Allen Center

For the community in Ohio, see Allen Center, Ohio.
Complex

The Allen Center is a skyscraper complex in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States. It consists of five buildings, One Allen Center (500 Dallas Street),[1] the Devon Energy Tower or Two Allen Center (1200 Smith Street),[2] Three Allen Center (333 Clay Street),[3] Allen Center Clay Street (Clay Street),[4] and Five Allen Center (Houston).[5] The complex has about 3,000,000 square feet (280,000 m2) of space.[6]

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.[7][8]

TrizecHahn Properties acquired the Allen Center in 1996.[9] 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.[10]

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.[6]

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.[11]

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.[12]

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°W / 29.7575; -95.3704
Completed 1972 (1972)
Owner Brookfield Properties
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
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..[13]

Macquarie Bank houses its Houston representative office in Suite 3100 of the building.[14]

Devon Energy Tower

The Devon Energy Tower was known as Two Allen Center and previously the Citicorp Building.

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 / 29.75738; -95.37183
Completed 1983 (1983)
Management Brookfield Properties
Height
Roof 685 ft (209 m)
Technical details
Floor count 50
Design and construction
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.

Four Allen Center

Main article: 1400 Smith Street

1400 Smith Street was known as Four Allen Center.[17]

The building was the former headquarters of Enron, one of America's largest commodities trading companies during the 1990s and later infamous for its financial scandal in 2001. Enron occupied the building after relocating to Dallas in 1985.[18] Before Enron's collapse, the energy giant constructed a second, similar building across the street, connected to 1400 Smith Street by a circular skywalk.[18]

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.[19]

Beginning in 2006 Chevron leased the entirety of the building. In June 2011 Chevron bought the building from Brookfield for $340 million.[20]

Tenants

One Allen Center

Two Allen Center

Three Allen Center

At one point the Consulate-General of Switzerland in Houston resided in Suite 1040 of Two Allen Center;[27] the mission closed in 2006.[28]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "One Allen Center". Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  2. ↑ "Two Allen Center". Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  3. ↑ "Three Allen Center". Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  4. ↑ "Allen Center Clay Street". Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  5. ↑ "Five Allen Center". Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  6. 1 2 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.
  7. ↑ "Study Area 11 Archived May 30, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.." City of Houston. Accessed October 21, 2008.
  8. ↑ "Best Event That No One Thought Would Ever Happen." Houston Press. Accessed October 23, 2008
  9. ↑ 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.
  10. ↑ Rutledge, Tanya. "Canadian company buying Allen Center." Houston Business Journal. Friday October 4, 1996. Retrieved on March 6, 2010.
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. ↑ Sarnoff, Nancy. "Tenant has a ticket to fly." Houston Chronicle. May 8, 2010. Retrieved on July 12, 2010.
  13. ↑ 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.
  14. 1 2 "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"
  15. ↑ Yahoo! Finance: Oil States International
  16. ↑ Company Overview: Oil States International, The Wall Street Journal
  17. ↑ "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)."
  18. 1 2 "1400 Smith, Houston, TX - Skyscrapers on Waymarking.com". Retrieved 2008-04-06.
  19. ↑ "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.
  20. ↑ Dawson, Jennifer. "Chevron finalizes downtown Houston office tower purchase." Houston Business Journal. June 24, 2011. Retrieved on August 3, 2011.
  21. ↑ Hall, Nicholas L. "Mexican Breakfast at Don Patron Bar and Grill." Houston Press. Wednedsday February 2, 2011. Retrieved on February 29, 2016.
  22. 1 2 Cook, Phaedra. "Tex-Mex Stalwart In Allen Center Is Closing On Friday." Houston Press. Monday February 29, 2016. Retrieved on February 29, 2016.
  23. ↑ "About CWA." Coastal Water Authority. Retrieved on April 25, 2009.
  24. ↑ "Houston." Qatar Airways'. Retrieved on February 9, 2009.
  25. ↑ "Welcome to Plains All American Pipeline!" Plains All American Pipeline. Retrieved on December 8, 2009.
  26. ↑ Staff. "EOG Resources to relocate, expand downtown office." Houston Business Journal. Tuesday March 14, 2006. Retrieved on December 8, 2009.
  27. ↑ "Visa Desk." Consulate-General of Switzerland in Houston. September 5, 2004. Retrieved on February 9, 2009.
  28. ↑ 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.

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