Surf Wiki
Save to docs
general/skyscraper-office-buildings-in-houston

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Greenway Plaza

Greenway Plaza
FieldValue
nameGreenway Plaza
settlement_typeBusiness district of Houston
image_skylineFile:GreenwayPlaza.jpg
image_captionSkyline of Greenway Plaza looking north
coordinates
subdivision_typeCountry
subdivision_nameUnited States
subdivision_type1State
subdivision_name1Texas
subdivision_type2County
subdivision_name2Harris County
subdivision_type3City
subdivision_name3Houston
area_blank1_titleSuper neighborhood
area_blank1_sq_mi2.97
area_blank2_titleBusiness campus
area_blank2_acre52
population_total21120
population_as_of2015
population_density_sq_mi7111
population_noteFor the Greenway / Upper Kirby Area Super Neighborhood as defined by the City of Houston
postal_code_typeZIP Code
postal_code77046
area_codes281, 346, 713, 832
website
A typical street sign in Greenway Plaza

Greenway Plaza is a business district located along Interstate 69 (U.S. Highway 59) within the Interstate 610 loop in southwestern Houston, Texas, 5 mi west of Downtown and 3 mi east of Uptown. The district is located immediately west of Upper Kirby, north of West University Place, and south of River Oaks.

First envisioned in the late 1960s by local developer Kenneth L. Schnitzer, Greenway Plaza has evolved into one of Greater Houston's largest employment centers, with over 4.4 e6sqft of office space on a 52 acre campus. Noted for its expansive green spaces and consistent modernist architectural style, Greenway Plaza is widely considered a pioneering example of mixed-use development in the United States. The campus's ten office towers are connected by an extensive system of air-conditioned skyways, tunnels, and underground parking garages.

Greenway Plaza contains Lakewood Church, a nondenominational Christian church, which hosts one of the largest congregations in the United States. Lakewood's main campus, a venue originally known as "The Summit" and later "Compaq Center," is the former home of the Houston Rockets, a professional basketball team, as well as other sporting teams, concerts, and events. Lakewood Church purchased the property in 2005.

The Greenway Plaza development is part of a larger neighborhood, Greenway/Upper Kirby, which covers a 2.97 mi2 area roughly enclosed by Westheimer Road to the north, Bissonnet Street to the south, Uptown Houston to the west, and Shepherd Drive to the east. In 2015, Greenway/Upper Kirby had an estimated population of 21,120 and a population density of .

History

Kenneth L. Schnitzer, the chairperson of the Century Development Corporation, envisioned Greenway Plaza, which became the first mixed-use development in Houston.

Century took realtors from outlying towns around Houston and had them buy individual parcels for very inexpensive prices while trying not to attract attention. One homeowner found out about the plan and asked to have the house sold for $350,000. At the time it was a lot of money for a house that was small. The company paid the money so it could secure the tract the house sat on. The grand opening took place in 1973. Schnitzer said that Greenway Plaza would become a "second downtown". Bill Schadewald of the Houston Press said that Greenway Plaza, which housed office towers, retail operations, a basketball arena, a movie theater, and a hotel, "defined the multiuse concept in an original "Edge City"".

In 1970, the M. W. Kellogg Company had moved its headquarters from New York to Houston. After Kellogg moved its operations into Greenway Plaza, initially Kellogg occupied half of 3 Greenway Plaza and staffed the half with fewer than 600 employees. When the energy industry expanded worldwide, Kellogg occupied all of 3 Greenway Plaza and space in an adjacent building. Kellogg's lease on July 1, 1991 was up for renewal; if Kellogg had renewed the lease, its rent payment would have increased. Instead Kellogg decided to swap office space with its parent company, Dresser Industries. Dresser took over a part of Kellogg's lease and renamed 3 Greenway Plaza to the Dresser Tower. After the swap Dresser occupied 163000 sqft of space on eight floors, while Kellogg continued to lease six floors in the building. In exchange Kellogg took space formerly held by Dresser at the M. W. Kellogg Tower in the Cullen Center in Downtown Houston. The swap satisfied Dresser's need for less space.

Around 1996 T Mobile leased space in 2 Greenway Plaza.

Circa 2003 the Houston Rockets moved out of what was the Compaq Center, and that building became the Lakewood Church Central Campus. Nancy Sarnoff of the Houston Chronicle wrote that the adjacent Greenway Plaza became "sleepy" as a result of this change, and that in 2017 Greenway Plaza had a lack of activity during nighttime periods despite its heavy activity during the day; therefore, according to Sarnoff, Greenway Plaza "feels like downtown Houston did 10 or 20 years ago".

In 2004 Crescent attempted to sell a 50% equity position in both Greenway Plaza and Houston Center. During that year, El Paso Corp., a major tenant with 912000 sqft in Greenway Plaza, announced that it was vacating the property and moving its personnel to its Downtown Houston headquarters. A Houston Business Journal article stated that El Paso was expected to sublease the space until 2014, when its lease will expire.

In 2005 the internet service provider Internet America had offices in Greenway Plaza.

During the afternoon of Monday July 29, 2013, Cousins Properties, a company based in Atlanta, announced that it was buying the entire Greenway Plaza complex and a Downtown Fort Worth office tower. Nancy Sarnoff of the Houston Chronicle stated that Cousins was expected to pay $1.1 billion in cash. By 2017 the owner was Parkway Inc., which planned to renovate Greenway Plaza.

In July 2017 T-Mobile announced it was moving to the T-Mobile Tower, formerly the River Oaks Tower. That same month Occidental Petroleum announced it was vacating its space, and it put its space for sale.

Composition

Commercial office buildings

BuildingOpening dateTenantsFootnotes
One Greenway Plaza1969Buckeye Partners (HQ)
Two Greenway Plaza1969
Three Greenway Plaza1971
Four Greenway Plaza1975
Five Greenway Plaza1973Occidental Petroleum
Eight Greenway Plaza1980
Nine Greenway Plaza1978
Eleven Greenway Plaza1979
Twelve Greenway Plaza1981
3800 Buffalo Speedway1975Amerigroup

Retail tenants

  • 12 Greenway Plaza
    • Suite 102: Amegy Bank
  • The Hub at Greenway Plaza (formerly The Shops at Greenway) which first opened in 1973
    • Greenway Coffee
    • burger-chan
    • The Rice Box
    • Feges BBQ
    • Nestlé Toll House Cafe
    • Antone's
    • Alonti Cafe
    • Texas Chicken Express
    • Lulu's
    • Cilantro's
    • Michael Saldana Salon
    • Flower Delivery Houston
    • Greenway Newsstand & Convenience Store
    • Energy One Credit Union
    • WellSmiles Dental Office at Greenway Plaza https://www.wellsmilesgreenway.com/

Prior to January 1, 2008, Landmark Theatres operated the Landmark Greenway, an "arthouse" theater inside 5 Greenway. Landmark's lease expired and the Greenway Plaza did not renew the lease. December 31, 2007 was the final day of operation for the theater. As of 2016 it was to be replaced by a fitness area.

At one time the building housed Rao's Maremma Ristorante.

Other buildings

  • Doubletree Hotel (6 Greenway) – Previously the Stouffer Hotel and the Renaissance Hotel – Opened 1972
  • The Central Plant (7 Greenway)
  • Tony's Restaurant (13 Greenway) – Established by Tony Vallone, in 2006 it moved from Uptown Houston to Greenway and renewed its lease around 2016, staying for another 10-year period
  • 14 Greenway and 15 Greenway – formerly the Plaza Condominiums – Opened 1980 (14 Greenway) and 1981 (15 Greenway)
    • The condominiums are assigned to schools in the Houston Independent School District: Poe Elementary School, Lanier Middle School, and Lamar High School. It was previously zoned to Will Rogers Elementary School.
  • Lakewood Church Central Campus – formerly the Summit and the Compaq Center – Opened 1975

References

References

  1. Hershey, Robert D. Jr.. (1999-11-03). "Kenneth L. Schnitzer, 70, Dies; Innovative Houston Developer". The New York Times.
  2. "Greenway Plaza ahead of its time while being timeless". Houston Chronicle.
  3. Sarnoff, Nancy. (2017-05-15). "A Greenway for the Future". [[Houston Chronicle]].
  4. Hlavaty, Craig. (2015-11-12). "Houston building formerly known as The Summit turns 40 this month". Houston Chronicle.
  5. (August 2014). "Super Neighborhood Resource Assessment – Greenway / Upper Kirby".
  6. Schadewald, Bill. "Looking back ‘Then and Now’ at 40 years of Houston business." ''[[Houston Business Journal]]''. Friday December 24, 2010. [http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/print-edition/2010/12/24/looking-back-then-and-now-at-40.html 1]. Retrieved on September 13, 2011.
  7. "[http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-30984760_ITM Crescent Celebrates Greenway Plaza's 40th Anniversary by Honoring Customer Loyalty]." ''Business Wire''. June 9, 2007. Retrieved on January 21, 2009.
  8. Stuart, Lettice. "[https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/15/business/real-estate-a-big-swap-of-offices-in-houston.html REAL ESTATE; A Big Swap Of Offices In Houston]." ''[[The New York Times]]''. Wednesday May 15, 1991.
  9. Sarnoff, Nancy. (2017-07-10). "Greenway Plaza tenants make moves". [[Houston Chronicle]].
  10. Sarnoff, Nancy. (2017-05-12). "Greenway Plaza sees upgrades essential in competitive market". [[Houston Chronicle]].
  11. Dawson, Jennifer. "[http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2004/05/24/story1.html Crescent trophies on sales block]." ''[[Houston Business Journal]]''. Friday May 21, 2004. Retrieved on May 10, 2009.
  12. Azevedo, Mary Ann. "[http://dallas.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2005/10/31/story6.html Internet America's Dallas presence dwindles]." ''[[Dallas Business Journal]]''. Friday October 28, 2005. Retrieved on September 25, 2009.
  13. Sarnoff, Nancy. "[http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/2013/07/greenway-plaza-selling-to-atlanta-company/ Greenway Plaza selling to Atlanta company]." ''[[Houston Chronicle]]''. Monday July 29, 2013. Retrieved on July 31, 2013.
  14. "[http://www.buckeye.com/ContactUs/tabid/99/Default.aspx Contact Us] {{Webarchive. link. (2013-11-28 ." [[Buckeye Partners]]. Retrieved on November 8, 2013. "One Greenway Plaza • Suite 600 • Houston, Texas 77046")
  15. "[https://web.archive.org/web/19981201065433/http://www.compubank.com/ CompuBank Home Page]." [[CompuBank]]. Retrieved on July 25, 2010.
  16. "Parker Drilling".
  17. "Oxy | Contact Us".
  18. "[http://www.moeco.co.jp/en/about/data.html Company Information] {{webarchive. link. (2010-06-15 ." [[Mitsui Oil Exploration Co.]] Retrieved on August 23, 2010. "MOEX USA Corporation 9 Greenway Plaza, Suite 1220, Houston, Texas 77046, USA" and "MOEX Offshore 2007 LLC 9 Greenway Plaza, Suite 1220, Houston, Texas 77046, USA")
  19. [http://www.chron.com/business/real-estate/article/Real-estate-transactions-1738887.php Real estate transactions]
  20. "[http://flightaware.com/about/contact/ Contact]." [[FlightAware]]. Retrieved on April 1, 2019.
  21. "PBK – Contact Us".
  22. [http://web.roc-taiwan.org/ushou_en/index.html Home page]. ''Taipei Economic & Cultural Office in Houston''.
  23. "[http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2010/11/22/invesco-downsizes-at-greenway-plaza.html Invesco downsizes at Greenway Plaza]." ''[[Houston Business Journal]]''. November 22, 2010. Retrieved on May 31, 2016.
  24. "[http://swhoustontx.usachamber.com/virDirEditorAssets/SWHoustonTX/chamberAccess/docs/HMC%20Press%20Release.pdf Houston Chamber Re-Invents Itself after 61 years with a New Image]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20140814000006/http://swhoustontx.usachamber.com/virDirEditorAssets/SWHoustonTX/chamberAccess/docs/HMC%20Press%20Release.pdf Archive]). Houston Metropolitan Chamber. January 7, 2011. Retrieved on April 23, 2014.
  25. [http://www.costar.com/News/Article/Lease-Up-Kohls-Buys-Distribution-Center-To-Support-Online-Growth/127771 Additional Expansions & Relocations]
  26. [http://www.costar.com/News/Article/Amerigroup-Inks-Deal-at-Greenway-Plaza/103063 Amerigroup Inks Deal at Greenway Plaza]
  27. link. (2010-03-30 ." Greenway Plaza. Retrieved on April 24, 2010.)
  28. Sarnoff, Nancy. "[http://www.chron.com/local/history/innovators-inventions/article/Greenway-Plaza-ahead-of-its-time-while-being-7946007.php Greenway Plaza ahead of its time while being timeless]." ''[[Houston Chronicle]]''. Thursday May 26, 2016. Retrieved on May 31, 2016.
  29. Leahy, Jennifer and Lisa Gray. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20071228020141/http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5402926.html Houston's landmark Greenway Theatre to close]." ''[[Houston Chronicle]]''. December 25, 2007. Retrieved on April 23, 2010.
  30. Staff. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20120709123122/http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=1992_1045206 Around Houston]" (). ''[[Houston Chronicle]]''. Thursday March 26, 1992. Houston 7. Retrieved on February 4, 2012.
  31. "[http://www.houstonisd.org/cms/lib2/TX01001591/Centricity/domain/32468/boundarymaps/Poe_ES.pdf Poe Elementary School Attendance Zone]." [[Houston Independent School District]]. Retrieved on December 13, 2016.
  32. "[http://www.houstonisd.org/cms/lib2/TX01001591/Centricity/domain/32468/boundarymaps/Lanier_MS.pdf Lanier Middle School Attendance Zone]." [[Houston Independent School District]]. Retrieved on December 13, 2016.
  33. "[http://www.houstonisd.org/cms/lib2/TX01001591/Centricity/domain/32468/boundarymaps/Lamar_HS.pdf Lamar High School Attendance Zone] {{webarchive. link. (2015-05-13 ." [[Houston Independent School District]]. Retrieved on December 13, 2016.)
  34. "[http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/schoolboundarymaps/WillRogersES.pdf Will Rogers Elementary Attendance Zone] {{webarchive. link. (March 25, 2012 ." [[Houston Independent School District]]. Retrieved on December 16, 2010.)
  35. "Greenway Theatre".
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

skyscraper-office-buildings-in-houston 1973-establishments-in-texas commercial-buildings-completed-in-1973 residential-buildings-completed-in-1973 mixed-use-developments-in-texas
Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Greenway Plaza — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report