Westchase is a business district and neighborhood in western Houston, Texas, bounded by Westheimer Road on the north, Gessner Road on the east, Houston Center Boulevard on the west, and Westpark Tollway on the south. The area is bisected by Beltway 8. Westchase is adjacent to Greater Sharpstown, the International District (which includes part of

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

), and the

Royal Oaks Country Club Royal Oaks Country Club is a country club and subdivision in Houston, Texas, United States, in the Alief community. The country club is located at 2910 Royal Oaks Club Drive,Alief. A large portion of Westchase is covered by a

special district Special district may refer to: * Certain districts of Ethiopia not part of a zone * Special district (United States) Special districts (also known as special service districts, special district governments, limited purpose entities, or special-pu ...

, the Westchase Management District, which was created by the Texas Legislature in 1995. This entity, funded by a tax increment on businesses within its boundaries, provides branding, urban planning, and public safety functions for its constituents. More than 1,500 businesses reside in Westchase; several are associated with the petroleum industry, for which Houston is considered a major capital. Major employers that have offices in Westchase include ABB Group,

BMC Software BMC Software, Inc. is an American multinational information technology (IT) services and consulting, and Enterprise Software company based in Houston, Texas. Gartner has positioned BMC as a Leader for the eighth consecutive year in Gartner' ...

, Chevron,

Phillips 66 The Phillips 66 Company is an American Multinational corporation, multinational energy company headquartered in Westchase, Houston, Westchase, Houston, Houston, Texas. Its name, dating back to 1927 as a trademark of the Phillips Petroleum Compan ...

Dow Chemical The Dow Chemical Company, officially Dow Inc., is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. The company is among the three largest chemical producers in the world. Dow manufactures plastics ...

Petrochina PetroChina Company Limited () is a Chinese oil and gas company and is the listed arm of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), headquartered in Dongcheng District, Beijing. The company is currently Asia's largest oil and gas pr ...

, and Jacobs Engineering. The Westchase management district is approximately in size, with of office space contained in 118 buildings. In 2006 Westchase was described by John Nova Lomax of the '' Houston Press'' as

suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

in nature, with a high concentration of chain stores along its major arterial roads.

History

In the 1950s, large portions of Westchase were purchased by Robert E. Smith, a Houston oilman and philanthropist well known for creating the Houston Colt .45s baseball team. In 1969, Friendswood Development Company purchased a section of Smith's land to form what is now Woodlake, a residential subdivision at the intersection of Westheimer and Gessner. In 1973, Westchase Corporation, the predecessor to the modern management district, purchased of Smith's land and began preparing land parcels for corporate development. Chevron and

Western Geophysical Western Geophysical was an international oil exploration company founded in California in 1933 by Henry Salvatori for the purpose of using reflection seismology to explore for petroleum. The company prospered and was sold by Salvatori to Litt ...

were some of the first companies to establish operations in the district. Construction on Beltway 8 (the Sam Houston Tollway) through the area began in 1985 and was completed in 1988. Financing for this section of the tollway was particularly challenging, as the Texas Department of Transportation's right-of-way acquisition program coincided with the rapid development of Westchase and Sharpstown, induced by the

1970s energy crisis The 1970s energy crisis occurred when the Western world, particularly the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, faced substantial petroleum shortages as well as elevated prices. The two worst crises of this period wer ...

. In order to ensure that the highway would be built, landowners and developers in Westchase and Sharpstown formed the Beltway 8 Group, which coordinated with TxDOT to lock in property values at rates the state could afford. In the early 1990s,

relocated its headquarters from Sugar Land to a new 20-story tower in Westchase.Bivins, Ralph.
BMC building 20-story tower near tollway on city's west side
" '' Houston Chronicle''. Tuesday August 6, 1991. Business 1. Retrieved on August 3, 2009. Legislation creating the Westchase District was passed by the 73rd Texas State Legislature and became law on August 28, 1995. In 2012, after splitting from

ConocoPhillips ConocoPhillips Company is an American multinational corporation engaged in hydrocarbon exploration and production. It is based in the Energy Corridor district of Houston, Texas. The company has operations in 15 countries and has production in ...

began construction on a corporate headquarters in the district. The project was completed in 2016. That same year, due to the

2010s oil glut The 2010s oil glut is a significant surplus of crude oil that started in 2014–2015 and accelerated in 2016, with multiple causes. They include general oversupply as unconventional US and Canadian tight oil (shale oil) production reached crit ...

, Halliburton moved out of its campus near

, and Maersk Oil ended operations in the area.

Economy

The following companies have regional or international headquarters in Westchase: *

Sebastian, Simone.
Phillips 66 to build global headquarters in West Houston
" ''FuelFix'' ('' Houston Chronicle''). September 12, 2012. Retrieved on September 13, 2012. *

Geokinetics Geokinetics Inc. was founded in 1997 and was based in Houston, Texas. The company is no longer in business. Through its subsidiary, Geokinetics provided seismic surveying services in the Gulf Coast, Mid-Continent, and Rocky Mountain regions of t ...

The Men's Wearhouse Tailored Brands, Inc. is an American retail holding company for various men's apparel stores, including the Men's Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank brands. The company is headquartered in Houston, Texas, with additional corporate offices in Fremont, ...

* Randall's Food Markets *

Statoil Equinor ASA (formerly Statoil and StatoilHydro) is a Norwegian state owned enterprise, state-owned multinational energy company headquartered in Stavanger. It is primarily a petroleum company, petroleum company, operating in 36 countries with ad ...

Additionally, the following companies have operations in Westchase: * Jacobs Engineering Group *

Chevron Corporation Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation. The second-largest direct descendant of Standard Oil, and originally known as the Standard Oil Company of California (shortened to Socal or CalSo), it is headquartered in S ...

PetroChina PetroChina Company Limited () is a Chinese oil and gas company and is the listed arm of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), headquartered in Dongcheng District, Beijing. The company is currently Asia's largest oil and gas pr ...

* WesternGeco * ABB Group * KRBE, a radio station * Compuware Westchase is home to a growing number of hotels; between 2014 and 2016, the hotel market in the district grew by 9%. The two flagship full-service hotels in the district are the Marriott Westchase and the Houston

Hilton Hilton or Hylton may refer to: Companies * Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Inc., a global hospitality company based in the United States that owns several hotel chains and subsidiary companies containing the Hilton name ** Hilton Hotels & Resorts, fla ...

Westchase. Westchase is home to one of Houston's only Japanese markets, the Nippan Daido (大道日本食料品店 ''Daidō Nihon Shokuryōhinden''). In 2022 the

Bechtel Bechtel Corporation () is an American engineering, procurement, construction, and project management company founded in San Francisco, California, and headquartered in Reston, Virginia. , the ''Engineering News-Record'' ranked Bechtel as the sec ...

announced it would move its Houston area offices, currently in the Houston Galleria area, to Westchase effective late 2023. Halliburton previously operated the Houston Office (a.k.a. Oak Park Campus) on of land located in

and in the Westchase district.Rodriguez, Lori.
Opinions vary over naming the growing Asian community on Houston's southwest side

. (Archived on May 15, 2008). Alternate version without Chinatown map:
DIVERSITY DEBATE / Chinatown outgrowing name / Opinions vary over naming the growing Asian community on Houston's southwest side
" '' Houston Chronicle''. Wednesday May 9, 2007. A1.SECT5-key.gif
." ''Westchase District''. Retrieved on January 13, 2009.Clanton, Brett.

" '' Houston Chronicle''. April 3, 2009. Retrieved on April 3, 2009.Sarnoff, Nancy.
Halliburton move could create hole in Houston's office market
" '' Houston Business Journal''. Friday August 10, 2001. Retrieved on November 11, 2009. The complex included the Latin America division of Easywell, a division of Halliburton. The building first opened as a Brown and Root facility in 1979. In 2009 the Westchase campus had 1,700 employees; Halliburton plans to increase its workforce at Oak Park to 3,000 workers. At the Bellaire site Halliburton plans to build a 16-story tower, a two-story "life center," an additional parking garage, expanded child care facilities, auditoriums, and bridges to connect the many buildings. In 2009 Halliburton had about 1,000 employees worked in leased office space in Westchase. During that year Halliburton stated that it planned to vacate the leased space.HALLIBURTON TO CONSOLIDATE HOUSTON OPERATIONS
." Halliburton. April 3, 2009. Retrieved on January 22, 2010. The plans for the Oak Park office had been delayed by one year, and Halliburton expected completion in 2013. However Halliburton closed the facility in 2015, and in 2020 a planned demolition was revealed.

Diplomatic missions

The consulate generals of

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

, Indonesia, and the Philippines reside in Westchase. The Indonesian consulate has been in Westchase since 1993. The Philippines consulate opened on September 24, 2018. In 2015, Saudi Arabia submitted plans to construct a new general consulate complex in Westchase. In 2019 the Mexican government agreed to give the state government of Texas the land of the Consulate-General of Mexico, in

Southeast Houston Southeast Houston is an area in Houston, Texas, United States. The Greater Southeast Management District (GSMD) manages a district using the name Southeast houston. Communities within the district include the Third Ward, Texas Medical Center, Riv ...

, in exchange for the state giving the Mexican government of land in Westchase, that was previously state property. The move is rebuilding so the state government can reconstruct freeways in the Southeast Houston area. The current Mexican consulate opened in June 2021.

Demographics

In 2015 the Westchase Super Neighborhood, defined by the City of Houston and with boundaries different from that of the Westchase Management District, had 29,149 residents in 2015. 33% of them were non-Hispanic black, 26% were Hispanic, 25% were non-Hispanic white, 13% were non-Hispanic Asians, and 2% were non-Hispanic others. The super neighborhood had 21,017 residents in 2000. Of the residents, 40% were non-Hispanic white, 22% were Hispanics, 23% were non-Hispanic black, 13% were non-Hispanic Asians, and 2% were non-Hispanic others.

Government and infrastructure

Municipal services

Westchase is located in Houston City Council district F. Two

Houston Fire Department City of Houston Fire Department (HFD) is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Houston, Texas, United States, the fourth largest city in the United States. HFD is responsible for preserving life and ...

stations, Station 69 Westchase and Station 83 Royal Oaks, serve Westchase. Both stations are a part of Fire District 83. Station 69, located on Beltway 8, opened in 1980, after rapid area development stressed existing emergency infrastructure. Station 83 opened in 2005. The Houston Police Department's Westside and Uptown Divisions serve separate sections of the district.

County, state, and federal representation

Westchase is located in Harris County Precinct 3, which is headed by Commissioner Steve Radack. The United States Postal Service operates the Westchase and Debora Sue Schatz post offices in the district.

Education

Colleges and universities

Houston Community College Alief Campus, opened in 2007, is located along Westheimer in Westchase. In 2017, the West Houston Institute, a

STEM Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

-focused facility, opened adjacent to HCC Alief. American InterContinental University, a for-profit institution, operates its Houston campus in the district. Remington College opened a campus in the district in 1997.

Primary and secondary education

Much of Westchase is zoned to Alief Independent School District.

Public schools

Most of Westchase, which is south of Westheimer Road ( Farm to Market Road 1093) and west of Gessner Road, is zoned to schools in Alief Independent School District, while the parts north of Westheimer and parts east of Gessner Road are zoned to the Houston Independent School District. Two AISD public schools are located within the boundaries of the district, Alief Early College High School and Sneed Elementary School. The school zoning for the Alief ISD portion is as follows: *The portion inside Beltway 8 south of Westheimer and west of Gessner is zoned to Sneed Elementary School (Sneed Elementary is in Westchase District Section 5), Budewig Intermediate School, and O'Donnell Middle School. *The portion outside Beltway 8 north of the Westpark Tollway and south of Westheimer is zoned to Outley Elementary School, Budewig Intermediate School, and O'Donnell Middle School. *The portion outside Beltway 8 south of the Westpark Tollway is zoned to Chancellor Elementary School (Bilingual students go to Youens Elementary School), Owens Intermediate School, and Alief Middle School. *Westchase students in Alief ISD may attend Elsik, Hastings, and Taylor high schools, as high school assignments in Alief ISD are determined by a

lottery A lottery is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of ...

. The school zoning for the Houston ISD portion is as follows: * Areas north of Westheimer and west of East Rivercrest are zoned to:

Walnut Bend Elementary School Walnut Bend Elementary School is a primary school located in Houston, Texas. As a result of a bond proposal passed in 2002, it has been completely rebuilt over the old school; it was the first LEED "Green School" in the Houston Independent School ...

Paul Revere Middle School
(Revere is located in Westchase) wit
West Briar Middle School
as an option, and Westside High School. * Areas north of Westheimer, east of East Rivercrest, and west of Gessner are zoned to
Emerson Elementary School
Paul Revere Middle School (with West Briar Middle School as an option) and Westside High School. * Areas west of Gessner (whether north or south of Westheimer) are zoned to: Emerson Elementary School, Paul Revere Middle School, and Lee High School with Lamar High School and Westside High School as boundary transfer options. ** Residents of the Emerson Elementary School attendance zone may apply for th
Briarmeadow Charter School
** Residents zoned to Westside may transfer to Lamar High School.

Private schools

Private schools in Westchase include Alexander-Smith Academy, River Oaks Academy, Wesley Academy, Woodlake Square Children's Center, Ascension Episcopal School, Children's World Learning Center, and the Grace Presbyterian Church and School. Westchase Methodist School is a preschool and kindergarten in Westchase.

The Tenney School The Tenney School is a private middle and high school in western Houston, Texas, United States.Contact Us
" The Tenn ...

is also in Westchase.Contact Us
"

The Tenney School The Tenney School is a private middle and high school in western Houston, Texas, United States.Contact Us
" The Tenn ...

. Retrieved on August 14, 2019. "Contact Info 3500 South Gessner Houston, Texas 77063"

Public libraries

The area is served by the Judson W. Robinson-Westchase Neighborhood Library of Houston Public Library at 3223 Wilcrest Drive. The branch is named for Judson W. Robinson Jr. (1932-1990), who in 1971 became the first African-American elected to the Houston City Council. The library, originally opened in 1991, was closed for major renovations in the fall of 2016, and re-opened in the spring of 2018.

Transportation

METRO maintains a park and ride station for commuting to the central city. This station's construction had an anticipated start date of September, and there were plans for it to have spaces for 1,473 vehicles.

Parks, recreation, and culture

The Westchase District maintains a network of trails along a tributary of Brays Bayou which flows through the center of the district. The Brays Bayou Connector, which commenced construction in 2016, will connect Richmond Avenue and Bellaire Boulevard with a

grade-separated In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights (grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tran ...

trail, providing pedestrian and bicyclist access to the International District and Arthur Story Park. The district government had revealed its initial plans for it in 2012. Another section opened in 2016. In 2016 the city government bought of land, on two plots adjacent to the library, to create a park there. Houston City Council voted to approve creation of a park the following year. Wilcrest Park is scheduled to begin operations in December 2022. Woodchase Park, in size, had its opening scheduled for October 2021. Prior to the openings of these parks, as of 2020, Trust for Public Land described Westchase as having a below average number of public parks for a city neighborhood. Harris County operates Tracy Gee Community Center, named after Tracy Gee (), a

Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from ...

university student who was murdered in 1990. The center opened in 1993. The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Houston maintains the Chinese Cultural Center in Westchase. By 2020 the

farmers market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or ...

in Westchase had an increase in traffic during the COVID-19 pandemic in Texas. Congregation Or Ami, a Jewish congregation, is located in Westchase. the

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...

is Gideon Estes.

Image gallery

References

External links

Westchase website
{{coord, 29.729, -95.564, type:city_dim:5km_region:US-TX, display=title Neighborhoods in Houston