Houston Center is a retail and office complex in

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English 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 district ( ...

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

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. It is owned by Australian Super, and managed by Stream Realty Partners. The three towers in Houston Center have almost of Class A office space.Dawson, Jennifer.
Crescent trophies on sales block
" '' Houston Business Journal''. Friday May 21, 2004. Retrieved on May 10, 2009. The buildings in Houston Center include: * LyondellBasell Tower (formerly 1 Houston Center) * 2 Houston Center * Fulbright Tower (formerly 3 Houston Center) * 4 Houston Center * 5 Houston Center (individually owned) * The Highlight at Houston Center (formerly The Shops in Houston Center and previously The Park Shops) ** The Shops, built in 1982, is an enclosed

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

. * Four Seasons Hotel Houston

History

Texas Eastern Corporation bought 32 blocks of land 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 ...

for $50 million. Texas Eastern razed the existing buildings and proposed building Houston Center, a large office space development. Texas Eastern planned to build elevated walkways, people movers, and underground garages. Houston Center was one of the largest private development projects ever, however only a small portion of the plan was realized, leaving a large swath of downtown Houston covered in parking lots and vacant land.Broidy, Dan. ''The Halliburton Agenda: The Politics of Oil and Money''.

John Wiley and Sons John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American multinational publishing company that focuses on academic publishing and instructional materials. The company was founded in 1807 and produces books, journals, and encyclop ...

, 2004
113
Retrieved from

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on November 11, 2009. , . Panhandle Eastern Corporation acquired Houston Center when Texas Eastern was sold to Panhandle for $2.5 billion in stock in June 1989.Boisseau, Charles.
Houston Center sale closes
" ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, 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''. ...

''. Saturday December 30, 1989. Business 1. Retrieved on August 2, 2009. Later that year Panhandle sold Houston Center to JMB Realty for $400 million; Panhandle planned to use the money from the sale to reduce its debt, which it accumulated from the merger. Panhandle planned to move out of the of office space that it occupied in Houston Center and move its operations and 1,300 employees at Houston Center to its corporate headquarters near the Uptown District. Panhandle planned to move in increments over a three-year period after 1989, with one third of its Houston Center workforce moving each year. In 1989 Houston Center consisted of three office buildings and one hotel. Its occupancy rate in December 1989 was about 90%. Crescent purchased Houston Center in 1997 for $328 million.Bivins, Ralph.
Downtown to get 27-story tower / Opening planned for 2002
" ''

''. Thursday August 10, 2000. Business 1. Retrieved on November 12, 2009. In 2000 Crescent sold the Four Seasons Hotel Houston, a hotel that is a part of Houston Center, to Maritz, Wolff & Co., a hotel investment group, for $105 million. In October 2002 Houston Center was 95% leased.Crescent's 5 Houston Center Opens Its Doors Nearly 90% Leased.
''

Business Wire Business Wire is an American company that disseminates full-text press releases from thousands of companies and organizations worldwide to news media, financial markets, disclosure systems, investors, information web sites, databases, bloggers, ...

''. Tuesday October 8, 2002. Retrieved on November 11, 2009. In 2004 Crescent attempted to sell a 50% equity position in both Greenway Plaza and Houston Center. During that year the Class A office space in the entire complex was 94% leased. In addition, in 2004 many of the 32 blocks that were originally scheduled to be a part of the Houston Center development remained undeveloped. In 2009 Castle Brands (USA) Corp., R.F. Borghese, LLC, Bennett G. Fisher, and Third Planet Windpower, LLC renewed their leases in their sections of Houston Center. Together they held of space.Crescent Announces Lease Expansion and Extensions at Houston Center
." ''

''. Friday June 26, 2009. Retrieved on November 11, 2009. In September 2017 Houston Center's offices were 75% leased and its retail area was 70% leased. In December of that year Brookfield Property Partners finalized plans to buy the center.

LyondellBasell Tower

Opened in 1978, this building, originally called 1 Houston Center, has 46 floors with Class A office spaceLyondellBassell Tower
" ''skyscraperpage.com''. SkyscraperPage. Retrieved on September 22, 2020. and is located at 1200 block of McKinney Street. The building is 678 feet (207 m) tall. It was designed by Caudill Rowlett Scott and built by W.S. Bellows Construction."." ''emporis.com''.

Emporis Emporis was a real estate data mining company with headquarters in Hamburg, Germany. The company collected data and photographs of buildings worldwide, which were published in an online database from 2000 to September 2022. Emporis was acquired ...

. Retrieved on September 22, 2020.

LyondellBasell LyondellBasell Industries N.V is an American multinational chemical company, incorporated in the Netherlands with U.S. operations headquartered in Houston, Texas and offices in London, UK. The company is the largest licensor of polyethylene an ...

maintained its Houston offices at 1 Houston Center until March 2025, when the company relocated its corporate headquarters to Williams Tower, situated in the Uptown District of Houston. When Lyondell was an independent company, its headquarters were in 1 Houston Center. As of January 2012, the Lyondell/LyondellBasell operation has been at 1 Houston Center for 25 years.Sarnoff, Nancy.
Downtown tower renamed
" ''

''. January 26, 2012. Up In 1999

Merrill Lynch Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, doing business as Merrill, and previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investm ...

Capital Markets expanded its lease to . In 2000

Ernst & Young EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...

occupied of space on five floors in 1 Houston Center. When 5 Houston Center opened in 2003, Ernst & Young pulled its operations from 1 Houston Center and moved them into 5 Houston Center, leaving of space in 1 Houston Center vacant. Two of the five floors that Ernst & Young left behind were leased to other firms by July 2003.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. Cozen O'Connor opened an office in 1 Houston Center in 2004. On November 22, 2005, Alain Robert, a French rock and urban climber nicknamed "''

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...

''", was arrested attempting to climb the building. In 2008 the law firm Fish & Richardson opened an office in 1 Houston Center on October 1, 2008. As of 2010 Haynes and Boone has an office in 1 Houston Center. As of January 2012, the tower was given its current name, the LyondellBasell Tower. Around that time, LyondellBasell renewed its lease for of space in 1 Houston Center.

2 Houston Center

Opened in 1974, this building has 40 floors with Class A office space. It is the 19th tallest building in the city. It was planned to be the center of a master-planned "city within a city" that would have included a tram system that would have tied in with Interstate 69/ U.S. Highway 59 and run into the tower itself, and a four-story 40,000 car parking garage. It currently has six levels of parking for 495 cars. Several levels of this building extend across Fannin Street and connect to 1 Houston Center. They include a x bracing where the tramway would have been and a patio. It sits on top of Houston's six-mile (10 km) tunnel system. In 1999 former Mayor of Houston Bob Lanier moved the office of his real estate company to 2 Houston Center. Landar Corporation, Lanier's company, leased in 2 Houston Center. In July 2007, a fire was set in the northeast corner of the 16th floor of the building.Fire breaks out at downtown Houston high rise
." ''

KTRK-TV KTRK-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Houston, Texas, United States. It is owned and operated by the ABC network via its ABC Owned Television Stations division, and maintains studio facilities on Bissonnet Street in Houston's Upper ...

''. August 1, 2007. Accessed August 3, 2008. In 2008 Crescent and the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund worked together for 10 weeks to cost-effectively upgrade 2 Houston Center. As a result, Crescent will install new lighting, mechanical, and office equipment systems that will reduce the building's total electricity usage by 11%. The new systems may save Crescent and the tenants of 2 Houston Center $400,000 combined each year, and

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...

emissions would be reduced by over 1,300 tons per year. Crescent plans to reduce 2 Houston Center's electricity usage by 20% over a 10-year period beginning in 2008. The company anticipates that the reduction will save the company $700,000 per year. In 2009 McJunkin Red Man Corporation expanded its lease in 2 Houston Center to of space. The

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

operates a center in 2 Houston Center. In July 2011 the USPS announced that the post office may close. The Houston Downtown Management District is headquartered in Suite 1650. The Consulate-General of Japan in Houston is located in Suite 3000. The lobby of 2 Houston Center was used as a filming location for The Swarm back in 1978.

4 Houston Center

4 Houston Center is a office building. In 2001 the building was 97% leased. The lower levels of 4 Houston Center have the Shops at Houston Center.Bivins, Ralph.
German firm leases space for U.S. office / RWE Trading headquarters considered a coup for city
" ''

''. Thursday October 25, 2001. Business 1. Retrieved on November 11, 2009. In 2001 RWE Trading Americas leased of space in 4 Houston Center for its United States headquarters. The firm had the option to lease an additional of space in the following 18 months. Candace Baggett, the president of the real estate firm Calibre Group, said that the building is attractive to firms which need space for energy trading firms since the building has broad floors, each with over of space. Energy trading companies typically have wide-open trading floors. Many office buildings have half of the amount of space per floor that 5 Houston Center has. Marian Livingston of Calibre said that in 2001 it was difficult for an energy firm to find a large block of vacant space in

because of the tight market. Calibre represented RWE in the lease.

5 Houston Center

5 Houston Center, a 27-story tower, has Class A Office space. Each floor of the tower has of space. When the building opened, every floor had broadband internet capability. The tower was worth $117 million in 2002. At one time

Halliburton Halliburton Company is an American multinational corporation and the world's second-largest oil service company which is responsible for most of the world's fracking operations. It employs approximately 55,000 people through its hundreds of su ...

had its world headquarters in 5 Houston Center. In 2000

signed a 10-year lease for about of space in the building. Crescent waited for another lease agreement before finalizing plans to build the tower. Construction began in November 2000. The tower, opened ahead of schedule in September 2002, was the first multi-tenant development in

completed since 1986. When it opened it was 88% leased. The building opened with an eight level parking garage inside. The garage, with a ratio of 2.2 cars per , had the highest car to square foot ratio of any garage in Downtown Houston in 2002. In 2003 5 Houston Center was 92 percent leased. When the tower opened, Ernst & Young U.S. LLP became the largest tenant in the building. Ernst & Young moved its employees and operations to 5 Houston Center from 1 Houston Center.

, which signed its lease to occupy a portion of 5 Houston Center in 2002, moved its headquarters there by July 2003. Halliburton occupied of space on the 24th Floor in 5 Houston Center.HALLIBURTON TO CONSOLIDATE HOUSTON OPERATIONS
." Halliburton. April 3, 2009. Retrieved on January 22, 2010.Bivins, Ralph.
Halliburton headquarters moving here / 5 Houston Center lease brings firm from Dallas
" ''

''. Tuesday July 16, 2002. Business 1. Retrieved on January 23, 2010. The occupancy rate at 5 Houston Center became 80% after Halliburton signed the lease agreement. In addition Jackson Walker, a law firm, moved into 5 Houston Center by 2003. Halliburton planned to move its headquarters to another site in Houston by 2012.Clanton, Brett.
Halliburton to consolidate in 2 locations
" ''

''. April 3, 2009. Retrieved on April 3, 2009. By 2009 the Halliburton headquarters had moved.

Fulbright Tower

The Fulbright Tower is a 52-story skyscraper originally known as 3 Houston Center.Office Tower Rising in Downtown Houston
" ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

''. September 21, 1980. Section Part VII, G42. Retrieved on November 11, 2009. The tower has of Class A office space.Crescent Announces First Quarter 2005 Results.
''

''. May 5, 2005. Retrieved on November 11, 2009. The building at one point was owned by ChevronTexaco. As of 2005 Crescent owns the tower in a joint venture with the affiliates of GE Asset Management and JPMorgan Asset Management.Sarnoff, Nancy.
Building becomes Fulbright Tower / Law firm takes name of former Chevron space
" ''

''. Wednesday March 30, 2005. Business 3. Retrieved on November 11, 2009. Construction on the tower was scheduled to begin in November 1980. The building was built in 1982 by W.S. Bellows Construction Corporation.Crescent Acquires Downtown Houston Office Property; Chevron Tower Acquisition Brings All of Houston Center Assets into Crescent's Portfolio.
''

''. December 22, 2004. Retrieved on November 11, 2009. The tower property was developed in 1985. Fulbright & Jaworski became a tenant during that year. Chevron became the building's main tenant, and its name became the Chevron Tower. Fulbright & Jaworski renegotiated and extended its lease in 2003 and retained the possibility of naming rights; as of 2005 the firm occupies of space. On February 24, 2005, Crescent completed the joint venture agreement involving the Fulbright Tower; a pension fund investor advised by JPMorgan Asset Management bought a 60% ownership interest in the building and an affiliate of GE Asset Management bought a 16.15% ownership interest. In 2004 ChevronTexaco sold the building to Crescent. During that year the tower was 49% occupied. By March 2005 ChevronTexaco planned to move its operations out of the tower after buying 1500 Louisiana Street in Downtown Houston. Fulbright & Jaworski used their naming rights, and in 2005 the building gained the name ''Fulbright Tower''. In 2005 the Fulbright Tower was 57% occupied. In 2006

Chevron Corporation Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation predominantly specializing in oil and gas. The second-largest direct descendant of Standard Oil, and originally known as the Standard Oil Company of California (shortened t ...

still occupied three floors at the Fulbright Tower. In 2009 Conway MacKenzie leased at the Fulbright Tower.

Proposed additions

Crescent proposed the building of 6 Houston Center in the 2000s. As of 2009 the plans did not materialize.

The Shops at Houston Center

As of 2010 4 Houston Center's Shops at Houston Center has over 35 specialty retailers and 30 restaurants; as of the same year 14,000 people per day shop at the Shops at Houston Center.Feser, Katherine.
Kelsey-Seybold to open clinic in Houston Center
" ''

''. April 18, 2010. Retrieved on May 8, 2010. The ''

'' said that the shops are "a haven for the lunch-hour shopping fix." In 2003 a major renovation by Development Design Group of Baltimore was enacted. Retail operations at The Shops at Houston Center include:Retail Directory
." The Shops at Houston Center. Retrieved on May 26, 2009. *1 Houston Center: 1221 McKinney Street **P3 Level: Kelsey-Seybold Clinic (Suite 300) ** ChevronTexaco Credit Union (Suite 469) *2 Houston Center: 909 Fannin Street **

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...

(Suite 2) *4 Houston Center: 1200 McKinney Street ** Jos. A. Bank (Suite 105) **

T-Mobile T-Mobile is the brand of telecommunications by Deutsche Telekom Deutsche Telekom AG (, ; often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a partially state-owned German telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn and the largest telec ...

(Suite 305) ** Subway (Suite 343) **

Chick-fil-A Chick-fil-A, Inc. ( , a Word play, play on the American English pronunciation of "wikt:filet#Pronunciation, filet") is an American fast food restaurant chain and the largest chain specializing in Chicken burger, chicken sandwiches. Headquarter ...

(Suite 363) ** Great American Cookies (Suite 369) **

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...

(Suites 373 and 496) ** Dressbarn (Suite 395) ** Quiznos (Suite 402) ** General Nutrition Centers (Suite 421) **Starship

Hallmark Cards Hallmark Cards, Inc. is a Privately held company, privately held, family-owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce Hall, Hallmark is one of the oldest and largest manufacturers of greeting cards in the United ...

(Suite 429) ** Chase (Suite 433) ** Potbelly Sandwich Works In 2010 Kelsey-Seybold Clinic stated that it would move from its original location at 1 Houston Center to the Shops at Houston Center at 4 Houston Center. Kelsey-Seybold will take of space and will house an imaging center, a clinical laboratory, a pharmacy, and primary care and specialty physicians. The construction of the center was scheduled to begin in July 2010, and completion was scheduled to occur in December 2010. The Kelsey Seybold in 1 Houston Center has . Nicholas Ro, Kelsey-Seybold's vice president of strategic and legal affairs, said that if a customer walked into the lobby of 1 Houston Center, he or she would be unable to see the original clinic. Ro said that the clinic will move to gain a more visible location. The current Kelsey Seybold pharmacy opened on Monday January 17, 2011. Waldenbooks, formerly in Suite 399 in the Shops at Houston Center, was scheduled for closure.

Continental Airlines Continental Airlines (simply known as Continental) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1934 until it merged with United Airlines in 2012. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continen ...

had a ticketing office at the Park Shops until 2004, when it announced that the office would close. At one time American Express Travel had a shop at the Park Shops. In 1995 the complex held the "Park Shops Holiday Trolley Tour" which traveled to several sites in Downtown with no admission cost.Stoeltje, Melissa Fletcher.
MIRACLE ON MAIN STREET/Outdoor rink creates a winter wonderland
" ''

''. Friday November 24, 1995. Section Weekend Preview p. 1. Retrieved on November 22, 2012.

Gallery

File:5HoustonCenterParking.JPG, 5 Houston Center parking File:JapanConsulateHoustonTX.JPG, Consulate-General of Japan in Houston in Suite 3000 in 2 Houston Center