Cullen Center is a skyscraper complex 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 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 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, United States. The complex is now managed by

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 ...

. Previously

Trizec Properties Trizec Properties, Inc., previously known as TrizecHahn Corporation, was a real estate investment trust headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It was originally a Canadian company. The name is derived from the initials of the three groups (Tri) that f ...

owned all four office buildings. The complex includes the headquarters of the

Houston Fire Department City of Houston Fire Department (HFD) is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Houston, Texas, United States, the fourth largest city in the United States. HFD is responsible for preserving life and ...

and KBR, and it formerly included the headquarters of

Continental Airlines Continental Airlines, simply known as Continental, was a major United States airline founded in 1934 and eventually headquartered in Houston, Texas. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continental started o ...

. The buildings include

1600 Smith 1600 Smith Street (previously named Continental Center I and also known as Cullen Center Plaza) is a 51-storey, story, office tower in Downtown Houston, Downtown Houston, Texas, Houston, Texas, United States. It served as the headquarters of Cont ...

(formerly Continental Center I), 600 Jefferson (formerly Continental Center II),

KBR Tower KBR Tower (formerly the M. W. Kellogg Tower) is a 550 ft (167.6 m) tall skyscraper in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States; it is a part of the Cullen Center complex. The KBR Tower has the headquarters of KBR, Inc., an engineering, procur ...

, and 500 Jefferson Street.

History

In 1959, the family of

Hugh Roy Cullen Hugh Roy Cullen (July 3, 1881 – July 4, 1957) was an American industrialist and philanthropist. Cullen was heavily involved in the petroleum industry having struck oil near Texas in 1928. He was a large supporter of multiple educational institu ...

, an oil businessperson and philanthropist who was recently deceased, announced that they would build a skyscraper complex in Downtown Houston. To the surprise of everyone the family planned for the , 5½ city block site to accommodate several sites. The first two buildings were to be a 500-room, 15–18 story hotel and a 25-story office building. Next, a 40–45 story office building was to be completed. Other buildings were planned to be added at later times. Gerald E. Veitmann, president of the Cullen Center, said that it was going to be "a memorium to Mr. and Mrs. Cullen, an investment in excess of 100 million dollars," and "to Houston what

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco ...

is to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

." Work for clearing the land was scheduled to begin in December 1959. During the year, the family's plans also included another 25 story office building and a parking garage. Construction of the Cullen Center, which was planned to have around one dozen buildings, was scheduled to begin on October 1, 1960, with the first building being a 21-story office building with an attached parking garage.

Welton Becket and Associates Welton David Becket (August 8, 1902 – January 16, 1969) was an American modern architect who designed many buildings in Los Angeles, California. Biography Becket was born in Seattle, Washington and graduated from the University of Washingt ...

master planned the first two buildings, the 21 story, $12 million 500 Jefferson and the 12-story, $6 million Hotel America. Gerald E. Veltmann, the president of Cullen Center, Inc. said that the development "represents a marked departure from the traditional downtown scene and colors" because the development "centers around a planning concept with four separate levels structures: sub surface, used for parking and mechanical equipment; surface, used for vehicular traffic, parking, entrance lobbies, and service entrances, a second level, used for pedestrian-oriented facilities such as main lobbies, shops, displays, galleries, lounges, and restaurants; and the top space, into which will rise the main towers containing hotel rooms and offices."Traditions Shattered by Houston's Cullen Center
" ''

The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper ...

''. July 5, 1963. Real Estate Start Page 10. In other words, the building design separated the pedestrian and vehicular traffic from one another. The first levels were to have open plazas. The developer planned to establish air-conditioned bridges connecting the buildings at their second levels. The architect, Welton Becket of FAIA, said that the two original buildings were "esthetically related through the use of a common material—concrete—in a variety of forms—physically related by the second-level pedestrian bridges, and visually related around open plaza parking areas and a common exposed aggregate sidewalk roads." CullenCenterCOCentII500Jefferson

500 Jefferson opened in 1962.500 Jefferson Street
." Brookfield Properties. Retrieved on June 7, 2009. Continental Center II opened in 1974.Continental Center II
." Brookfield Properties. Retrieved on June 7, 2009. The KBR Tower was built in 1973 and renovated in 1991.

Continental Center I 1600 Smith Street (previously named Continental Center I and also known as Cullen Center Plaza) is a 51-story, office tower in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States. It served as the headquarters of Continental Airlines prior to its merger with ...

was completed in 1984. By 1987, the Canadian company

Trizec Corporation Trizec Properties, Inc., previously known as TrizecHahn Corporation, was a real estate investment trust headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It was originally a Canadian company. The name is derived from the initials of the three groups (Tri) that f ...

bought debentures carrying an option to buy portions of the Cullen Center, including 1600 Smith Street. By 1991, the M. W. Kellogg Company, which has already taken space at the M. W. Kellogg Tower formerly held by its parent company, leased an additional of space on 12 floors within one building in Cullen Center. By 1997, Trizec had convinced several Cullen Center tenants to move to the nearby

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 ...

, which was also owned by Trizec. During that year

announced that it was moving its headquarters to the Cullen Center. Paul Layne, a vice president of the TrizecHahn Office division, said that the Continental move would raise the Cullen Center's occupancy rate from 81 percent in November 1996 to 94 percent.Zehr, Leonard. "TrizecHahn nabs U.S. leasing deal Continental Airlines enticed to move head office to downtown Houston from suburbs." ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

''. September 11, 1997. Report on Business B7. Retrieved from

LexisNexis LexisNexis is a part of the RELX corporation that sells data analytics products and various databases that are accessed through online portals, including portals for computer-assisted legal research (CALR), newspaper search, and consumer informa ...

on April 1, 2010. Tim Reylea, the vice president of Cushman Realty Corp., said that the Continental move "is probably the largest corporate relocation in the central business district of Houston ever."

Bob Lanier Robert Jerry Lanier Jr. (September 10, 1948 – May 10, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who was a center for the Detroit Pistons and the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Lanier was inducted int ...

Mayor of Houston The following is a list of people who have served as mayor of the city of Houston in the U.S. state of Texas. Until 2015, the term of the mayor was two years. Beginning with the tenure of Bob Lanier, the city charter imposed term limits on offi ...

, said that he was "tickled to death" by the airline's move to relocate to Downtown Houston.Boisseau, Charles.
Airline confirms relocation/Continental moving offices downtown
" ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...

''. Wednesday September 3, 1997. Business 1. Retrieved on August 23, 2009. In 2001, when

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. ...

collapsed, it vacated of space in the

and Cullen Center complexes in Downtown Houston.Bivins, Ralph.
SURVIVAL OF THE NEWEST / OCCUPANCY DOWNTOWN TUMBLING, BUT THREE TOWERS DEFY TREND
" ''

''. Sunday July 27, 2003. Business 1. Retrieved on November 11, 2009. In 2008, Continental signed five-year lease renewals for its Downtown Houston office space. In 2010, Continental Airlines and

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

announced that they would merge and that the headquarters of the combined company would be in the

Chicago Loop The Loop, one of Chicago's 77 designated community areas, is the central business district of the city and is the main section of Downtown Chicago. Home to Chicago's commercial core, it is the second largest commercial business district in Nort ...

. Continental has not stated how much of the of space that it leases in Continental Center I and the of space that it leases in Continental Center II will be vacated.

500 Jefferson

500 Jefferson, with its construction scheduled to begin on October 1, 1960, was the first building in Cullen Center to be developed. 500 Jefferson, which opened in 1962, has offices of KBR.Eriksen, Helen.
Will KBR ditch its Houston headquarters for Katy suburbia?
" ''

''. April 30, 2008. Retrieved on January 13, 2009. In addition, at one time Suite 1600 had the

Records Department. In 2004, the law firm Lapin & Landa LLP signed a lease agreement to occupy of space. In 2010, KBR signed a 20-year lease for at 500 Jefferson and the

. In 2011 Brookfield Properties Corp. offered 500 Jefferson for sale. Paul Layne, Brookfield's Houston area executive vice president, said that the KBR lease made the building a major candidate for sale. In 2013, an affiliate of W.P. Carey purchased 500 Jefferson.Feser, Katherine.
Deal of the Week: Building could get a new address
" ''

''. November 21, 2014. Retrieved on February 25, 2015.

1801 Smith

1801 Smith, previously Continental Center II, then 600 Jefferson, has 20 stories and . Neuhaus & Taylor was the design architect, Linbeck Construction Company was the general contractor, Chault & Brady was the mechanical engineer, and Elisor Engineering, Inc. was the structural engineer. The building was completed in 1972 and was renovated in 1998. As of November 2014,

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

is the primary tenant. The

has its administrative offices in the building. The administrative offices, the planning and homeland security division, and the HPD emergency operations division are located on the seventh floor.Contact HFD
"

. Retrieved on November 20, 2011. The training room is also on the seventh floor. The HFD chaplain, the fire codes division, the fire marshall/fire prevention division, the high rise certification division, the high rise inspections division, the public affairs division, and the firefighter recruiting division are located in Suite 600. The public education, public information office, special events, and staff services divisions are in Suite 700. The ambulance records, EMS records, fire records, and the medical director are in Suite 800.

moved its employees into the Cullen Center, including Continental Center I and Continental Center II, in stages beginning in July 1998 and ending in January 1999. After the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

and by September 2004, Continental laid off 24% of its clerical and management workers. Despite the reduction of the workforce, Continental did not announce any plans to sublease any of its space in Continental Center I and Continental Center II. As of 2008 the airline leases at Continental Center II. As of that year it has not yet renewed its lease. In 2009, at Continental Center II,

began offering office suites from to to small businesses and laid off individuals seeking to start their own businesses. In November 2014, Brookfield sold the building to DRA Advisors and Stream Realty Partners. In addition to millions of dollars of renovations and upgrades, the property address was permanently changed in March 2017, to 1801 Smith Street, Houston, TX 77002.

Hotel

The Whitehall Hotel Houston Downtown,Crowne Plaza Hotel
"

Crowne Plaza Hotels Crowne is an English surname. Notable people with the surname include: *John Crowne (1641–1712), British dramatist, son of William *William Crowne (1617–1682), English officer of arms, politician, and colonel See also *Crowne Plaza Crowne ...

. Retrieved on July 4, 2010. is located in the Cullen Center. The hotel, initially planned as a 250-room, 10 story hotel, was built on a block bounded by Jefferson, Pease, and Smith, with the Brazos Street to the west. The Hotel Corporation of America began operating the hotel as Hotel America. The hotel was scheduled to be ready for occupancy in 1962. By 1961 the hotel, with a groundbreaking scheduled for August 31, 1961, was scheduled to have 327 rooms. The hotel has for event groups.

Retail

Continental Center I * Ground Floor ** Subway (Suite 125)Continental Center I In The Building
." Brookfield Properties. Retrieved on June 7, 2009. **

Ticket Office (Suite 195) * Concourse Level ** Cafe Le Monde ** Paradise Gifts KBR Tower * A Level Cafeteria ** Kim Son ** Subway * Concourse Level **

Frost Bank Frost Bank is a Texas-chartered bank based in San Antonio with 155 branches and 1,700 automated teller machines, all of which are in Texas. It is the primary subsidiary of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc., a bank holding company. It is on the list of ...

(with Motor Bank) 500 Jefferson Street * Concourse Level ** Continental Airlines Federal Credit Union

Gallery

File:CullenCenterKBRTowerGarage.JPG, Cullen Center KBR Tower Garage File:600JeffersonGarage.JPG, 1801 Smith Garage

References

External links

Cullen Center
at ''

Emporis Emporis GmbH was a real estate data mining company that was headquartered in Hamburg, Germany. The company collected data and photographs of buildings worldwide, which were published in an online database from 2000 to September 2022. On 12 Sept ...

'' *
The Whitehall Hotel – Cullen Center
at ''

'' {{coord, 29.753, -95.373, type:landmark_region:US-TX, display=title Skyscraper office buildings in Houston Continental Airlines Brookfield Properties buildings Downtown Houston