Greenway Plaza

Greenway Plaza skyline

A typical street sign in Greenway Plaza

Greenway Plaza is a master-planned mixed-use development off Interstate 69/U.S. Highway 59 in Houston, Texas, United States, five miles (8 kilometers) west of Downtown Houston and three miles (5 kilometers) east of Uptown Houston. Greenway Plaza is Houston's first totally planned business-commercial-residential complex developed by Kenneth Schnitzer. Greenway Plaza is owned and operated by Cousins Properties. Most buildings within the Greenway Plaza campus are interconnected by environmentally-controlled bridges, and/or tunnels and covered walkways. Civil engineer Jack Boyd Buckley also worked on the Greenway Plaza design.

The complex, composed of 10 commercial buildings, has more than 4,200,000 sq ft (390,000 m²) of space. Within the complex is the Doubletree Hotel, the Houston City Club, and Tony's - one of Houston's premiere restaurants. The commercial buildings in the complex range from 11 to 31 stories.

Greenway Plaza is located next to Lakewood Church. This facility was formerly called "The Summit" and later "Compaq Center" and hosted the Houston Rockets, a professional basketball team, as well as other sporting teams, concerts, and events. Privately owned residential condominiums are also located near Greenway Plaza, just west of Timmons Lane. The Greenway condominiums consist of two 30-story buildings (14 & 15 Greenway Plaza) located at the southwest periphery of the development.

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 163,000 sq ft (15,100 m²) 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.

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 912,000 sq ft (84,700 m²) 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.

Commercial Office Buildings in Greenway Plaza Complex

• One Greenway Plaza
  • Buckeye Partners has its headquarters in Suite 600.
• Two Greenway Plaza
  • When CompuBank existed, its headquarters was in Suite 215 of 2 Greenway Plaza East.
• Three Greenway Plaza
  • United States Postal Service: Greenway Post Office
• Four Greenway Plaza
  • Transocean's Houston offices are in this building. At one time Transocean's headquarters were considered to be in this complex. In 2008 the company leased 95,000 square feet (8,800 m²) of additional space in buildings 4 and 5. Occidental Petroleum, as well as Parker Drilling, have their Houston offices within Four Greenway Plaza.
• Five Greenway Plaza
  • Occidental has additional space in this building. In 2012 the company leased 95,000 square feet (8,800 m²) of additional space in buildings 4 and 5.
• Eight Greenway Plaza
  • FlightAware world headquarters is located in Suite 1300. Previously it was in Suite 1150.
  • Previously China Airlines maintained an office in 8 Greenway Plaza. It served as the Dallas Mini Office for the Dallas/Fort Worth region. The China Airlines Houston Mini Office (Chinese: 休士頓營業所 Xiūshìdùn Yíngyèsuǒ) was formerly located in Suite 824. In 2007 Crescent honored China Airlines as a tenant that had occupied a suite in Greenway Plaza for 20–29 years. As of 2010 the Greater Houston functions had moved to the Arena Place complex in Greater Sharpstown. The Dallas office is now on the property of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
• Nine Greenway Plaza
  • Boardwalk Pipeline Partners headquarters
  • Humana Health Plan of Texas
  • United States headquarters of Mitsui Oil Exploration Co. (Suite 1220)
  • The building once served as the headquarters of the Coastal Corporation, and it was called the Coastal Tower
• Eleven Greenway Plaza
  • Camden Property Trust
  • Invesco
  • PBK Architects
  • Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Houston, an office of the Republic of China, is in Suite 2012. In 2007 Crescent honored the consulate's information division as a tenant that had occupied a suite in Greenway Plaza for 20–29 years.
    

    Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Houston at Suite 2012 of 11 Greenway Plaza
  • China Airlines previously had its office, then the Houston Sales Office, at Suite 2714 in 11 Greenway, before moving it to 8 Greenway Plaza.
• Twelve Greenway Plaza
  • Direct Energy
  • The Houston Metropolitan Chamber, formerly the Greater Southwest Houston Chamber of Commerce, is located in Suite 1100
• 3800 Buffalo Speedway
  • Amerigroup

Retail tenants

• 12 Greenway Plaza
  • Suite 102: Amegy Bank
• The Shops at Greenway
  • Greenway Coffee
  • Roman Delight
  • Nestle Toll House Cafe
  • Bango Burgers
  • Alonti Cafe
  • Teppanyaki
  • Texas Chicken
  • Good Eats
  • Village BBQ
  • Village Wraps
  • Cilantro's
  • Plaza Jewelers
  • River Oaks Flower House
  • Greenway Newsstand & Convenience Store
  • Energy One Credit Union

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.

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

Gallery

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  The Landmark Theatres Greenway 3, formerly located in 5 Greenway Plaza

External links

• Cousins Properties
• Crescent Real Estate Equities Co.
• Greenway Plaza
• Greenway Condominiums