Downtown Houston: $76M office building underway

HOUSTON – The $76 million, ten-story Greater Houston Partnership Building is underway in downtown. The building will serve as the new headquarters of Houston First, the Greater Houston Partnership (GHP), the Greater Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Center for Houston’s Future.

Preconstruction work has begun, but major construction will start next spring. The project is expected to be completed in March 2016. The GHP will occupy the top two floors, though other groups will be able to use the 2,000-sf terrace on the top floor.

Houston First owns the property and is developing the office building and an adjacent parking garage with 1,900 spaces. Both the building and parking garage will have street-level retail, likely restaurants.

The building and garage are bounded by Rusk, Capitol, Avenida De Las Americas and US 59. A sky bridge will connect the parking garage to the north end of the convention center. The East End (Green Line) light-rail line will run through the parking garage.

The building and parking garage are part of a much larger project aimed at transforming the area around the convention center into a more pedestrian-friendly destination.

The convention center will get a new facade. Restaurants and sidewalk cafes will be added to the front of the convention center. Avenida De Las Americas will be narrowed from its eight-lane configuration, and some of the space previously used for vehicles will be converted into a pedestrian area.