30 retail and restaurant concepts, and 100,000 square feet of office space together along with four acres of green space, parking, and an outdoor venue alongside 1,000 linear feet of the trail between North Shepherd Drive and Herkimer Street. The MKT name comes from the Missouri-Kansas-Texas railroad — later known as the Katy Railroad — that was transformed into the Heights Hike and Bike Trail. Read the story and check out all the renderings.