- Allen Center
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For the community in Ohio, see Allen Center, Ohio.
The Allen Center complex
The Allen Center is a skyscraper complex in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States. It consists of three buildings, One Allen Center (500 Dallas Street),[1] Two Allen Center (1200 Smith Street),[2] and Three Allen Center (333 Clay Street).[3] The complex has about 3,000,000 square feet (280,000 m2) of space.[4]
Contents
History
The area that became the Allen Center was originally considered to be an eastern portion of the Fourth Ward. The opening of Interstate 45 in the 1950s separated the eastern portion from the rest of the Fourth Ward; that portion became the Allen Center and is now considered to be a part of Downtown Houston.[5][6]
In 1996 TrizecHahn Properties acquired the Allen Center.[7] Trizec defeated 16 other real estate companies so it could purchase the center for an amount reported by Tanya Rutledge of the Houston Business Journal as $270 million.[8]
When Trizec acquired the Allen Center in November 1996, the complex had a 76 percent occupancy rate. By 1997, Trizec had convinced several tenants of the Cullen Center, also owned by Trizec, to relocate to the Allen Center. Paul Layne, a vice president of the office division of Trizec, said that the shifting of tenants would lead to Allen Center having an occupancy rate of 92 percent in 1998.[4]
In 2001, when Enron collapsed, it vacated 800,000 square feet (74,000 m2) of space in the Allen Center and Cullen Center complexes in Downtown Houston.[9]
In 2010 Devon Energy was trying to sublease about 125,000 square feet (11,600 m2) of space that it occupies in the Allen Center complex. Hess Corporation will vacate around 500,000 square feet (46,000 m2) of space in the complex when a new office tower in the east side of Downtown Houston opens.[10]
One Allen Center
One Allen Center 
General information Type Office Location 500 Dallas Street, Houston, Texas Coordinates 29°45′27″N 95°22′13″W / 29.7575°N 95.3704°WCoordinates: 29°45′27″N 95°22′13″W / 29.7575°N 95.3704°W Completed 1972 Height Roof 452 ft (138 m) Technical details Floor count 34 Floor area 27,000 square feet (2,500 m2) per floor; approximately 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m2) total. Design and construction Owner Brookfield Properties Architect Wilson Morris Crain and Anderson Structural engineer Ellisor Engineers Inc. One Allen Center is a 452 ft (138m) tall skyscraper. It was completed in 1972 and has 34 floors. It is the 31st tallest building in the city. One Allen Center employs a composite stub-girder steel frame floor system, originally developed in part by Joseph Colaco then of Ellisor Engineers Inc., currently of CBM Engineers, Inc..[11]
Macquarie Bank houses its Houston representative office in Suite 3100 of the building.[12]
Two Allen Center
Two Allen Center was known as the Citicorp Building in 1989. During that year Exxon had office space there.[13]
Greater Houston Partnership has its offices in Suite 700, on the seventh floor.[14]
Three Allen Center
Three Allen Center General information Type Office Location 333 Clay Street, Houston, Texas Coordinates 29°45′27″N 95°22′19″W / 29.75738°N 95.37183°W Completed 1983 Height Roof 685 ft (209 m) Technical details Floor count 50 Design and construction Management Brookfield Properties Architect Lloyd Jones Brewer & Associates Three Allen Center is a 685-foot (209 m) tall skyscraper completed in 1983 with 50 floors. It is the 12th-tallest building in the city.
Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc. has an office in Suite 4200.[12]
Four Allen Center
Main article: 1400 Smith Street1400 Smith Street was known as Four Allen Center.[15]
In 2006 Brookfield Properties acquired the 1,200,000-square-foot (110,000 m2) Four Allen Center for $120 million. At the same time Brookfield announced that Chevron USA signed a lease for the entire building. Brookfield held 4 Allen Center in a joint partnership with the private equity group The Blackstone Group. As of 2006 the joint venture has 7,400,000 square feet (690,000 m2) of office space in Downtown Houston, making it the largest office owner in the central business district.[16]
Beginning in 2006 Chevron leased the entirety of the building. In June 2011 Chevron bought the building from Brookfield for $340 million.[17]
Tenants
One Allen Center
- Coastal Water Authority - Suite 2800[18]
- Hess Corporation - Exploration and Production[19]
Two Allen Center
- Qatar Airways, Suite 1600[20]
Three Allen Center
- The headquarters of Plains All American Pipeline, Suite 1600[21]
- EOG Resources had space in Allen Center; in 2006 it announced that it was moving to the Heritage Plaza. It planned to move 400 employees there by early 2007. When it occupied portions of Three Allen Center, EOG had 165,000 square feet (15,300 m2) of space occupied scattered throughout Three Allen Center.[22]
At one point the Consulate-General of Switzerland in Houston resided in Suite 1040 of Two Allen Center;[23] the mission closed in 2006.[24]
See also
References
- ^ "One Allen Center." Brookfield Properties. Retrieved on February 9, 2009.
- ^ "Two Allen Center." Brookfield Properties. Retrieved on February 9, 2009.
- ^ "Three Allen Center." Brookfield Properties. Retrieved on February 9, 2009.
- ^ a b Zehr, Leonard. "TrizecHahn nabs U.S. leasing deal Continental Airlines enticed to move head office to downtown Houston from suburbs." The Globe and Mail. September 11, 1997. Report on Business B7. Retrieved from LexisNexis on April 1, 2010.
- ^ "Study Area 11." City of Houston. Accessed October 21, 2008.
- ^ "Best Event That No One Thought Would Ever Happen." Houston Press. Accessed October 23, 2008
- ^ Carlsen, Peter S. and Dale E. Smith. "Houston's CBD resurgence is theme of Legacy Awards." Houston Business Journal. Friday February 21, 1997. Retrieved on December 1, 2009.
- ^ Rutledge, Tanya. "Canadian company buying Allen Center." Houston Business Journal. Friday October 4, 1996. Retrieved on March 6, 2010.
- ^ Bivins, Ralph. "SURVIVAL OF THE NEWEST / OCCUPANCY DOWNTOWN TUMBLING, BUT THREE TOWERS DEFY TREND." Houston Chronicle. Sunday July 27, 2003. Business 1. Retrieved on November 11, 2009.
- ^ Sarnoff, Nancy. "Tenant has a ticket to fly." Houston Chronicle. May 8, 2010. Retrieved on July 12, 2010.
- ^ Colaco, Joseph P. "A Stub-Girder System for High-Rise Buildings." Technical paper presented at the AISC National Engineering Conference, New York. May 1972. Retrieved on January 20, 2009.
- ^ a b "Contact directory United States." Macquarie Bank. Retrieved on February 24, 2011. "One Allen Center 500 Dallas, Suite 3100 Houston, TX 77002" and "Suite 4550, 333 Clay Street Houston, TX 77002"
- ^ Bivins, Ralph. "Exxon mulls move to Greenspoint site." Houston Chronicle. Wednesday December 13, 1989. Business 3. Retrieved on August 3, 2009.
- ^ "Contact Us." Greater Houston Partnership. Retrieved on September 13, 2011. "Location / Mail: 1200 Smith, Suite 700, Houston, TX 77002-4400 We're located on the 7th floor within Two Allen Center"
- ^ "About Brookfield & 1400 Smith Street." Brookfield Properties. Retrieved on August 3, 2011. "Allen Center is a 4,400,000-square-foot (410,000 m2) Class “A” office complex in downtown Houston consisting of One Allen Center, Two Allen Center, Three Allen Center and 1400 Smith Street (Four Allen Center)."
- ^ "Brookfield Properties Acquires Four Allen Center in Downtown Houston and Leases Entire Building to Chevron." Business Wire. October 5, 2006. Retrieved on October 1, 2010.
- ^ Dawson, Jennifer. "Chevron finalizes downtown Houston office tower purchase." Houston Business Journal. June 24, 2011. Retrieved on August 3, 2011.
- ^ "About CWA." Coastal Water Authority. Retrieved on April 25, 2009.
- ^ "Contact Hess." Hess Corporation. Retrieved on February 9, 2009.
- ^ "Houston." Qatar Airways'. Retrieved on February 9, 2009.
- ^ "Welcome to Plains All American Pipeline!" Plains All American Pipeline. Retrieved on December 8, 2009.
- ^ Staff. "EOG Resources to relocate, expand downtown office." Houston Business Journal. Tuesday March 14, 2006. Retrieved on December 8, 2009.
- ^ "Visa Desk." Consulate-General of Switzerland in Houston. September 5, 2004. Retrieved on February 9, 2009.
- ^ Hodge, Shelby. "MIXERS , ELIXIRS AND IMAX SUMMER SOCIALS / Party animals drink with the dinosaurs." Houston Chronicle. Star 3. June 22, 2006. Retrieved on January 10, 2009.
External links
- One Allen Center - Emporis
- One Allen Center - Skyscraperpage
- Three Allen Center - Emporis
- 1400 Smith Street - Skyscraperpage
Categories:- Skyscrapers in Houston, Texas
- Office buildings in Houston, Texas
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