In short, the downtown opportunity resides on a large empty parking lot owned by the Astros organization, just across US59 from Minute Maid Park. Here's an eye-in-the-sky view, with the lot bordered in orange. I'm assuming the narrow lot along the highway is included with the larger square lot.
So how does this compare with The Rob? Overlaying the stadium on top of the aerial, you can see that the stadium fits diagonally along the area just fine, with only some of the surrounding grassy area clipped off. This orientation will require a road closure. It will eliminate the traditional north-south alignment of the field, and parking will have to be offsite, but both are surmountable obstacles.
And with a little tweaking, it looks like the field CAN fit in this space in the orthodox N-S alignment. That would be good for TV purposes (with the sun behind the cameras) and to keep the players from having to play opponents that have the sun behind them. As you can see, the field fits, but the surrounding stadium would have to be a bit asymmetrical to accommodate the geometric constraints. (I clipped off parts of The Rob to show the size differential.) But I think there'd still be seating all around the field even in this configuration; some just might not have concession stands behind them.
It does look like any practice fields (and definitely any youth soccer complex) would have to be located elsewhere. That's a bit unfortunate, but not overly problematic.
In short, the space fits, the location is great, and the news is exciting. Here's hoping it will come to pass.
Now I'll have to start solidifying my "Stadium Feature Wish List."
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