Park Towers (Houston)

History

The buildings were built in 1972 and 1973. Throughout the complex's history Halliburton, Philadelphia Life, and Tenneco rented space in the complex. By 1992 the buildings were vacant. Lynn Cook of the Houston Business Journal said in 1999 that "for more than a decade Park Towers has sat like a stark white elephant."

In December Holliday Fenoglio Fowler secured financing to allow TPMC Realty Corp. to extensively renovate the buildings. TPMC stripped the buildings to their concrete and steel girders and then rebuilt the two towers. TPMC rebuilt the twin towers with glass curtain walls and expanded the floor plates to 22000 sqft. 60000 sqft of office space was added to the complex. By 2000 PentaSafe Securities Technologies announced that it was leasing 89000 sqft in the Park Towers. PentaSafe, the first tenant in the new Park Towers in August 2000, was acquired by NetIQ in 2002.

For five years after the renovation the occupancy rate remained at 72%. In 2003 37000 sqft in the complex was leased. Parkway Properties, Inc., hired by the owners of Park Towers to increase the occupancy rate, contacted General Electric. After an 18-month search, in 2004 General Electric announced that GE Energy was moving 300 employees into 78225 sqft of space in the Park Towers South building. GE had an option on an additional 100000 sqft for expansion. GE stated that it chose the building because of the location, visibility, and the quality of the building. During that year the face rates at Park Towers was about $21 to $24 per square foot. After the GE lease, the south tower was 85% leased and the north tower was 95% leased. During that year other tenants of the Park Towers included Cooper Cameron, NetIQ Corp Prudential Securities, and SouthTrust Bank. During the same year United HealthCare Services announced that it was taking 22300 sqft of space in Park Towers South and moving out of the 2000 West Loop South building across 610. Its move-in date was scheduled as September 1, 2004. Between January 1, 2004 and August 6, 2004 122000 sqft of space was signed into leasing.

In addition, in 2004 NetIQ Corp. renewed its lease of 115000 sqft of space in the building for 10 years. NetIQ's lease was scheduled to expire in 2005.

As of 2010 the buildings are 99% occupied, with the unused space consisting of unusable corridor space and janitor storage closet space.

The Houston Business Journal had occupied space in the Park Towers for a period of over 10 years. In 2012 the newspaper announced that it was moving to 5444 Westheimer Road effective November 5, 2012.

On January 15, 2016, a renovation, with Ziegler Cooper Architects as the main architect, began.

Tenants

• The Consulate-General of Brazil is in Park Towers North, Suite 1150
• The Consulate General of Russia is in Park Towers South, Suite 1300 - It opened on August 4, 2004.
• Cadence Bank headquarters

Former tenants:

• The Houston Business Journal was in Park Towers North, Suite 1300. In 2012 the newspaper announced that it was moving to 5444 Westheimer Road effective November 5, 2012.

Gallery

File:ConsulateBrazilHouston.JPG|Consulate-General of Brazil File:COnsulateRussiaHouston.JPG|Consulate General of Russia

References

References

1. "[http://tpmcrealty.com/properties/office/park-towers-houston Park Towers, Houston]." TPMC Realty Corp. Retrieved on May 14, 2010.
2. Dawson, Jennifer. "GE units to park 300 workers in refurbished Park Towers space." ''[[Houston Business Journal]]''. Friday August 6, 2004. [http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2004/08/09/newscolumn3.html 1]. Retrieved on May 14, 2010.
3. Dawson, Jennifer. "Park Towers lease renewal keeps NetIQ in Uptown fold." ''[[Houston Business Journal]]''. Friday November 5, 2004. [http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2004/11/08/newscolumn4.html?q=%20Park%20Towers%20%20%20Cooper%20Cameron 1]. Retrieved on May 14, 2010.
4. "[http://www.c-a-m.com/content/locations/ Cameron Locator] {{webarchive. link. (2010-04-27 ." [[Cameron International Corporation]]. Retrieved on April 28, 2010.)
5. Stuart, Lettice. "[https://archive.today/20120712230022/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/24338632.html?dids=24338632:24338632&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Aug+09,+1992&author=Lettice+Stuart,+New+York+Times+News+Service.&pub=Chicago+Tribune+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=Houston+still+building+offices+despite+the+glut&pqatl=google Houston still building offices despite the glut]." ''[[New York Times News Service]]'' at the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]''. August 2, 1992. Real Estate 1N. Retrieved on May 14, 2010.
6. Cook, Lynn. "[http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/1999/03/08/newscolumn4.html TPMC's revamp of Park Towers becomes reality on West Loop]." ''[[Houston Business Journal]]''. Friday March 5, 1999. Retrieved on May 14, 2010.
7. Bivins, Ralph. "[http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2000_3226594 Houston area's office leasing market is terrific this year]." ''[[Houston Chronicle]]''. Sunday July 9, 2000. Business 8. Retrieved on May 14, 2010.
8. "[http://www.pky.com/prs/case-studies/park-towers-houston.aspx Park Towers Houston, TX] {{webarchive. link. (2011-01-01 ." Parkway Properties, Inc. Retrieved on May 14, 2010.)
9. [http://www.netiq.com netiq.com]
10. Sarnoff, Nancy. "[http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/sarnoff/2636415.html Two developers face off in battle across the street]." ''[[Houston Chronicle]]''. June 20, 2004. Retrieved on May 14, 2010.
11. Zucker, Shaina. "[http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/morning_call/2012/10/hbj-to-move-to-new-galleria-office.html HBJ to move to new Galleria office space in November]." ''[[Houston Business Journal]]''. Friday October 12, 2012. Retrieved on October 13, 2012.
12. Smith, Cara. (2016-03-21). "Exclusive: Details revealed on Galleria-area building's multimillion-dollar renovation". [[Houston Business Journal]].
13. [http://www.brazilhouston.org/ Home page]. [[Diplomatic missions of Brazil. Consulate-General of Brazil in Houston]]. Retrieved on May 14, 2010.
14. "[http://www.rusconshouston.org/eng_main.htm Main Page] {{webarchive. link. (2010-04-18 ." [[Consulate-General of Russia in Houston]]. Retrieved on May 14, 2010.)
15. "[http://www.rusconshouston.org/eng_main.htm THE HISTORY OF THE CONSULATE GENERAL] {{webarchive. link. (2010-04-18 ." [[Consulate-General of the Russian Federation in Houston]]. Accessed October 27, 2008.)
16. "[http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/aboutus/help.html Contact Us]." ''[[Houston Business Journal]]''. Retrieved on October 4, 2010.