Park Towers (Houston)

Park Towers is a complex of two office buildings along the 610 Loop in Houston, Texas, United States. It consists of two 18 story office towers, Park Towers North and Park Towers South, which each have 272,621 square feet (25,327.3 m2) of rentable space,[1] and one six story parking garage.[2] The building, in proximity to Uptown Houston, is owned by Post Oak Partners LLP; TPMC Realty Corp. provides leasing and management services.[3] Previously Cameron International Corporation maintained its international headquarters in Park Towers South.[4]

The Park Towers

History

The buildings were built in 1972 and 1973. Throughout the complex's history Halliburton, Philadelphia Life, and Tenneco rented space in the complex.[1] By 1992 the buildings were vacant.[2][5] 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."[6]

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 22,000 square feet (2,000 m2).[6] 60,000 square feet (5,600 m2) of office space was added to the complex.[2] By 2000 PentaSafe Securities Technologies announced that it was leasing 89,000 square feet (8,300 m2) in the Park Towers.[7] PentaSafe, the first tenant in the new Park Towers in August 2000, was acquired by NetIQ in 2002.[3]

For five years after the renovation the occupancy rate remained at 72%. In 2003 37,000 square feet (3,400 m2) in the complex was leased. Parkway Properties, Inc., hired by the owners of Park Towers to increase the occupancy rate, contacted General Electric.[8] After an 18-month search, in 2004 General Electric announced that GE Energy was moving 300 employees into 78,225 square feet (7,267.3 m2) of space in the Park Towers South building. GE had an option on an additional 100,000 square feet (9,300 m2) 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[9] Prudential Securities, and SouthTrust Bank.[2] During the same year United HealthCare Services announced that it was taking 22,300 square feet (2,070 m2) of space in Park Towers South and moving out of the 2000 West Loop South building across 610.[10] Its move-in date was scheduled as September 1, 2004. Between January 1, 2004 and August 6, 2004 122,000 square feet (11,300 m2) of space was signed into leasing.[2]

In addition, in 2004 NetIQ Corp. renewed its lease of 115,000 square feet (10,700 m2) of space in the building for 10 years. NetIQ's lease was scheduled to expire in 2005.[3]

As of 2010 the buildings are 99% occupied, with the unused space consisting of unusable corridor space and janitor storage closet space.[1]

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.[11]

On January 15, 2016, a renovation, with Ziegler Cooper Architects as the main architect, began.[12]

Tenants

Former tenants:

  • The Houston Business Journal was in Park Towers North, Suite 1300.[16] In 2012 the newspaper announced that it was moving to 5444 Westheimer Road effective November 5, 2012.[11]

References
  1. "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. 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. 1. Retrieved on May 14, 2010.
  4. "Cameron Locator Archived 2010-04-27 at the Wayback Machine." Cameron International Corporation. Retrieved on April 28, 2010.
  5. Stuart, Lettice. "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. "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. "Houston area's office leasing market is terrific this year." Houston Chronicle. Sunday July 9, 2000. Business 8. Retrieved on May 14, 2010.
  8. "Park Towers Houston, TX Archived 2011-01-01 at the Wayback Machine." Parkway Properties, Inc. Retrieved on May 14, 2010.
  9. netiq.com
  10. Sarnoff, Nancy. "Two developers face off in battle across the street." Houston Chronicle. June 20, 2004. Retrieved on May 14, 2010.
  11. Zucker, Shaina. "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. Retrieved 2017-02-15.
  13. Home page. Consulate-General of Brazil in Houston. Retrieved on May 14, 2010.
  14. "Main Page Archived 2010-04-18 at the Wayback Machine." Consulate-General of Russia in Houston. Retrieved on May 14, 2010.
  15. "THE HISTORY OF THE CONSULATE GENERAL Archived 2010-04-18 at the Wayback Machine." Consulate-General of the Russian Federation in Houston. Accessed October 27, 2008.
  16. "Contact Us." Houston Business Journal. Retrieved on October 4, 2010.

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