Cullen Center facts for kids
The Cullen Center is a group of tall buildings in Downtown Houston, Texas, USA. It's like a mini-city of offices and a hotel. A company called Brookfield Properties now manages this big complex. Before, Trizec Properties owned all four office buildings. The Cullen Center is home to the main offices for the Houston Fire Department and KBR. It used to be where Continental Airlines had its main headquarters.
The buildings in the Cullen Center include 1600 Smith (which was once called Continental Center I), 600 Jefferson (formerly Continental Center II), the KBR Tower, and 500 Jefferson Street.
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History of Cullen Center
In 1959, the family of Hugh Roy Cullen announced big plans. Hugh Roy Cullen was a rich oil businessman and someone who gave a lot of money to good causes. His family decided to build a large group of skyscrapers in Downtown Houston. They planned for a huge area, about 12 acres, which is like 5.5 city blocks. This area would hold many buildings.
The first two buildings were planned to be a hotel with 500 rooms and a 25-story office building. After that, a much taller 40-45 story office building would be built. More buildings were planned for later. Gerald E. Veitmann, who was the president of Cullen Center, said it would be a "memorial to Mr. and Mrs. Cullen." He also said it would be "an investment of over 100 million dollars." He hoped it would be "to Houston what Rockefeller Center is to New York City." Work to clear the land was set to start in December 1959. That year, the family also planned for another 25-story office building and a parking garage.
Construction for the Cullen Center was set to begin on October 1, 1960. The first building would be a 21-story office building with a parking garage attached. The whole center was planned to have about a dozen buildings.
Welton Becket and Associates designed the first two buildings. These were the 21-story, $12 million 500 Jefferson building and the 12-story, $6 million Hotel America. Gerald E. Veltmann, the president of Cullen Center, Inc., said the design was new for downtown. It separated people walking from cars. The design had four levels:
- Underground: For parking and building equipment.
- Ground level: For cars, parking, main entrances, and service areas.
- Second level: For people walking, with main lobbies, shops, and restaurants.
- Top space: Where the tall hotel and office towers would rise.
The first levels were designed to have open plazas. The builders also planned to add air-conditioned bridges. These bridges would connect the buildings on their second levels. The architect, Welton Becket, said the first two buildings looked good together. They used the same material, concrete, in different ways. They were connected by the second-level bridges. They also looked connected around the open parking areas and sidewalks.
The 500 Jefferson building opened in 1962. Continental Center II opened in 1974. The KBR Tower was built in 1973 and updated in 1991. Continental Center I was finished in 1984.
By 1987, a Canadian company called Trizec Corporation bought a special agreement. This agreement gave them the option to buy parts of the Cullen Center. This included the 1600 Smith Street building.
By 1991, the M. W. Kellogg company rented more space. They already had offices in the M. W. Kellogg Tower. They leased an extra 250,000 square feet of space. This was across 12 floors in one of the Cullen Center buildings.
By 1997, Trizec had convinced some Cullen Center companies to move. They moved to the nearby Allen Center, which Trizec also owned. That same year, Continental Airlines announced they were moving their main offices to the Cullen Center. Paul Layne, a vice president at TrizecHahn Office, said this move would make the Cullen Center much fuller. Its occupancy rate would go from 81 percent to 94 percent.
Tim Reylea, a vice president at Cushman Realty Corp., said the Continental move was huge. He called it "probably the largest corporate relocation" in downtown Houston ever. Bob Lanier, who was the Mayor of Houston, was very happy about the airline moving downtown.
In 2001, the Enron company closed down. This left 800,000 square feet of space empty. This space was in the Allen Center and Cullen Center complexes in Downtown Houston.
In 2008, Continental Airlines agreed to rent its Downtown Houston office space for five more years. In 2010, Continental Airlines and United Airlines announced they would join together. The main office for the new, bigger company would be in the Chicago Loop (downtown Chicago). Continental did not say how much of its space in Cullen Center would become empty. They leased 480,000 square feet in Continental Center I. They also leased 220,000 square feet in Continental Center II.
500 Jefferson Building
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500 Jefferson Building
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| NRHP reference No. | 100003492 |
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| Added to NRHP | March 6, 2019 |
The 500 Jefferson building was the first part of Cullen Center to be built. Its construction was planned to start on October 1, 1960. This building opened in 1962. It has offices for KBR. Also, at one time, Suite 1600 held the Records Department for the Houston Fire Department.
In 2004, a law firm called Lapin & Landa LLP signed a lease. They agreed to rent 7,922 square feet of space in the building.
In 2010, KBR signed a 20-year lease. They rented 1,200,000 square feet at 500 Jefferson and the KBR Tower. In 2011, Brookfield Properties Corp. offered 500 Jefferson for sale. Paul Layne, Brookfield's executive vice president for Houston, said the KBR lease made the building very attractive to buyers.
In 2013, a company connected to W.P. Carey bought the 500 Jefferson building.
1801 Smith Building
The 1801 Smith building was previously known as Continental Center II. Then it was called 600 Jefferson. It has 20 stories and covers 449,087 square feet. Neuhaus & Taylor designed the building. Linbeck Construction Company was the main builder. Chault & Brady handled the mechanical engineering. Elisor Engineering, Inc. was the structural engineer. The building was finished in 1972 and updated in 1998. As of November 2014, United Airlines is the main company renting space there.
The Houston Fire Department has its main offices in this building. Their administrative offices, safety and security division, and emergency response team are on the 7th floor. A training room is also on the 7th floor. The fire department's spiritual advisor, fire safety rules division, fire safety officers, and teams that check tall buildings for safety are in Suite 600. The public education, public information office, special events, and staff services teams are in Suite 700. Records for ambulance and fire services, and the head doctor, are in Suite 800.
Continental Airlines moved its employees into the Cullen Center. This included Continental Center I and Continental Center II. The move happened in stages from July 1998 to January 1999. After the September 11 attacks, by September 2004, Continental laid off many of its office and management staff. Even with fewer workers, Continental did not say they would rent out any of their extra space. As of 2008, the airline leased 200,000 square feet at Continental Center II. They had not yet renewed their lease that year.
In 2009, at Continental Center II, Brookfield Properties started renting small office spaces. These spaces, from 1,200 to 2,000 square feet, were for small businesses. They also helped people who lost their jobs and wanted to start their own companies.
In November 2014, Brookfield sold the building to DRA Advisors and Stream Realty Partners.
The building had millions of dollars in updates and improvements. In March 2017, its address was officially changed to 1801 Smith Street, Houston, TX 77002.
Hotel
The Whitehall Hotel Houston Downtown is located within the Cullen Center. This hotel was first planned to have 250 rooms and be 10 stories tall. It was built on a block surrounded by Jefferson, Pease, and Smith streets. The Hotel Corporation of America started running the hotel as Hotel America. The hotel was supposed to be ready for guests in 1962. By 1961, the hotel was planned to have 327 rooms. Its groundbreaking ceremony was set for August 31, 1961. The hotel has 12,000 square feet of space for groups holding events.
Shops and Services
Here are some of the shops and services found in the Cullen Center buildings:
Continental Center I
- Ground Floor
- Subway (Suite 125)
- Continental Airlines Ticket Office (Suite 195)
- Concourse Level
- Cafe Le Monde
- Paradise Gifts
KBR Tower
- A Level Cafeteria
- Kim Son
- Subway
- Concourse Level
- Frost Bank (with Motor Bank)
500 Jefferson Street
- Concourse Level
- Continental Airlines Federal Credit Union
Images for kids
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Cullen Center KBR Tower Garage
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1801 Smith Garage
