Report: Houston to see highest concentration of medical office project completions this year

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One of Houston's biggest medical office projects — the $1.3 billion, 400,000-square-foot O’Quinn Medical Tower — is expected to deliver this year. Photo courtesy of Baylor College of Medicine

Medical office and life sciences projects are making a big splash in Houston’s commercial real estate sector in 2023.

The 42Floors commercial real estate website ranks five Houston-area medical office buildings among the country’s 20 largest medical office projects set to open this year. Meanwhile, 42Floors identifies two Houston developments among the 20 biggest U.S. life sciences projects on tap to debut in 2023.

Leading the list of the largest U.S. medical office buildings scheduled to be completed this year is the $1.3 billion, 400,000-square-foot O’Quinn Medical Tower. Set to open April 14 at the McNair Campus of Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, the outpatient facility will adjoin the McNair Hospital Tower, which opened in 2019.

The O’Quinn tower will serve as the new clinical home of the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center. The center is a federally designated facility for cancer care and research.

Highlights of the 12-story O’Quinn tower, southeast of the Texas Medical Center, include:

  • Ambulatory surgery center with 12 operating rooms and 10 endoscopy suites
  • 80-bay setup for infusion therapy
  • More than 70 exam rooms
  • More than 850 parking spaces

In all, five medical office properties in the Houston area made the 42Floors list, representing the highest concentration of major projects in any U.S. metro area that are scheduled to open this year. The four medical office properties joining the O’Quinn tower on the list are:

  • Houston Methodist Sugar Land Medical Office Building 4, 159,252 square feet
  • Kelsey-Seybold Springwoods Village Campus, 157,983 square feet
  • Kelsey-Seybold Ambulatory Surgery Center in Clear Lake, 116,000 square feet
  • 1715 Project in Friendswood, 107,000 square feet

A separate 42Floors list ranks Dynamic One, part of Baylor College of Medicine’s TMC Helix Park, as the second largest life sciences project in the U.S. set to come online this year. Houston’s TMC3 Collaborative Building lands at No. 19.

The 12-story Dynamic One project will feature lab space, offices, restaurants, and stores. It represents the first of four buildings planned for the 37-acre, five-million-square-foot TMC Helix Park, which is projected to generate an economic impact of $5.4 billion.

The 42Floors list puts the square footage of Dynamic One’s north tower at 365,000. Organizations involved in the project cite the square footage as 355,000.

The Baylor College of Medicine has signed up as Dynamic One’s anchor tenant. It will occupy 114,000 square feet of lab and office space.

“Baylor College of Medicine is a major force in life sciences discovery and commercialization at TMC. Their move to TMC Helix Park will serve as a catalyst for enhanced collaboration with TMC’s other esteemed Institutions, as well as with industry leaders from around the world,” Bill McKeon, president and CEO of TMC, says in a news release.

Also located at TMC Helix Park, the four-story TMC3 Collaborative Building will span 250,000 square feet. It will contain research facilities for MD Anderson Cancer Center, the Texas A&M University Health Science Center, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and TMC.

In addition, the TMC3 Collaborative Building will house life sciences companies, the TMC Data Collaborative, the TMC Venture Fund, the Braidwell hedge fund, and venture capital and private equity firms.

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The design and construction team has been announced for TMC3. Courtesy of Elkus Manfredi Architects

Texas Medical Center reveals new details and renderings for its TMC3 campus

Coming to hou in 2022

The Texas Medical Center just announced the dream team of architects and designers that are making TMC3 into a reality.

Elkus Manfredi Architects, Transwestern, and Vaughn Construction are the three companies that will serve as the architectural and development team for the 37-acre research campus. TMC3's founding institutions — TMC, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center — decided on the three entities.

"Texas Medical Center is eager to move forward with a bold, imaginative and dynamic new design vision for the TMC3 Master Plan," says TMC CEO and president, Bill McKeon, in a press release. "With the combined talents of Elkus Manfredi Architects, Transwestern, and Vaughn Construction on-board, I couldn't be more confident that this dream team will flawlessly execute the totality of the project's vision and fulfill its mission to bring together leading researchers and top-tiered expertise from the private sector to create the number one biotechnology and bioscience innovation center in the entire world."

TMC3 was first announced just over a year ago and is planned to open in 2022. The campus will incorporate research facilities, retail space, residential plans, a hotel and conference center, and green space. Parking will be underground to optimize surface area.

Design in mind

The 37-acre research campus will be interconnected by a DNA helix outdoor promenade.

Courtesy of Elkus Manfredi Architects

From a design perspective, the key element will be a DNA helix-shape that looks like a necklace chain that connects the campus.

"Our idea was to expand on the DNA design concept and create a series of spaces that would elongate the strand all the way north to the historic core of the Texas Medical Center and south to the new development by UTHealth and MD Anderson in order to create more opportunity for connections and collisions," says Elkus Manfredi Architects CEO and founding principal, David Manfredi, in the release. "We're implementing the connective tissue between all these places and establishing opportunities for unplanned interactions. Science, technology, medicine, discovery and innovation are all about making connections, and we are building a space for institutions, industry and startups to interact."

Manfredi's firm is responsible for a few other iconic medical facilities, such as the original Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and The Stanley Building at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the New York Genome Center.

"We want to create spaces that attract talent," Manfredi says in the release. "You can attract talent with great colleagues, research and facilities, but if you don't have a great social environment for people to live, learn, and play, people move on. We are creating a place where people will want to be because they're constantly stimulated – whether it's breakfast at the local coffee shop, or a volleyball league in the afternoon, or working in a central lab and the person next to them is doing something intersects with their own research."

Growing partner institutions

TMC3 Collaborative will be a centrally located building on the campus that is designed to host gatherings and share space with industry leaders.

Courtesy of Elkus Manfredi Architects

While a big portion of the attraction in the new campus is this multi-purposeful and connective space, the project opens doors for the five partner institutions. For Baylor College of Medicine, TMC3 means an expansion of its facilities and an increased footprint for Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center's McNair Campus. The second tower of the hospital will be right at TMC3's eastern edge.

"The selection of a development team is an important milestone for the TMC3 project," says Paul Klotman, president, CEO and executive dean of Baylor College of Medicine, in the release. "The project itself is a huge step in developing the biotech industry in Houston. At Baylor, we look forward to working closely with TMC leaders, as well as those of the other anchor institutions, in making this project a reality."

Additionally, the Texas A&M Health Science Center research building — led by Carrie L. Byington, M.D — on the north end adjacent to BCM's building and the hotel and conference center. On the south side of the campus, MD Anderson and UTHealth will each develop new research facilities that will connect to the existing University of Texas Research Park that is directly to the south of the campus. UT Research Park will be connected to TMC3 via a new skybridge.

The release also describes a central building dubbed TMC3 Collaborative that will create collaborative research space for industry partners. The first level of the building will be an open atrium for gatherings and have food and beverage concepts.

"When TMC3 opens in 2022, Texas Medical Center will officially plant a tangible flag that signals its arrival as the Third Coast for life sciences for the foreseeable future," McKeon says in the release.

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Here's how Houston ranks among the best U.S. cities to start a career

New Horizons

College graduates staying in Houston are in the right place to be, according to a new WalletHub study. Houston has emerged on a new list of the 100 best places in America for starting a career.

Houston ranked 51st out of 182 U.S. cities based on its quality of life and vast opportunities for new college graduates transitioning into the workforce. The study compared each city based on 25 relevant metrics, like the availability of entry-level jobs, each city's annual job growth rate, workforce diversity, median annual income, housing affordability, and others.

Atlanta, Orlando, and Austin respectively comprised the top three best places to start a career.

Houston ranked 48th overall for its quality of life, and appeared No. 51 for its professional opportunities for new college graduates. Whether its starting a new business or entering a high-earning job field, Houston has many more opportunities than the vast majority of other cities on the list.

"The best cities for starting a career not only have a lot of job opportunities but also provide substantial income growth potential and satisfying work conditions," said WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo. "It’s also important to consider factors such as how fun a city is to live in or how good of a place it is for raising a family, to ensure life satisfaction outside of your career."

Other Texas hotspots for early career professionals
Austin boasts the best quality of life out of all 182 cities in the report, and the 10th best professional opportunities. The state capital also outperformed all other U.S. cities with the highest monthly average starting salaries for early career workers after being adjusted for the city's cost of living. Austin also offers the 15th highest number of entry level jobs per capita, the report said.

In a separate comparison of the cities with the largest share of residents aged 25 to 34, Austin ranked No. 5 nationally.

"In addition, Austin’s median annual household income is the 10th-highest in the nation, providing strong earning potential for those starting a career or a business," the report said. "Austin is also the sixth best city for singles, offering a vibrant social scene alongside strong career opportunities for young professionals."

Elsewhere in Texas, Dallas ranked as the second-best city in Texas for new grads to start a career and 12th nationally. Additional cities that made it into the top 100 best U.S. cities for early career professionals include Plano (No. 32), Irving (No. 42), Fort Worth (No. 64), Amarillo (No. 73), and San Antonio (No. 85).

The top 10 best cities for starting a career are:

  • No. 1 – Atlanta, Georgia
  • No. 2 – Orlando, Florida
  • No. 3 – Austin, Texas
  • No. 4 – Tampa, Florida
  • No. 5 – Miami, Florida
  • No. 6 – Charleston, South Carolina
  • No. 7 – Pittsburgh
  • No. 8 – Knoxville, Tennessee
  • No. 9 – Salt Lake City, Utah
  • No. 10 – Columbia, South Carolina
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This article first appeared on CultureMap.com.

Persona AI teams with Under Armour to protect next-gen robots

Future Fabrics

Houston-based Persona AI has cemented a partnership with sportswear manufacturer Under Armour to provide materials to protect future robots operating in dangerous conditions.

Through the partnership, Persona AI and Under Armour will launch a research initiative to explore whether advanced performance textiles can improve the durability and resilience of humanoid robots operating in harsh industrial environments.

“This is an opportunity to apply our innovation expertise in a new context,” Kyle Blakely, senior vice president of innovation, design studio, development, and testing at Under Armour, said in a news release. “Robotics presents a fascinating new design challenge, and we aim to play a leading role in shaping performance solutions for these environments. As humanoid systems take on more physically demanding roles, we see real potential to create new market opportunities, and we’re exploring how concepts like thermal management, abrasion resistance, and flexibility translate beyond sport."

Founded in June 2024 by former NASA engineer Nicolaus Radford and former Figure AI CTO Jerry Pratt, Persona AI has quickly risen to be a top name in the development of humanoid robotic systems. Radford previously was the principal investigator at NASA’s Dexterous Robotics Lab before becoming CEO of Nauticus Robotics. While at NASA, he was the chief engineer behind Robotnaut 2, the first humanoid robot on the International Space Station.

Persona AI raised preseed funding to develop humanoid robots designed to operate in shipyards and other industrial sites. The company has inked partnerships with HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, HD Hyundai Robotic, and Korean manufacturing firm Vazil Company to create and deploy humanoid robots for complex welding tasks in shipyards.

These environments often involve exposure to dangerous chemicals, harsh weather and other potential hazards. The partnership between Persona AI and Under Armour will combine the clothing manufacturer’s development of resilient but flexible materials with the humanoid design of Persona AI.

Though best known for its sportswear, Under Armour produces a wide range of specialist fabrics and clothing, including an entire line used by the U.S. military. The company’s track record of developing high-performance fabrics built to withstand war zones and desert conditions makes it a strong partner in Persona AI’s latest endeavor.

“We chose to work with Under Armour because of their track record of innovation with these types of performance materials,” Radford said. “As we develop humanoids for intense and potentially hazardous environments, this collaboration helps us understand how advanced materials can enhance long-term reliability, thereby informing solutions to better protect workers in the field.”

Waymo suspends robotaxi service in Houston due to weather concerns

Transportation news

Waymo has suspended driverless car services in Houston and other major Texas cities, and in Atlanta, after one of its vehicles was stranded by flooding during heavy rains that will likely also hinder travel in a large swath of the U.S over the holiday weekend.

Severe thunderstorms with large hail and gusty winds were possible Friday, May 22 in Texas and other parts of the Southern and Central Plains, the National Weather Service said.

Forecasters warned of possible flash flooding along the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana on Saturday, when rain and thunderstorms were expected across much of the central and eastern U.S.

The Waymo vehicle got stuck during a downpour in Atlanta on Wednesday that flooded streets and even part of a downtown highway. The vehicle was not occupied and was later recovered, the company said in a statement. At least one other Waymo vehicle was waylaid during the storm.

Waymo serves only the city of Atlanta in Georgia, and services Dallas, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio in Texas.

The company paused service in Texas “out of an abundance of caution for the forecasted severe weather,” the statement said.

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