__NOTOC__ 1400 Smith Street (formerly Enron Complex) is a tall

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...

located in

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The building has 50 floors and is the 11th tallest building in the city. Designed by architectural firm Lloyd Jones Brewer and Associates, the building was completed in 1983. The office tower is situated on Houston's six-mile (10 km) pedestrian and retail tunnel system that links many of the city's downtown towers. It was formerly Four Allen Center, a part of the

Allen Center The Allen Center is a mixed-use skyscraper complex in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States. It consists of three buildings, One Allen Center (500 Dallas Street), Two Allen Center (1200 Smith Street), Three Allen Center (333 Clay Street). The ...

complex. The building was the former headquarters of

Enron Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was founded by Kenneth Lay in 1985 as a merger between Lay's Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both relatively small regional companies. ...

, one of America's largest commodities trading companies during the 1990s and later infamous for its financial

scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way. Th ...

in 2001. 1400 Smith Street was originally known as Four Allen Center prior to Enron relocating to Houston in 1985. Before Enron's collapse, the energy giant constructed a second, similar building across the street, connected to 1400 Smith Street by a circular skywalk. In 2006,

Brookfield Properties Brookfield Properties is a North American subsidiary of commercial real estate company Brookfield Property Partners, which itself is a subsidiary of alternative asset management company Brookfield Asset Management. It is responsible for the pro ...

acquired the Four Allen Center for $120 million. At the same time, Brookfield announced that

Chevron USA Chevron Corporation is an American multinational List of oil exploration and production companies, energy corporation. The second-largest Successors of Standard Oil, direct descendant of Standard Oil, and originally known as the Standard Oil Co ...

signed a lease for the entire building. Brookfield held 4 Allen Center in a joint partnership with the private equity group

The Blackstone Group Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. Blackstone's private equity business has been one of the largest investors in leveraged buyouts in the last three decades, while its real estate bu ...

. As of 2006, the joint venture has of office space in

Downtown Houston Downtown is the largest central business district in the city of Houston and the largest in the state of Texas, located near the geographic center of the metropolitan area at the confluence of Interstate 10 in Texas, Interstate 10, Interstate 45, ...

, making it the largest office owner in the central business district. Beginning in 2006,

Chevron Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to: Science and technology * Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines * Chevron (anatomy), a bone * ''Eulithis testata'', a moth * Chevron (geology), a fold in rock lay ...

leased the entirety of the building. Earlier in 2011

, the owner of the building, searched for a prospective buyer. In June 2011, Chevron bought the building from Brookfield for $340 million. Brookfield confirmed the purchase on June 24, 2011. If Chevron had not fully occupied the building, Brookfield would have put the building on the market, and Holliday Fowler Fenoglio LP would have had the listing. In early 2013, the building was acquired by Amos Family Interest Ltd, for a reduced cost of $0.51 sq. ft, a total cost of $612,000.

Notes

References

EmporisSkyscraperpage

External links

1400 Smith Street website
{{Houston skyscrapers Skyscraper office buildings in Houston Headquarters in the United States Office buildings completed in 1983 Chevron Corporation Enron

See also

Notes

References

External links