Houston Club
The Houston Club is a private social club located in Houston, Texas. As of January 2013 the club is housed on 910 Louisiana Street in the Shell building in Downtown Houston. The club members are a part of Houston's business, civic, cultural, and financial communities.[1] Members include business leaders, cultural leaders, consuls general, doctors, entrepreneurs, governors, mayors, and presidents.[2] Notable members include former President of the United States George H. W. Bush and James Baker.[1] Maggie Galehouse of the Houston Chronicle said, "In its heyday - the mid-1950s to the mid-1980s - the Houston Club was the power broker club in the city."[3]
Club facility
The club, established in 1894, is the oldest social club in Houston.[citation needed] In 1954 the Houston Club moved to 811 Rusk, an 18-story building with 348,000 square feet (32,300 m2) of rentable space and a parking garage.[4] Jesse Jones had designed the building, also known as the "Houston Club Building", for the social club.[5] As of October 2011, the Houston Club occupied 100,000 square feet (9,300 m2) of space in the building and paid a below market leasing rate. The Club was bought out of their lease in 2012. Jennifer Dawson of the Houston Business Journal said that the parking garage is "well-utilized".[4]
Previously Cameron-811 Rusk LP owned the 811 Rusk building. In March 2010 it filed for bankruptcy, which delayed an impending foreclosure. In September Wells Fargo foreclosed on the building. Cameron-811 Rusk said that, because of the club's below market lease rate, the owners could not make a profit off of the building. Jennifer Dawson of the Houston Business Journal said that 811 Rusk had "been in danger of foreclosure for some time".[5] As of September 2010, according to the Harris County Appraisal District, the owner of the building was Redus Tx Properties LLC, a bank entity. The 811 Rusk building had a value of almost $8.5 million, according to the taxation records.[5] By May 2011, Skanska was under contract to buy the building.[6] In September 2011 Skanska USA Commercial Development bought the building from Wells Fargo Bank.[citation needed]
On January 2013, The Houston Club joined forces with ClubCorp and relocated to the 49th floor of the One Shell Plaza building. The club underwent a $3.5 million renovation led by Gensler.[citation needed]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Club History." Houston Club. Retrieved on October 15, 2011.
- ^ "Membership Information." Houston Club. Retrieved on October 17, 2011.
- ^ Galehouse, Maggie. "Last hurrah for the Houston Club's Rusk location." Houston Chronicle. December 31, 2012. Retrieved on December 31, 2012.
- ^ a b Dawson, Jennifer. "Houston Club to relocate after building sold to Skanska." Houston Business Journal. Tuesday September 13, 2011. Retrieved on October 15, 2011.
- ^ a b c Dawson, Jennifer. "Houston buildings in separate distress." Houston Business Journal. Friday October 22, 2010. Retrieved on October 15, 2011.
- ^ "Downtown Houston real estate lures buyers." Houston Business Journal. Friday May 6, 2011. Retrieved on October 15, 2011.
External links
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