University of Houston scores $1 million from top Texas foundation

A HEALTHY BOOST FOR THE COOGS

The new $1 million gift will target top recruits. Photo courtesy of University of Houston

One of the most prestigious foundations in Texas has made a generous gift to a local university's fledgling medical department. The M.D. Anderson Foundation has pledged $1 million to the University of Houston College of Medicine, UH announced.

The sizable gift is meant to establish the M.D. Anderson Foundation Endowed Professorship in Medicine, specifically to recruit a leader in health care to join the College of Medicine faculty, according to a press release.

The gift, matched one-to-one by an anonymous donor to create a $2 million endowment, aims to support the new medical school's mission to improve health and health care in underserved communities in Houston and across Texas.

This isn't the first time the M.D. Anderson Foundation has supported UH. The foundation has gifted more than $6 million to UH Libraries, UH Law Center, Hobby School of Public Affairs, and the College of Medicine.

"Innovation in health care requires a fresh approach and a willingness to break down traditional silos to collaborate with experts in other health disciplines such as pharmacy, engineering, law and even data sciences, said Dr. Stephen Spann, founding dean of the UH College of Medicine," in a statement.

"By harnessing the power of data analytics, we can fundamentally change the way we deliver higher quality and cost-effective care to more people. Thanks to the M.D. Anderson Foundation's generosity and vision, we will be able to recruit a new faculty member who can help us greatly to accomplish these goals."

As previously reported, UH received a $50 million gift from an anonymous donor in 2019 to establish the "$100 Million Challenge," meant to recruit top nationally recognized and awarded research faculty for chairs and professorships, designed to inspire another $50 million in investments from additional donors.

Now, the school hopes to utilize these funds to address what the school describes as a "critical primary care physician shortage, especially in low-income and minority communities lacking access to a regular source of care and have gaps in preventative care, which leads to higher rates of sickness, hospitalization, and death."

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

As the new UH medical school welcomes its second class, it's also planning for a new facility to support low-cost care. Photo via UH.edu

New Houston med school to offer low-cost health care thanks to $1M gift

for the people

The University of Houston College of Medicine has announced it will open a low-cost health care facility thanks to a $1 million gift from The Cullen Trust for Health Care.

UHCOM will open the direct primary care clinic on the campus of Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital, and, according to a news release from UH, it's only just the beginning of a network of clinics focused on treating those without health insurance.

"A direct primary care practice will add value to the local health care ecosystem by tackling one of the most pressing problems of our city: the lack of a comprehensive primary care system for the uninsured," says UH President Renu Khator in the release. "The Cullen Trust for Health Care shares our commitment to improving the overall health and health care of the population of Greater Houston and we are grateful for their support."

The direct primary care, or DPC, model is an alternative to insurance-based and fee-based care and eliminates third party payers. Instead, patients pay a monthly membership to receive primary care services — including telehealth, basic office procedures, at-cost laboratory testing, and access to medications at reduced prices. The clinic will offer same-day or next-day appointments as a guarantee and be staffed by faculty physicians and UH health professions students.

"The UH College of Medicine wants to restore primary care as the foundation of health care. We have developed a model with strong incentives to innovate the delivery of primary care designed to improve quality and more effectively control the cost of care," says Dr. Stephen Spann, founding dean of the UH College of Medicine, in the release. "We are building our model upon the four pillars of access, population health, social determinants of health and trusting relationships. In this framework, the physician is accountable for the health of their member panel and will demonstrate long-term cost and quality outcomes."

Dr. Stephen Spann is the founding dean of the UH College of Medicine. Photo via UH.edu

Founded in 2020, UHCOM's brief existence has been supported by generous donors – including a foundational $50 million gift as well as an endowment. This latest funding is from The Cullen Trust for Health Care — established in 1978 as an organization that grants financial assistance to institutions providing health care services in the Greater Houston area.

"The Cullen Trust for Health Care is proud to support this pilot endeavoring to bring a new form of patient-centered primary care to Houston's underserved communities. We are hopeful that the new UH College of Medicine direct primary care clinic will proactively engage patients to increase utilization and improve continuity of care," says Cullen Geiselman, chairman of the board for The Cullen Trust for Health Care.

This week, the school also announced its second-ever class of students. The UHCOM class of 2025 includes 30 students selected out of about 6,000 applicants. According to a news release, more than half of the second cohort received a $100,000 four-year scholarship. The future doctors will be celebrated with a White Coat Ceremony on Saturday, July 31, at the Hilton University of Houston.

More than half — 67 percent — of the new class is female and 60 percent of the group are Black or Hispanic. Sixty-three percent represent low socioeconomic status (as defined by Texas Medical Dental Schools Application Services).

UH's College of Medicine is the newest addition to the Texas Medical Center. Photo courtesy of University of Houston

TMC approves the addition of the University of Houston's new medical school

joining the club

The largest medical city in the world has a new resident. The University of Houston College of Medicine is the newest official member of the Texas Medical Center (TMC). The move comes following approval by the TMC board of directors, UH announced.

This addition, which is Houston's first new medical school in nearly 50 years, means potential collaboration with dozens of hospitals and academic institutions, including four other medical schools.

UH's new College of Medicine was found to specifically serve underserved communities in Houston and across Texas. To address a critical statewide shortage of primary care doctors, the UH College of Medicine emphasizes primary care, especially in urban and rural communities, which often have poorer health outcomes, a press release notes. The inaugural class launched in fall 2020 with some 30 medical students.

TMC named the University of Houston a member institution in 2009; the school's College of Pharmacy has been a member since 1980.

A new three-story, 130,000-square-foot College of Medicine building is currently under construction on the UH campus, with a summer 2022 opening date. The facility will be located on 43-acres and will feature modern classroom and meeting spaces, state-of-the-art anatomy and simulation suites, and more, per UH.

Unofficially dubbed "Medical City," the Medical Center sees more than 10 million patients per year, employs more than 106,000 total workers, and is home to the world's largest children's hospital (Texas Children's Hospital), and cancer hospital (MD Anderson Cancer Center).

"We are elated to join the Texas Medical Center as a member institution and look forward to engaging with colleagues at other institutions to advance clinical issues and best practices, and further joint research endeavors," said Dr. Stephen Spann, founding dean of the UH College of Medicine and new member of the TMC Advisory Board, in a statement. "The tragedy of the COVID-19 pandemic has paradoxically produced an opportunity to address larger issues facing our health care systems, such as health equity. Together with our TMC partners, we can help be part of the solution."

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

This week's Houston innovators to know include Travis Parigi of LiquidFrameworks, Kathy Luders of NASA, and Stephen Spann of the University of Houston. Photos courtesy

3 Houston innovators to know this week

who's who

Starting a new week, we'd like to introduce you to three Houston innovators who have recently made headlines. All three represent industries at the core of Houston's business community — from space and energy to health care.

Travis Parigi, founder and CEO of LiquidFrameworks

Travis Parigi, founder and CEO of LiquidFrameworks, joins the Houston Innovators Podcast to discuss how he's navigating both a global pandemic and an oil downturn. Photo courtesy of LiquidFrameworks

Travis Parigi, founder and CEO of LiquidFrameworks, joined the Houston Innovators Podcast to discuss how both the oil downturn and the pandemic has affected his business, which provides cloud-based, mobile field operations management solutions to oil and gas, environmental, and industrial service companies.

"We've seen these types of challenges in the past within the oil and gas space — it is cyclical based on commodities," Parigi explains on thi week's episode of the Houston Innovators Podcast. "We're well positioned to weather these storms."

Parigi shares his biggest concerns about the oil and gas market and how he's looking into partnering with another Houston energy tech startup, Data Gumbo, on the episode. Listen and read more.

Kathy Lueders, associate administrator of the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA's Johnson Space Center

Kathy Lueders will lead the future of human space flight at NASA. Photo via nasa.gov

NASA's Johnson Space Center, home to human exploration, has a new leader. Kathy Lueders, formerly the commercial crew program manager, has been named associate administrator of the Human Exploration and Operations (HEO) Mission Directorate by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine on Friday, June 12.

"Kathy gives us the extraordinary experience and passion we need to continue to move forward with Artemis and our goal of landing the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024," says Bridenstine in a news release. "She has a deep interest in developing commercial markets in space, dating back to her initial work on the space shuttle program."

Lueders has been with NASA for over 12 years — spending time at both JSC and Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Read more.

Dr. Stephen Spann, founding dean of the University of Houston's College of Medicine

The University of Houston broke ground on its new medical school building and named the College of Medicine's inaugural class. Photo via UH.edu

The University of Houston is the first institution in town in about 50 years to establish a new medical school, and UH is doing it for a specific reason — to get more primary care doctors in practice. UH's College of Medicine plans to have 50 percent of graduates choose primary care specialties including family medicine, general internal medicine, and general pediatrics. For some perspective, nationally, only about 20 percent of medical students choose primary care.

"We were very deliberate in our pursuit of medical students who fit the mission. This is much different than most other medical schools because we need different solutions for the current health care problems facing our city and state," said Dr. Stephen Spann, founding dean of the College of Medicine, in a statement. Read more.

The University of Houston broke ground on its new medical school building and named the College of Medicine's inaugural class. Photo via UH.edu

Houston medical school presents inaugural class as construction begins on new building

doctors in training

This month, the University of Houston has taken a couple huge steps toward establishing a prestigious medical school program — the first new medical school to be established in Houston in almost 50 years.

UH has broken ground on its $80 million medical school building that is expected to be completed in 2022, and the program has named its inaugural class.

The new cohort of future doctors is a group diverse in ethnic background and life experience. The school plans to tackle a key issue in public health: the shortage of primary care doctors. These future doctors are charged by the university with eliminating health disparities in underserved urban and rural areas, which often have poorer health outcomes.

The UH College of Medicine received 1,728 applications for its first class of students; 164 applicants were interviewed for the 30 available spots, according to UH. An 18-member admissions committee screened those most likely to pursue primary care.

Here is a breakdown of UH's inaugural medical school class:

  • 30 students
  • 73 percent underrepresented minorities in medicine
  • 63 percent female
  • 57 percent first generation in college
  • 40 percent low socioeconomic status
  • 100 percent Texas resident
  • Five graduates of the University of Texas at Austin; two graduates each from the University of Houston, Baylor, Texas A&M, Houston Baptist, Prairie View A&M, and Rice University

According to the school, the goal is for 50 percent of graduates of the UH College of Medicine to choose primary care specialties including family medicine, general internal medicine, and general pediatrics. For some perspective, nationally, only about 20 percent of medical students choose primary care.

"We were very deliberate in our pursuit of medical students who fit the mission. This is much different than most other medical schools because we need different solutions for the current health care problems facing our city and state," said Dr. Stephen Spann, founding dean of the College of Medicine, in a statement.

Each student will receive a $100,000 four-year scholarship through philanthropy to cover tuition and fees. At full enrollment, the College of Medicine will have 480 students, per the school. The Health 2 Building in the UH Medical District will be the college's temporary home for the first two years until a new $80 million medical school building is completed in 2022. Construction crews broke ground on the new building on June 15, according to the university.

Being part of UH's inaugural medical school is deeply personal for students such as Cenk Cengiz. At 14, Cengiz's family emigrated from Turkey to Houston, but could not afford health insurance. Cengiz attended high school and college without ever seeing a doctor, which attracted him to the field of medicine and peaked his interest in the medical school's unique mission to help underserved communities.

"I came a long way from washing dishes at age 14 at a pizza store," Cengiz said in a statement. "My parents are super proud of me."

Dr. Stephen Spann is the founding dean of the College of Medicine. Photo via uh.edu

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

The University of Houston College of Medicine can now enroll its inaugural class. Photo courtesy of University of Houston

University of Houston's medical school gets accreditation, plans to start first class in July

now enrolling future doctors

The University of Houston has received the green light to move forward with its recruiting and enrolling its first class of 30 medical students for the first new medical school in Houston in over 50 years.

The University of Houston College of Medicine has received its preliminary accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, the authority on medical education in the United States and Canada that is sponsored by the American Medical Association and the American Association of Medical Colleges.

This accreditation means the school can begin enrolling its inaugural class of 30 students and begin classes on July 20. Each of these new students will receive a $100,000 four-year scholarship thanks to an anonymous donor.

"Today is a historic day for the University of Houston, city of Houston, and the state of Texas because we are building this dream together," says Renu Khator, president and chancellor of the university, in a news release. "By training the next generation of compassionate physicians who understand how to provide quality health care at a reasonable cost, we are expanding our capabilities to serve the people and neighborhoods too often left behind."

Khator announced her plans to create the new school in 2014, with the goal being to address the shortage of 4,800-plus primary care physicians in Texas, according to the release.

For now, the school will operate out of UH's Health 2 Building, but the university plans to break ground this summer a new $80 million College of Medicine building. Completion is expected in 2022.

The school will focus its curriculum on primary care, behavioral and mental health, and preventive care, per the release, and create a household-centered care program that involves connecting a student with a family in an underserved community. According to the release, UH med students will be required to spend four weeks in a clinic in a rural part of the state.

"At full staffing we will have 65 full-time faculty teaching on campus, but there will be also be a large number of community-based faculty teaching in the outpatient and inpatient clinical settings," says Dr. Stephen Spann, founding dean of the medical school, in the release. "It is imperative that we place our medical students and faculty directly in the communities with the most need."

The school will still need fill accreditation from LCME, and, according to the release, this level of approval is usually granted within the fourth year of operation as long as the school meets the standards set by the organization.

"We are extremely grateful to receive LCME accreditation, but now the real work begins because we want to be accountable for improving the overall health and health care of the region," Spann says in the release.

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2025 Houston Innovation Awards winners revealed at annual event

The winners are...

After weeks of anticipation, the 2025 Houston Innovation Awards winners have been revealed. Finalists, judges, and VIPs from Houston's vibrant innovation community gathered on Nov. 13 at Greentown Labs for the fifth annual event.

This year, the Houston Innovation Awards recognized more than 40 finalists, with winners unveiled in 10 categories.

2025 Innovation Awards group photo Winners gather for a photo at the annual event. Courtesy photo

Finalists and winners were determined by our esteemed panel of judges, comprised of 2024 winners who represent various Houston industries, as well as InnovationMap editorial leadership. One winner was determined by the public via an online competition: Startup of the Year.

The program was emceed by Lawson Gow, Head of Houston for Greentown Labs. Sponsors included Houston City College Northwest, Houston Powder Coaters, FLIGHT by Yuengling, and more.

Without further adieu, meet the 2025 Houston Innovation Awards winners:

Minority-founded Business: Mars Materials

Clean chemical manufacturing business Mars Materials is working to convert captured carbon into resources, such as carbon fiber and wastewater treatment chemicals. The company develops and produces its drop-in chemical products in Houston and uses an in-licensed process for the National Renewable Energy Lab to produce acrylonitrile, which is used to produce plastics, synthetic fibers and rubbers. The company reports that it plans to open its first commercial plant in the next 18 months.


Female-founded Business, presented by Houston Powder Coaters: March Biosciences

Houston cell therapy company March Biosciences aims to treat unaddressed challenging cancers, with its MB-105, a CD5-targeted CAR-T cell therapy for patients with relapsed or refractory CD5-positive T-cell lymphoma, currently in Phase 2 clinical trials. The company was founded in 2021 by CEO Sarah Hein, Max Mamonkin and Malcolm Brenner and was born out of the TMC Accelerator for Cancer Therapeutics.

Energy Transition Business: Eclipse Energy

Previously known as Gold H2, Eclipse Energy converts end-of-life oil fields into low-cost, sustainable hydrogen sources. It completed its first field trial this summer, which demonstrated subsurface bio-stimulated hydrogen production. According to the company, its technology could yield up to 250 billion kilograms of low-carbon hydrogen.

Health Tech Business: Koda Health

Koda Health has developed an advance care planning platform (ACP) that allows users to document and share their care preferences, goals and advance directives for health systems. The web-based platform guides patients through values-based decisions with interactive tools and generates state-specific, legally compliant documents that integrate seamlessly with electronic health record systems. Last year, the company also added kidney action planning to its suite of services for patients with serious illnesses. In 2025, it announced major partnerships and integrations with Epic, Guidehealth, and others, and raised a $7 million series A.

Deep Tech Business: Persona AI

Persona AI is building modularized humanoid robots that aim to deliver continuous, round-the-clock productivity and skilled labor for "dull, dirty, dangerous, and declining" jobs. The company was founded by Houston entrepreneur Nicolaus Radford, who serves as CEO, along with CTO Jerry Pratt and COO Jide Akinyode. It raised eight figures in pre-seed funding this year and is developing its prototype of a robot-welder for Hyundai's shipbuilding division, which it plans to unveil in 2026.

Scaleup of the Year: Fervo Energy

Houston-based Fervo Energy is working to provide 24/7 carbon-free energy through the development of cost-competitive geothermal power. The company is developing its flagship Cape Station geothermal power project in Utah, which is expected to generate 400 megawatts of clean energy for the grid. The company raised $205.6 million in capital to help finance the project earlier this year and fully contracted the project's capacity with the addition of a major power purchase agreement from Shell.

Incubator/Accelerator of the Year: Greentown Labs

Climatetech incubator Greentown Labs offers its community resources and a network to climate and energy innovation startups looking to grow. The collaborative community offers members state-of-the-art prototyping labs, business resources and access to investors and corporate partners. The co-located incubator was first launched in Boston in 2011 before opening in Houston in 2021.

Startup of the Year (People's Choice): FlowCare

FlowCare is developing a period health platform that integrates smart dispensers, education, and healthcare into one system to make free, high-quality, organic period products more accessible. FlowCare is live at prominent Houston venues, including Discovery Green, Texas Medical Center, The Ion, and, most recently, Space Center Houston, helping make Houston a “period positivity” city.

Mentor of the Year, presented by Houston City College Northwest: Jason Ethier, EnergyTech Nexus

Jason Ethier is the founding partner of EnergyTech Nexus, through which he has mentored numerous startups and Innovation Awards finalists, including Geokiln, Energy AI Solutions, Capwell Services and Corrolytics. He founded Dynamo Micropower in 2011 and served as its president and CEO. He later co-founded Greentown Labs in Massachusetts and helped bring the accelerator to Houston.

2025 Trailblazer Award: Wade Pinder

Wade Pinder, founder of Product Houston, identifies as an "Ecosystem Wayseeker" and is the founder of Product Houston. A former product manager at Blinds.com, he has been deeply engaged in Houston’s startup and innovation scene since 2012. Over the years, he has supported hundreds of founders, product leaders, and community builders across the Houston area. In 2023, he was honored as Mentor of the Year in the Houston Innovation Awards.

America's first Ismaili Center set to open in Houston in December

Sneak Preview

The long-awaited Ismaili Center, Houston is set to open to the public next month. The 11-acre site has been painstakingly designed and constructed to offer indoor and outdoor public spaces for Houstonians to enjoy, connect, and engage. As the only Ismaili Center in the United States — and seventh in the world — it joins its international communities in London, Vancouver, Lisbon, Dubai, Dushanbe, and Toronto.

Nearly 20 years in the making, the Ismaili Center, Houston features a prayer hall, rotating art installations, a black box theater, a cafe, numerous social halls for weddings and other events, and nine acres of outdoor space and landscaped botanical gardens. Involved parties hope that the community will see the space as an extension of the neighboring parks along the bayou, and have included a garden entrance to the north lawn and gardens at the corner of Montrose Boulevard and Allen Parkway.

While Houston is known for its many community engagement centers, the architects and designers believe that the seamless integration of indoor and outdoor spaces sets the Ismaili Center, Houston apart from all others.

“What we know is the connections between buildings, environment, quality of life, and landscape — this is nothing new,” structural and facade engineer Hanif Kara says. “But, certainly, it’s hard to see that in other developments, particularly when they are done by developers. It’s quite difficult to find community spaces, and to see how quality of life is improved for everyone. I think we’ve all experienced that kind of hope that it will play out something like this.”

Designed by Farshid Moussavi Architecture and Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, the remarkable 11-acre site is designed both to receive LEED Gold certification and to withstand the tests of Houston’s sometimes extreme weather conditions.

Principal architect Farshid Moussavi looks forward to seeing the Houston community utilize the space she’s worked so hard to deliver: “We’ve given the hardware to the community, now the software needs to come in. So I hope that there will be music recitals, or lectures, or book fairs, or other kinds of markets that can happen—even simultaneously. This is not an experiment, it’s the seventh in the world.”

Community welcome events are scheduled for December 12 and 13, but, until then, here are 10 features and things to know about the Ismaili Center, Houston.

What is the Ismaili Center, Houston?

“The use of the building is really meant for, or our hope, is that we are able to—on an enhanced view of what the community does today—have engagement on service projects, arts and culture, interfaith dialogue, and even just in bringing people together,” Omar Samji, Ismaili Council for the United States of America, says. “The notion of bringing people together in a place where it is easy to create connections because it’s an open space, and because it’s specifically designed to be a place where people interact and where people find commonality. Because whether you’re out in the gardens, or on the environs, or in the atrium, this enables connection.”

Who is His Highness the Aga Khan?

His Highness Prince Rahim Aga Khan V is the 50th hereditary Imam (spiritual leader) of the Shia Ismaili Muslims and a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. He was educated at Philipps Academy in Andover and Brown University (Class of 1995). He became Imam in February 2025 upon the passing of his father, His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV.

The Aga Khan promotes an understanding of Islam rooted in values of generosity, tolerance, pluralism, environmental stewardship, and the shared unity of humanity. He also chairs the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), one of the world’s largest private development agencies, which works across more than 30 countries to improve quality of life for marginalized communities regardless of faith or background.

The scale

The center stretches across an 11-acre site along Montrose Boulevard, from West Dallas to Allen Parkway. The physical building is 150,000 square feet, leaving nine acres for garden spaces on both the north and south sides of the building. The south side of the property is more formal, with gardens and community spaces that flank an 80-foot reflection pool and other water features. The gardens on the north side of the building are more informal, but densely planted and vast.

Photo by Iwan Baan

The creation

The development of the Ismaili Center was led by the Ismaili Council. It was initiated by His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV (1936-2025), and completed under the leadership of his eldest son, Prince Rahim Aga Khan V.

The project was designed and constructed by a team of both local and international firms. Farshid Moussavi Architecture joined forces with structural and facade engineer Hanif Kara, co-founder and creative director of AKT II. DLR Group is the architect and engineer of record, while contractor McCarthy Building Companies built the project. Thomas Woltz, senior principal and owner of landscape architecture firm Nelson Byrd Woltz, along with principal Jeff Aten taking lead on the nine acres of garden space. The project is targeting LEED Gold certification.

The focus on native Texas plants and trees

The center will be recognized as a leading cultural asset for the City of Houston, complementing nearby institutions such as The Menil Collection, Rothko Chapel, Asia Society Texas, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. While the surrounding gardens will add to the other notable Nelson Byrd Woltz projects within close proximity at Memorial Park, Rothko Chapel, and Rice University.

“We’ve been building massive projects in Houston for 12 years,” Woltz says. “We know the horticultural community in the region, and we did a deep, deep dive in ecological research to understand ‘What are the native plants of whatever region?’ It’s just baked into our process. Right when we are starting any project in Houston—right to the river. Look at the soils, ‘What are the plants appropriate to that place?’ Its solar aspect, its humidity, it’s moisture in soils, the shadow of the building.

But then, this idea of taking a section across the state of Texas, so that each of those distinct ecological regions is represented by one of the terraced gardens — so it’s very clear. It’s a diagram of the state of Texas and all of its native plants. This is functioning like a botanic garden and a repository for biodiversity — this is work in service.”

The eco-friendly exterior

The exterior of the building is clad in stone, a durable material with low embodied carbon. The stone cladding is a rainscreen over in-situ ‘fair-faced’ concrete walls, exposed on the interior to minimize additional material use. The concrete mix used has replaced 35-62 percent of Portland cement with fly ash and slag, reducing CO2 emissions by roughly 30 percent compared to standard mixes. The exterior stone rainscreen uses smaller tiles to increase the stone yield, utilizing 20-25 percent more of the irregular blocks they are cut from. This reduction in waste has also lent itself to crafting the cladding in a unique way.

The tessellation of the stone pieces changes across the building's surfaces to create different patterns on different sides of the buildings and at the corners. Relief stone tiles are used to add texture to the facades.

The space for outdoor events

The north-facing botanical gardens that will accommodate the 200-year flood plain offer a 27 foot gradient toward the building. This allowed for various levels of seating and gathering areas that culminate at an elevated terrace that will act as a stage for various events such as plays and concerts. Attendees can stretch out and enjoy the shows from an extensive lawn area that is surrounded by dense gardens of native trees and plants.

The black box theater

A 2,600-square-foot black box multipurpose space which seats 125 people is found on the second floor of the building’s west wing. It can host public events, such as exhibitions, film screenings, theatrical performances, music recitals, and other artistic programs throughout the year. It will also serve as a flexible space for teaching and learning. With acoustic isolation to surrounding spaces and the mechanical mezzanine above, it is designed to operate simultaneously without disrupting other events in the building. Design includes an upper-level control room, pipe grid, and flexible drapery and seating configurations to allow for a wide variety of programming.

The cafe

The center’s café is a 1,600-square-foot, double-height space located in the west wing (Montrose side) that opens onto an enormous terrace, offering visitors the option to enjoy their coffee or food outdoors. The terrace near the cafe is lined by an exterior wall and long, trough-style fountains that aid in noise reduction from Montrose Boulevard. The second-floor wall overlooking the Café is fully glazed, creating visual connection with the levels above.

The prayer hall

The prayer hall is 12,240 square feet, featuring a unique structural system of seven interlocking squares, formed from steel beams spanning the 115-by-115-foot open space. These beams are clad in concrete to enhance durability, beneath which lies a two-layer perforated aluminum ceiling with integrated diffused lighting. Its intricate pattern recalls the traditional jālī screens of Islamic architecture creating a soft, seemingly infinite ceiling effect, adding to the serenity of the prayer hall.

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A version of this article first appeared on CultureMap.com

Intuitive Machines to buy satellite maker Lanteris for $800 million

space deal

Houston-based aerospace company Intuitive Machines has agreed to buy satellite manufacturer Lanteris Space Systems for $800 million from private equity firm Advent International.

Intuitive Machines co-founder, president and CEO Steve Altemus said the combined revenue of his company and Palo Alto, California-based Lanteris exceeded $850 million as of Sept. 30, and their backlog of orders totaled $920 million.

Until recently, Lanteris operated as Maxar Space Systems. Its origins date back to 1957.

The deal—comprising $450 million in cash and $350 million in Class A shares of Intuitive Machines stock—is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026.

The acquisition “marks the moment Intuitive Machines transitions from a lunar company to a multi-domain space [company], setting the pace for how the industry’s next generation will operate,” Altemus said.

Altemus said the acquisition would enable Intuitive Machines to better compete for Earth orbit, lunar, Mars and deep space projects. Among the opportunities that would open up thanks to the Lanteris deal are the proposed Golden Dome missile defense system and a large lunar lander capable of carrying astronauts, he said.

“The new Intuitive Machines will combine rapid innovation and precision spacecraft production to meet the growing demand for responsive, high-reliability space infrastructure and services,” Altemus said.

Intuitive Machines, founded in 2013, develops lunar landers and provides aerospace services. In 2024, it became the first U.S. company to land a spacecraft on the moon in half a century.

Altemus said Intuitive Machines is already building three satellites for NASA’s near-space network, and it might upsize two more satellites now that it plans to buy Lanteris.

Aside from satellites, Lanteris is developing the power and propulsion element for NASA’s Gateway, a lunar orbiting command module that will support Artemis missions and deep space exploration.


Lanteris was a division of Maxar Technologies, which Advent and minority investor British Columbia Investment Management took private in a 2023 deal valued at $6.4 billion

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