Most Houstonians have driven on streets, walked through parks, or lived in neighborhoods built with a financing tool they've never heard of. Owen sits down with Gwendolyn Tillotson-Bell, Houston's Chief Economic Development Officer, to explain how Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones — TIRZs — work, why they don't raiseyour property taxes, and how one burned-out apartment complex in the Memorial City area became a $135 million public safety campus: a new fire station, police station, and flood detention facility, all financed through an existing TIRZ without touching the city's general fund.

Tillotson-Bell walks through real Houston examples at every step — Corinthian Point's 500 homes in South Park, Levy Park and Emancipation Park as neighborhood catalysts, the Rice Hotel's transformation into the Rice Lofts downtown, and the Bagby Street corridor itself — before closing with a preview of Opportunity Zone 2.0, a federal program launching in Houston in January 2027 that eliminates or defers capital gains taxes when invested in underserved communities. Her philosophy for all of it: "My goal is to get to a mutual yes — so that you have mutual winners."

If you've ever wondered how Houston actually funds the infrastructure that makes neighborhoods livable, this is the episode.

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