Downtown Houston

Skyline District of Downtown at night

Skyline District of Downtown

Downtown Houston is the largest business district of Houston, Texas, United States.

Downtown Houston contains the headquarters of many prominent companies. There is an extensive network of pedestrian tunnels and skywalks connecting the buildings of the district. The tunnel system is home to many fast food restaurants, shops and services.

Most of the residential units in downtown are conversions of older buildings into modern loft spaces. The lofts are located around the performance halls of the theatre district and near Main Street in the Historic District. Downtown will be adding another 346 apartment units in the next couple of years with the development of Marvey Finger's One Park Place.

Developers have invested more than 4 billion USD in the last decade to transform downtown into an active city center with residential housing, a nightlife scene and new transportation. The Cotswold Project, a $62 million project started in 1998, has helped to rebuild the streets and transform 90 downtown blocks into a pedestrian-friendly environment by adding greenery, trees and public art. The resurgence of downtown is the result of careful urban planning and local foresight. The baseball, basketball, and hockey teams have moved into downtown facilities. January 1, 2004 marked the opening of the "new" Main Street, a plaza with many eateries, bars and nightclubs, which brings many visitors to a newly renovated locale. To complete the scene, Main Street Square offers dancing fountains throughout the day. Along the Main Street corridor is the original Foley's department store which was transformed into Macy's in 2007.

History

Downtown Houston was the original founding point of the city of Houston. After the Texas Revolution, two New York real estate promoters, John Kirby Allen and Augustus Chapman Allen purchased 6,642 acres (27 km²) of land T. F. L. Parrot (John Austin's widow) for $9,428. The Allen brothers first landed in the area where the White Oak Bayou and Buffalo Bayou meet, a spot now known as Allen's Landing. Gail Borden, Jr., a city planner, laid out wide streets for the town — an excellent foresight that has prevented gridlock that plague many other urban downtown areas.

The city was granted incorporation by the state legislature on June 5, 1837. Houston was made as the temporary capital of Texas. In 1840, the town was divided into four wards, each with different functions in the community. The wards are no longer political divisions, but their names are still used to refer to certain areas. By 1906 what is now Downtown was divided between the six wards.

Downtown's growth can be attributed to two major factors. The first arose after the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, when investors began seeking a location close to the ports of Southwest Texas, but apparently free of the dangerous hurricanes that frequently struck Galveston and other port cities. Houston became a wise choice, as only the most powerful storms were able to reach the city. The second came a year later with the 1901 discovery of oil at spindletop, just south of Beaumont. Shipping and oil industries began flocking to east Texas, many settling in Houston. In the 1980s, however, economic recession cancelled some projects and caused others to be scaled back, such as the Bank of the Southwest Tower.

Areas which are, as of 2008, considered to be a part of Downtown Houston were once considered to be within the Third Ward and the Fourth Ward communities; the construction of Interstate 45 in the 1950s separated the areas from their former communities and placed them in Downtown. Additional freeway construction in the 1960s and 1970s formed the current boundaries of Downtown. Originally Downtown was the most important retail area of Houston. Suburban retail construction in the 1970s and 1980s reduced Downtown's importance in terms of retail activity.

The arrival of major industry also saw the advent of skyscrapers in Houston. The building boom of the 1970s and 1980s saw the erection of major buildings, many of them ranking as the tallest in the state and the nation.

Architecture

One Shell Plaza

Wells Fargo Bank Plaza

In the 1960s, downtown comprised a modest collection of mid-rise office structures, but has since grown into one of the largest skylines in the United States. In 1960, the central business district had 10 million square feet (930,000 m²) of office space, increasing to about 16 million square feet (1,500,000 m²) in 1970. Downtown Houston was on the threshold of a boom in 1970 with 8.7 million square feet (800,000 m²) of office space planned or under construction and huge projects being launched by real estate developers. The largest proposed development was the 32-block Houston Center. Only a small part of the original proposal was ultimately constructed. Other large projects included the Cullen Center, Allen Center, and towers for Shell Oil Company. The surge of skyscrapers mirrored the skyscraper booms in other cities, such as Los Angeles and Dallas. Houston experienced another downtown construction spurt in the 1970s with the energy industry boom.

JPMorgan Chase Tower

The first major skyscraper to be constructed in Houston was the 50-floor, 218 m (714 ft) One Shell Plaza in 1971. A succession of skyscrapers were built throughout the 1970s, culminating with Houston's tallest skyscraper, the 75-floor, 305 m (1,002 ft) JPMorgan Chase Tower (formerly the Texas Commerce Tower), which was completed in 1982. In 2002, it was the tallest structure in Texas, ninth-tallest building in the United States and the 23rd tallest skyscraper in the world. In 1983, the 71-floor, 296 m (970 ft) Wells Fargo Bank Plaza was completed, which became the second-tallest building in Houston and Texas, and 11th-tallest in the country. Skyscraper construction in downtown Houston came to an end in the mid-1980s with the collapse of Houston's energy industry and the resulting economic recession. When the 53-floor, 232 m Texaco Heritage Plaza was completed in 1987, it appeared that no more skyscrapers would be constructed for a while.

Twelve years later, the Houston-based Enron Corporation began construction of a 40-floor skyscraper in 1999 (which was completed in 2002) with the company collapsing in one of the most dramatic corporate failures in the history of the United States only two years later. Chevron bought this building to set up a regional upstream energy headquarters and in late 2006 announced further consolidation of employees downtown from satellite suburban buildings and even Ca. and La. offices by leasing the original Enron building across the street. Both buildings are connected by a second-floor unique walk-across, air-conditioned circular skybridge with 3 points of connection to both office buildings and a large parking deck. Other smaller office structures were built in the 2000–2003 period. As of September 2007, downtown Houston had over 40 million square feet (3,787,147 m²) of office space, including over 29 million square feet (1,861,704 m²) of class A office space.

Notable buildings

Bank of America Center

Heritage Plaza

Notable buildings that form Houston's downtown skyline:

• The Sweeney, Coombs & Frederick building was built in 1889 and is located on the corner of Main Street and Congress Street at 301 Main Street. Sweeney is a jewelry firm which is still in business. It is one of the very very few Victorian structures in the Bayou City. Some people believe this building wasn't entirely built by George Dickey. They believe parts of the W.A. Van Alstyne Building still live in the current structure, even though it was supposed to be demolished in 1861.
• The Gulf Building, now called the JPMorgan Chase building, is one of the preeminent Art Deco skyscrapers in the southern United States. Completed in 1929, it remained the tallest building in Houston until 1963, when the Exxon Building surpassed it in height.
• The Esperson Buildings, 'Neils' built in 1927 and 'Mellie' in 1942, were modeled with Italian architecture.
• The Houston City Hall was started in 1938 and completed in 1939. The original building is an excellent example of the Art Deco Era. In front of City Hall is the George Hermann Square.
• One Shell Plaza was, at its completion in 1971, the tallest building in Houston. It stands 715 feet (218 m) tall, and when the antenna tower on its top is included, the height of One Shell Plaza is 1,000 feet (300 m).
• Houston Public Library's Central Library, consists of two separate buildings: the Julia Ideson Building (1926) and the Jesse H. Jones Building (1976).
• The Houston Industries Building, formerly known simply as the 1100 Milam Building, was built in 1973. It went through major renovatedions in 1996.
• Pennzoil Place, designed by Philip Johnson,built in 1976, is Houston most award winning skyscraper known for its innovative design. Johnson's forward thinking brought about a new era in skyscraper design.
• The First City Tower was built in 1981.
• The JPMorgan Chase Tower, designed by I.M. Pei built in 1981 and formerly the Texas Commerce Tower, is the tallest in Houston and the second tallest in the United States west of the Mississippi River.
• The Chevron Tower, formerly the Gulf Tower, was built in 1982.
• The Bank of America Center, formerly the RepublicBank Center and the NationsBank center, designed by Philip Johnson was built in 1983.
• The Enron Center North, also the Four Allen Center, was also built in 1983.
• The Wells Fargo Bank Plaza, formerly the Allied Bank Plaza and First Interstate Center, also built in 1983 is the second tallest building in the Houston Area.
• The Heritage Plaza was completed in 1987.
• The Enron Center South, also the Enron II, designed by Cesar Pelli was completed in 2002. (Note: Enron went bankrupt before the building's completion and was sold soon after it was completed for about half of its $200 million construction cost).
• The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts was started in 2000 and completed in 2002.
• The Lyric Centre is filled with lawyers, but is named for its adjacency to the many performing arts venues in Houston's Theater District.

Economy

Downtown Houston is the largest business district within Houston.

The Consulate-General of the United Kingdom is located in the Wells Fargo Plaza, while the Consulate-General of Japan is located in Two Houston Center.

Other venues

Minute Maid Park

Downtown Houston has two major league sports venues. Minute Maid Park (formerly Enron Field), which opened in 2000, is home to the MLB Astros and the Toyota Center home to the NBA Rockets, WNBA Comets (who have since moved to Reliant Arena in nearby Reliant Park), and AHL Aeros opened in 2003. If negotiations with the city are successful, the new Houston Dynamo stadium should open in time for the MLS 2009 Season.

The Wortham Theater Center

The Downtown Houston Theatre District is one of the largest in the country as measured by the number of theater seats. Houston is one of only five cities in the United States with permanent professional resident companies in all of the major performing art disciplines of opera, ballet, music, and theater. Venues in the theater district include the Wortham Center (opera and ballet), the Alley Theatre (theater), the Hobby Center (resident and traveling musical theater, concerts, events), the Verizon Wireless Theater (concerts and events) and Jones Hall (symphony).

The George R. Brown Convention Center, with its 1,200,000 square feet (110,000 m²) of flexible exhibit, meeting, and registration space and adjacent hotel, is frequently used for conventions, trade shows, and community meetings.

Hotels and accommodations

In comparison to other major cities, Houston has relatively few hotel rooms downtown, partly because downtown Houston is not a large leisure travel market. There are approximately 5,000 hotel rooms in downtown Houston. Major hotels in downtown Houston are:

• Hilton Americas Convention Center Hotel with 1,203 rooms
• The Four Seasons Hotel and Residences
• The Doubletree Hotel Downtown Houston
• The Hyatt Regency Houston, which features a revolving restaurant, the Spindletop, located on the hotel's 30th floor
• The Crowne Plaza
  • Crowne Plaza Houston Downtown, located in the heart of downtown Houston with free area shuttle [1]
• Club Quarters
• Courtyard by Marriott

The following are boutique hotels that are located mostly in the northeast section of downtown:

• The Lancaster
• Inn at the Ballpark
• Magnolia Hotel
• Hotel Icon
• The Alden Hotel

Retail

Downtown Houston is home to the flagship Macy's (former Foley's) Department Store (founded in 1900), which moved to its current location in 1947. It has 10 levels and it occupies an entire Houston square city block. In 2006 this store, along with all other Foley's stores, was renamed Macy's. This is the only freestanding middle-market department store in a central business district in the Southern United States.

The Shops in Houston Center, located within the Houston Center complex, is an enclosed shopping mall. It houses ninety stores and the building itself straddles two city blocks.

Part of the shops and restaurants that make Houston's central Chinatown extends into the CBD.

The Houston Pavilions is a major project currently under construction Downtown. This project comes from the same developers of the Denver Pavilions in Denver; spanning three square blocks, however, Houston Pavilions is said to be larger.

The Houston Downtown Tunnel System is also home to many shops and restaurants.

Transportation

A METRORail train approaching Preston Station in Downtown Houston

Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas (METRO) operates Houston's public transportation. Downtown Houston is served by five light rail stations on METRORail's Red Line. They are the Downtown Transit Center, Bell Station, Main Street Square Station, Preston Station, and University of Houston-Downtown Station. METRO operates several bus lines.

There are a number of Taxi cabs that can be hailed from the street, 21 Taxi stands, or at the various hotels. Trips within downtown has flat rate of $6 by Cab.

Government

Federal and state representation

Downtown Houston is in Texas's 18th congressional district . As of 2008 its representative is Sheila Jackson Lee.

Parks

Sam Houston Park, on the western edge of downtown between McKinney and Dallas/Allen Parkway, is home to the Houston Heritage Society and a collection of historic buildings and homes from around Houston.

George H.W. Bush statue in Sesquicentennial Park looking towards Downtown Houston.

Tranquility Park, bound by Rusk, Smith, Walker, and Bagby, uses open green spaces and a series of interconnected fountains to commemorate NASA's landing on the moon's Sea of Tranquility.

Market Square, between Travis, Milam, Preston, and Congress, preserves the block formerly covered by Houston's open air market which fronted the old City Hall.

Allen's Landing, on Buffalo Bayou at Smith and Preston, commemorates the landing site of the Allen Brothers, founders of the City of Houston.

Sesquicentennial Park, across Buffalo Bayou from Allen's Landing, contains a statue of George H.W. Bush, Houstonian and 41st President of United States.

Main Street Square, a pedestrian mall with a reflection pool and fountains on the MetroRail line between Lamar and Dallas.

Root Memorial Square, a one-block park across La Branch St from the Toyota Center.

Sisters of Charity Park, a quiet area in St. Joseph's Medical Center in the southeast corner of downtown.

Discovery Green, west of the George R. Brown Convention Center, officially opened on April 13, 2008 with a Family Day event. The park has underground parking, an amphitheater, two restaurants, a dog run, a jogging trail around the park, a great Lawn, an interactive fountain and more.

Emergency services

Fire Station 8 Downtown

Fire services

Houston Fire Department Station 8 Downtown serves the central business district.

Police services

The neighborhood is within the Houston Police Department's Central Patrol Division.

Postal services

The closest United States Postal Service office is the Houston Post Office at 401 Franklin, Houston, Texas, 77201-9998.

Court system

The Majority of the County court systems are located in Downtown within a five block area bounded by Franklin, San Jacinto, Caroline, and Congress Streets including the following:

• Harris County Justice Of the Peace
• Harris County Civil Courts
• Harris County Family Courts
• Harris County Juvenile Courts
• Harris County Criminal Courts

All are located around a central surface parking lot, that will eventually be turned into a Plaza and has been nicknamed "Justice Square".

Along with Harris County's facilities, there are several Constable courts and support facilities nearby.

Corrections

The Harris County jail facilities are in northern Downtown on the north side of the Buffalo Bayou. The 1200 Jail, the 1307 Jail, (originally a TDCJ facility, leased by the county), and the 701 Jail (formed from existing warehouse storage space) are on the same site.

Kegans Unit, located in Downtown, is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice state jail for men. It is adjacent to the county facilities on the north side of the Buffalo Bayou.

The South Texas Intermediate Sanction Facility Unit, a parole confinement facility for males operated by Global Expertise in Outsourcing, is in Downtown Houston, west of Minute Maid Park.

Education

University of Houston–Downtown One Main Building

Gregory-Lincoln Education Center serves a portion of Downtown for elementary school

Reagan High School serves a small portion of Downtown for high school

Colleges and universities

The University of Houston–Downtown ("UHD") is an open-enrollment university located at One Main Street and is the second-largest institution within the University of Houston System. The school currently has an enrollment of 12,000 traditional and non-traditional students from around the Houston Area.

Additionally, Downtown Houston is home to South Texas College of Law.

Primary and secondary education

Public schools

The grade-school children of Downtown are served by the Houston Independent School District.

Four elementary schools have zoning boundaries that extend to areas of Downtown with residential areas; they are:

• Bruce Elementary School
• Crockett Elementary School
• Gregory-Lincoln Education Center (in the Fourth Ward)
• J. Will Jones Elementary School (in Midtown) (as of 2006 a Holiday Inn Express is the only area zoned to Jones in Downtown that has capacity to be residential)

E.O. Smith Education Center (in the Fifth Ward) takes most of Downtown's students at the middle school level. Marshall Middle School (in Northside Village) takes students at the middle school level from a small section of northern Downtown.

Davis High School (in Northside Village) takes students from almost all of Downtown at the high school level. Reagan High School (in the Houston Heights) take students in the high school level from a small section of northwest Downtown.

Public schools formerly located in Downtown

Booker T. Washington High School's first location, 303 West Dallas, served as the school's location from 1893 to 1959, when it moved to the north [2]. Lockett Junior High School was established in the former Washington campus and closed in 1968 [3]

Foley's Academy [4] was formerly located inside the Foley's (now Macy's) in Downtown Houston.

Private schools

Incarnate Word Academy, a Catholic all-girls' school founded in 1873, is the only high school actually located Downtown. The academy is operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. A nearby 4-8 school called the Holy Name School is north of Downtown [5].

Public libraries

Jesse H. Jones Building

Julia Ideson Building

Houston Public Library has the Central Library in Houston. It consists of two buildings, including the Jesse H. Jones Building, which contains the bulk of the library facilities, and the Julia Ideson Building, which contains archives, manuscripts, and the Texas and Local History Department.

In addition, HPL operates the HPL Express Discovery Green at 1300 McKinney R2, adjacent to Discovery Green Park. HPL Express facilities are library facilities located in existing buildings.

See also

• Architecture of Houston
• Houston Downtown Tunnel System
• Houston Theatre District
• Midtown Houston
• Neartown Houston
• Uptown Houston

External links

• Downtown at the official Houston web site
• Downtown District
• Downtown Houston Alliance
• Downtown Houston Interactive Map
• Houston Theater District