View the OST Community Partnership Presentation 2-1-2022

The OST/ Palm Center neighborhood is home to one of the District’s most vibrant communities, a place where people and progress combine to shape a center of opportunity for residents and businesses.

Once Houston’s portion of the Old Spanish Trail that extended from St. Augustine, Florida, to San Diego, the neighborhood has been transformed in recent years into a hub for commercial development. Small businesses are thriving, retailers are growing their customer base, and restaurants are serving everything from traditional Mexican to home-style comfort food.

More than 150,000 people live within a three-mile radius of the center of OST. Many residents have been in the area for more than 30 years, assuring that while the community looks forward to a future of prosperity and continuing business development, it will never lose sight of – or forget – the value of its past.

But the neighborhood isn’t all about business. Numerous civic organizations are actively working to maintain and build upon the area’s quality of life, and residents can enjoy the natural pleasures that stem from four local parks.

The neighborhood is also the site of one of Houston’s first shopping malls, Palm Center, which opened in 1955 and a hub for 41 stores and 2,2000 parking spots. Today, it is a municipally owned services complex whose tenants include government agencies, small businesses, non-for-profit organizations, and the Alice McKean Young Neighborhood Library.

Houston’s Metro system provides convenient connections to downtown and NRG Stadium – home of the Houston Texans – and the neighborhood is the primary route to the Texas Medical Center. The District’s University Neighborhood, which includes the University of Houston and Texas Southern University, is easily accessible as well.