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Williams Tower At 2800 Post Oak Blvd.


DaTrain

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Spending yrs in the military strategic planning arena......yes i do have inside knowlege of planning, and i stand by what i said...they are a joke!!!!!! So your suggestion to me to think is silly. Afghanistan attacks are on soft targets, its the only thing they can manage to do...small targets on a small scale......run back into hiding.....anything else and the US military will slay them to no end for it would require them to stick thier heads out of hiding a little longer. If soft targets were the goal here, theres more of them other than building observatories, and they rank on the same scale...minimal at best. Closure of the observation decks were and are a "knee jerk, symbolism over substance" reaction to the horror of 9-11. Al Qeida attacked us, not the IRA. The methods are different.

You state that you stand by your "joke" statement, but still haven't explained what their reasoning is and why it is a joke. So, answer the question. You imply that you know what went into the decision-making process. Please enlighten the rest of us.

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You state that you stand by your "joke" statement, but still haven't explained what their reasoning is and why it is a joke. So, answer the question. You imply that you know what went into the decision-making process. Please enlighten the rest of us.

Thier reasoning is "typical knee jerk reaction".

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Thier reasoning is "typical knee jerk reaction".

You still haven't explained how you know their reaction is a knee-jerk reaction. Were you in the meeting when the decision was made? Did you read a transcript of the minutes? Do you know someone who was in the meeting? No, you're just making stuff up to be critical of people you don't know and have never met.

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You still haven't explained how you know their reaction is a knee-jerk reaction. Were you in the meeting when the decision was made? Did you read a transcript of the minutes? Do you know someone who was in the meeting? No, you're just making stuff up to be critical of people you don't know and have never met.

Closure of the observatories protects no one. It is smoke and mirrors...do something completely stupid and beneficial to know one in order to look good in front of cameras. Showing that you are doing something proactive to combat the terror threat....a show that has no teeth. Problem with that stupid move is, people will start to question it over time. They will question it because it makes no sense. Theres no need to sit in on any meetings, been there and done that on a level that you and most others will never know. Closing the observations decks was about as silly and knee jerk as stationing military troops at the nations airports. Symbolism over substance.

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Closing the observations decks was about as silly and knee jerk as stationing military troops at the nations airports. Symbolism over substance.

Actually, I'm kind of glad the military troops are/were stationed at the airports. The 9/11-type attacks had never been done before, no one would have ever thought of airplanes crashing into buildings.

Because, by blocking the main entrances to buildings with those concrete blocks, you eliminate the threat of truck/car bombs. By closing the observation deck, you eliminate the threat of a shoe or vest bomb. You can't have anti-aircraft guns on the buildings, so how do we stop a planes from being used as they were?

Secruity at the airport. You cut it at its source.

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the williams tower is not really known to folks outside of the houston area. houston folks come there to neck, commit suicide or sit atop of the parking garage with a high powered rifle. however, if al 'queda were to hit houston (which is a possibility), they would hit the refineries or the ship channel. plus williams isn't the only tower "locked down" since 9/11 but most office buildings have become inhabited by roaming packs of security officers. i think shutting down tall office towers immediately after 9/11 was a wise idea but after a couple of months, they should have eased up a bit. no matter where i go with my digi-cam, i always have some wary eyed

as for the national guard at the airport in the weeks after 9/11, not a bad idea and most countries do have heavily armed police stationed at airports.

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Not to change the subject, but I'm curious how the idea of having the Williams/Transco Tower uptown came about in the first place, and how the architect came out with such a still-modern design over 30 years ago. Was the idea back then that Williams was going to attract more skyscrapers in the Uptown area, or the exact opposite?

How dare you get back on topic! :D

I'm pretty sure the answer to all of your questions is 'yes'. That is, you're asking the right questions, and I have some answers, almost.

According to my authentic, original 1982 Transco Tower promotional poster, it's "A Project of Gerald D. Hines Interests and Transco Companies Inc." Gerald Hines was very much involved with the design of this building, and it's from his concepts that Johnson & Burgee developed the final design. Do not ask me to name my source; I read this somewhere about 20 years ago, and can't be expected to remember everything. But yeah. It was in a newspaper article from that time. Mr. Hines has always had a keen interest in and appreciation for architecture.

The team (Johnson, Burgee and Hines) wanted to do something audacious. Like George Mitchell, Hines had a vision that Houston would continue to expand and built accordingly; for the former it was The Woodlands, the latter Transco Tower. The inspiration for Transco, I'm told, is the lighthouse. It makes sense. A landmark to which people are drawn from vast distances. The rotating beacon atop Transco/Williams is a sly reference to that concept.

Rather than a literal interpretation of a lighthouse, Hines wanted an icon of urbanity. What better than the forms of Manhattan skyscrapers? Transco definately shows influences of the Empire State Building and especially the New York Daily News building (Raymond Hood):

175px-HughFerris1.jpg

Even the Transco promotional poster recalls the Hugh Ferriss rendering.

So yes. It was built to celebrate its site in a sea of nothingness; and its role as a beacon to which a city would eventually come has been realized. Its destiny has been fulfilled.

Was that too long winded?

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Actually, I'm kind of glad the military troops are/were stationed at the airports. The 9/11-type attacks had never been done before, no one would have ever thought of airplanes crashing into buildings.

Because, by blocking the main entrances to buildings with those concrete blocks, you eliminate the threat of truck/car bombs. By closing the observation deck, you eliminate the threat of a shoe or vest bomb. You can't have anti-aircraft guns on the buildings, so how do we stop a planes from being used as they were?

Secruity at the airport. You cut it at its source.

You are aware those troops didnt have live rounds, right? Symbolism over substance.

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In 1985, Transco commissioned a local press to do a book about the building. The result is the most visually stunning (and collectible) book ever printed on a Houston topic. You can order a copy here:

http://www.herringdesign.com/herringpress.asp

In a foreword by Philip Johnson, he talks about being inspired by Chartres Cathedral - it is the first thing you see of the town when you are approaching, and its looming presence is with you the entire time you are there. He wanted something that would stand alone and be an orientation, a reference point, for all Houstonians. I have read elsewhere that he was inspired by the Nebraska State Capitol, and by other art deco skyscrapers of the 1920's. He liked the idea of the traditional, iconic stone tower, but he thought it was silly to make a building out of stone in an age when you could use glass. Thus he used glass, but dimensioned the windows in such a way as to recall stone.

The building was made 64 stories tall to match the highest stock price reached by Transco (too bad they didn't hit 90 or something). The Waterwall is 64 feet tall. The building's slender profile was made possible due to sacrifices on the part of the CEO, Jack Bowen, in terms of rent and convenience, for the sake of creating a work of art. Philip Johnson has called him one of the few "true patrons" of art in the corporate world.

The developer Gerald Hines, whose favorite client was Johnson (they had done Pennzoil Place, and would do Bank of America together), wanted to have his company's offices in "the finest skyscraper that anyone could build in America." The building was thus the product of three personalities, all dedicated to the idea of art transcending any practical rationale. The result is one of the half-dozen truly unique, truly classic skyscrapers in the United States.

As to the lobby... I went up there several times as a courier a couple years ago. I think anyone who went into the building would stand a decent chance of getting in an elevator and going up there without being stopped. There is a little room up there with glass walls, always vacant, that has a three-foot model of the building sitting on a table and some windows with westward views. The elevators are neat - each is panelled in an exotic marble, with a small plate telling the location where the marble was quarried. There are usually a couple of art exhibits going on in the lobby.

Edited by H-Town Man
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is it a large poster? is it scan-able? :)

It's about 3' tall, and has been framed since '83, so probably scanning isn't an option.

If only I knew someone with a digital camera who knew how to post pictures on the 'net and wasn't scared of creepy ol' Montrose hippies, I'd share it with y'all (hint, hint :D ).

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  • 2 weeks later...
The guy who built it owned the Galleria, and he wanted a signature tower for the area.

Thye"guy who built it' was Gerald Hines! Mr hines has become one of the worlds largest and most respected real estate developers in modern history. He continues to put more back into a community than he takes away. The architectural firm that designed Transco Williams] Tower, "Johnson & Burgee Architests" of New York helped make Hines Interest what it is. Transco was one the first facilities that the Hines development-construction team masterminded in setting the pace for Hines Interest yesterday, today and for many decades to come.

We need more groups as "Hines Interest" in what they bring to the skyline across our globe. In my 45 years in the construction & development arena I have never found another firm equal to them. I was fortunate to have spent over half of my career with them from the very early eighties to the late ninties and very proud of it. Not a better more honest, sincere & dedicated real estate developer anywhere.

:D

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Back in the 80s when I was a student at Rice, a buddy of mine and I decided to go up as high as we could in Transco..........

We rode up to the top floor and found a stairwell that led even higher...... we climbed and climbed up until we found ourselves right there next to the motor that drove the spotlight around! And the pyramid roof of the very top was right over our heads. We could not have climbed any higher.

It was odd because the spotlight itself, whose beam we had seen night after night shining its great arc across the wide, flat expanses of our restless, beloved city, apparently emanated from a smallish beacon only about the size of a TV set.

Has anyone else ventured so high in Transco? This all predates 9/11, of course............

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Gene, I couldn't agree more. Where are the new crop of Hineses from Houston? Seems like all the big developers are from out of town. Houston used to have such a pioneering spirit but its gone now.

Compaq

Oshmans

Randalls

Foleys

Astroworld

What happened?

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Back in the 80s when I was a student at Rice, a buddy of mine and I decided to go up as high as we could in Transco..........

We rode up to the top floor and found a stairwell that led even higher...... we climbed and climbed up until we found ourselves right there next to the motor that drove the spotlight around! And the pyramid roof of the very top was right over our heads. We could not have climbed any higher.

It was odd because the spotlight itself, whose beam we had seen night after night shining its great arc across the wide, flat expanses of our restless, beloved city, apparently emanated from a smallish beacon only about the size of a TV set.

Has anyone else ventured so high in Transco? This all predates 9/11, of course............

OMG!!! I'm lost for words! You are one lucky person, I'm sure the only people that have ever done that before are the ones that maintain the beacon.

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I wonder how ugly this city might have turned out during its golden age of the booming late 70s and early 80s, had it not been for such minds as those of Hines, Johnson/B. (etc.). They seemed to have such a precise image of glamour and perfection, expecially for a city bustling out of nothing. It may be a shame they didn't have political ties, or even just there own people in office, image what they could have gotten done then. (Light rail, as seen in the Post Oak Blvd. Images from how ever many years back with the big steel arches).

Its also a shame we didn't have vision-ists like this as city leaders, or atleast those who cut threw red tape.

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  • 2 weeks later...
I've heard a rumor from a Williams Employee that Williams Energy (formerly Transco) may soon no longer be the majority tenant of Williams Tower. Wachovia Bank is apparently moving in and will be the main tenant. How soon this could happen and if it could lead to another building name change, I wasn't told.

Wachovia is based in Charlotte and I can't imagine will be moving anytime soon. To be the majority tenent of Williams Tower, that would require quite a presence, quite an office. Do any banks have that kind of presence here? I know we have BOA Building.. but I guess I was always under the impression that Houston failed at trying to be center of banking.. that lots of smaller banks that were headquartered here got swallowed up and that none were headquartered here now.

That may all be irrelevent.

Anyways... does anyone here work for Williams, for Wachovia, or in Williams Tower that can affirm or squash this rumor ?

The name change is dependent on what is written in the lease. The Wachovia lease coupled with a Williams contraction of space might might trigger a name change. Maybe someone knows that information. Anyone work for Hines and has access to that lease? Let us know.

Name changes happen all the time. For Instance with Hibernia was bought out by Capital One, all signage and naming rights went to Capital One. Bank One Tower in Austin has been re-branded Chase Tower after that sale. Chevron Tower (aka 1301 McKinney) was re-named Fullbright Tower when Chevron sold the building to Crescent.

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The name change is dependent on what is written in the lease. The Wachovia lease coupled with a Williams contraction of space might might trigger a name change. Maybe someone knows that information. Anyone work for Hines and has access to that lease? Let us know.

Name changes happen all the time. For Instance with Hibernia was bought out by Capital One, all signage and naming rights went to Capital One. Bank One Tower in Austin has been re-branded Chase Tower after that sale. Chevron Tower (aka 1301 McKinney) was re-named Fullbright Tower when Chevron sold the building to Crescent.

Name changes happen all the time... now. Thats the sad part. Empire State is still Empire State.

Regardless... When I was told, I guess I assumed Wachovia didn't have offices there now? Am I wrong ? Do they already have offices in Williams Tower and are expanding and as a result will be the biggest tenant ?

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Name changes happen all the time... now. Thats the sad part. Empire State is still Empire State.

Regardless... When I was told, I guess I assumed Wachovia didn't have offices there now? Am I wrong ? Do they already have offices in Williams Tower and are expanding and as a result will be the biggest tenant ?

The Empire State Building is a historical property and the owners would most likely never offer naming rights. Many offices offer signage rights. Once your name is on top of the building, people start to call the building by that name. I can not tell you many "Wells Fargo" Buildings there are.

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From a purely selfish perspective, I'd love to see the tower renamed Wachovia Tower. Wachovia Bank was founded in 1879 in Winston-Salem, NC, my hometown. For decades, the tallest building in North Carolina was Wachovia Tower in downtown Winston-Salem.

w-s_8764.jpg

Wachovia later built an even taller building, designed by Cesar Pelli, before moving its headquarters to Charlotte. Pelli has said that building was his best.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled thread. Most big building leases give naming rights to the largest tennant. If Wachovia has expanded its presence, we could see a change. Most of us old-timers would probably still call it Transco, though.

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I understand that the biggest tenant gets the naming right these days. I was lamenting that, not arguing that it doesn't happen.

And I understand that if this rumor is true, we very well could see another pointless namechange as most Houstonians ignore it.

Wachovia Securities has an address listed at 2700 Post Oak.

Williams Tower's address is 2800 Post Oak.

I don't know that immediate area.. is there a corner Wachovia bank right there across the street from the galleria? Is 2700 the address of a smaller office building right there ?

Williams currently leases 15-20% of the building.

Based on the address above, it doesn't seem like Wachovia has a presence in the building.

But this also means for Wachovia to be the monster tenant, they'd have to occupy almost 1/4th of the building.

That much is currently unleased ?? Somebody else is moving out ??

Also.. Transco/Williams has bene the main tenant/namesake since the building was opened. I would think there would be some relationship/rapport built up between them and Hines.

If another monster tenant did want to move in and take over.. wouldn't Hines notify Williams, seeing if they were interested in leasing more space so they could remain the namesake ??

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They plan to overtake Chase. I'd like to see it.

They would have to merge with the two banks just behind them in terms of asset rankings just to reach approximate parity. And I don't see Dimon giving in that easily.

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