The Houston 2012 Foundation planned to pay $80 million to redevelop the dome if Houston had won the face-off. Without a developer, the dome's future is looking pretty grim.

The other truly great loss in the decision is the international prestige that would have come to Houston. It is perhaps that lack of prestige that kept the Energy City from being a true frontrunner although it beat out competitors in many of the less subjective categories.

Sanford Criner, principal at Houston's Trione & Gordon ONCOR International, tells GlobeSt.com that the effect on the commercial real estate market is negligible, save for the fantastic impact that surely would have graced the city's hospitality and apartment markets.

The games would have brought $500 million in new construction and $8 million in ancillary projects. The hospitality industry was projected to realize an estimated $1.2-billion impact.

Certainly $500 million in new construction is nothing to scoff at, but as Criner points out the construction boom wouldn't have the impact in Houston that it would have in other cities because most of the facilities are in place. According to published reports, more than 90% of the buildings needed for the games are built or under construction.

Susan Brandy, president of the Houston 2012 Foundation, told GlobeSt.com in a previous interview that only three sporting venues would have to be built: a $50-million natatorium; a slalom-canoeing venue in the downtown; and the $80-million Astrodome conversion into a track and field stadium. Most of the new construction would have centered on an Olympic Village and related buildings.

A University of Houston report concluded the immediate economic impact would have amounted to $4.3 billion while adding more than $1.4 billion in income to the region's residents. It was projected that 64,216 jobs would have been created by the games, according to the university study.

The legacy as the host city means another $756 million per year for the years following the games due to heightened visibility and attractiveness of the region. The university researchers based their calculations on the impact and after-effects of the 1996 Atlanta games.

No one in town, particularly in the commercial real estate community, was counting their development dollars before they were hatched. So the projected impact shouldn't be considered a loss, but rather a possibility that never really materialized for the Houston economy.