In the 1960s, downtown comprised a modest collection of mid-rise office structures, but has since grown into one of the largest
skylines in the United States. In 1960, the central business district had 10 million square feet (930,000 m2) of office space, increasing to about 16 million square feet (1,500,000 m2) in 1970. Downtown Houston was on the threshold of a boom in 1970 with 8.7 million square feet (800,000 m2) of office space planned or under construction and huge projects being launched by
real estate developers. The largest proposed development was the 32-block
Houston Center. Only a small part of the original proposal was ultimately constructed, however. Other large projects included the Cullen Center, Allen Center, and towers for
Shell USA. The surge of skyscrapers mirrored the skyscraper booms in other cities, such as Los Angeles and
Dallas. Houston experienced another downtown construction spurt in the 1970s with the energy industry boom. The first major skyscraper to be constructed in Houston was the 50-floor,
One Shell Plaza in 1971. A succession of skyscrapers were built throughout the 1970s, culminating with Houston's tallest skyscraper, the 75-floor,
JPMorgan Chase Tower (formerly the Texas Commerce Tower), which was completed in 1982. In 2002, it was the tallest structure in Texas, ninth-tallest building in the United States, and the 23rd tallest skyscraper in the world. In 1983, the 71-floor,
Wells Fargo Plaza was completed, which became the second-tallest building in Houston and Texas, and 11th-tallest in the country. Skyscraper construction in downtown Houston came to an end in the mid-1980s with the collapse of Houston's energy industry and the resulting economic recession. Twelve years later, the Houston-based
Enron Corporation began constructing a 40-floor, 1,284,013sq.ft skyscraper in 1999 (which was completed in 2002) with the company collapsing in one of the most dramatic corporate failures in the history of the United States only two years later. Chevron bought this building to set up a regional upstream energy headquarters, and in late 2006 announced further consolidation of employees downtown from satellite suburban buildings, and even California and Louisiana offices by leasing the original Enron building across the street. Both buildings are connected by a second-floor unique walk-across, air-conditioned circular skybridge with three points of connection to both office buildings and a large parking deck. Other smaller office structures were built in the 2000–2003 period. As of January 2015, downtown Houston had more than 44 million square feet (4,087,733 m2) of office space, including more than 29 million square feet (1,861,704 m2) of
class A office space.
Notable buildings Notable buildings that form Houston's downtown skyline: • The
Sweeney, Coombs, and Fredericks Building is a late Victorian commercial building with a 3-story corner turret and Eastlake decorative elements that was designed by George E. Dickey in 1889. Evidence indicates that the 1889 construction may have been a renovation of an 1861 structure built by William A. Van Alstyne and purchased in 1882 by John Jasper Sweeney and Edward L. Coombs. Gus Fredericks joined the Sweeney and Coombs Jewelry firm before 1889. The building is on the corner of Main Street and Congress Street at 301 Main Street. The jewelry firm is still in business. It is one of the very few Victorian structures in the Bayou City. • The
Gulf Building, now called the JPMorgan Chase building, is one of the preeminent
Art Deco skyscrapers in the southern United States. Completed in 1929, it remained the
tallest building in Houston until 1963, when the
Exxon Building surpassed it in height. • The
Esperson Buildings, 'Neils' built in 1927 and 'Mellie' in 1942, were modeled with Italian architecture. • The
Houston City Hall was started in 1938 and completed in 1939. The original building is an excellent example of the
Art Deco Era. In front of City Hall is the George Hermann Square. • The
Alley Theatre was completed in 1968. It is home to the
Tony Award winning theatre company by the same name, the oldest professional theatre company in Texas. Its nine towers and brutality style give it a castle appearance. •
One Shell Plaza was, at its completion in 1971, the tallest building in Houston. It stands tall, and when the antenna tower on its top is included, the height of One Shell Plaza is . •
Houston Public Library's Central Library, consists of two separate buildings: the
Julia Ideson Building (1926) and the
Jesse H. Jones Building (1976). • The
Houston Industries Building, formerly known as the 1100 Milam Building, was built in 1973. It went through major renovations in 1996. •
Pennzoil Place, designed by
Philip Johnson, built in 1976, is Houston's most award-winning skyscraper, known for its innovative design. Johnson's forward thinking brought about a new era in skyscraper design. • The
First City Tower was built in 1981. • The
JPMorgan Chase Tower, designed by
I.M. Pei, was built in 1981. Formerly the Texas Commerce Tower, it is the tallest in Houston and the second tallest in the United States west of the
Mississippi River. • The Chevron Tower, formerly the Gulf Tower, was built in 1982. • The
Bank of America Center, formerly the RepublicBank Center and the NationsBank center, designed by
Philip Johnson, was built in 1983. • The
Wells Fargo Bank Plaza, formerly the Allied Bank Plaza and First Interstate Center, also built in 1983, is the second tallest building in the Houston Area. • The
Heritage Plaza was completed in 1987. • The Enron Center North, also known as the
Four Allen Center, was also built in 1983. • The
Enron Center South, also the Enron II, designed by
Cesar Pelli was completed in 2002. (Note:
Enron went bankrupt before the building's completion and was sold soon after it was completed for about half of its $200 million construction cost). • The
Hobby Center for the Performing Arts was started in 2000 and completed in 2002. • The Lyric Centre, named for its adjacency to the Theater District. • The
Carter Building, once the tallest building in Texas, more recently re-purposed as a hotel. • The
Scanlan Building, at Main and Preston, was built on the site of the first official "White House" of the
Republic of Texas. Constructed in 1909 by the daughters of Thomas Howe Scanlan to honor their father, former mayor of Houston (1870–1873). The Scanlan Building is listed in the
U.S. National Register of Historic Places and was the largest building in the city at the time of its construction. ==Demographics==