The Houston Regional Office administers a variety of services and benefits for approximately 876,000 honorably discharged/retired veterans of the US Military and their dependents residing in the Southern part of Texas, in the Republic of Mexico, and in Central and South America. These benefits include Compensation and Pension programs, Home Loan Guaranty, Vocational Rehabilitation and Counseling, and Death Benefits.

Located in the third largest city in the United States, territorial jurisdiction includes San Antonio, the ninth largest city in the nation and home to five major military installations and one of the largest military retirement centers in the world, and South Texas, an area with increasing attraction for retirees from colder areas of the country. The Regional Loan Center, located at the Houston RO administers all VA Home Loans activities for the States of Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

The Regional Office, collocated with the VA Medical Center, is housed in a VA-owned building specifically constructed for the regional office. It was VA's first federal/private partnership accomplished under its unique Enhanced-Use program designed to improve services and reduce government costs. By using this concept, VA entered into a 35-year development partnership with a local developer to obtain needed facilities and services at lower costs, generate revenues, and redevelop underused VA land using private funds and expertise. Results included an attractive, cost-effective, state of the art benefits office; improved services to area veterans by providing a single location for benefits and medical care; substantial savings over the term of the agreement, and making revenues available to support veteran programs. At the end of the 35-year partnership, ownership of all private development will revert to VA.

The project's overall economic benefits are further magnified as VA will share with the developer the financial benefits generated by private development on the site. In addition to an up-front payment, VA will receive minimum annual payments plus a percentage of the developer's receipts from the retail center, estimated at over $2 million for the term of the agreement. VA will use these revenues to help fund costs of its medical care and nursing home programs. Additionally VA will share in the residual value derived from private facilities developed on the site since ownership of the non-VA development will transfer to VA at the end of the lease.