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717 Texas: Downtown Office At 717 Texas St.


rsb320

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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/hei...ws/6209171.html

Back before the Christmas HAIFfy hour, an elevator at 717 Texas 'stopped abruptly' breaking both legs and injuring the back of the passenger. The official statement was that the safety brakes engaged unexpectedly. Yesterday, the elevator right next to the other one (which is still out of service) did the same thing. Only, the passengers are not hospitalized and were able to give a true account. The elevator fell several floors, at which point the brakes kicked in.

This building is the newest skyscraper downtown, at 30+ floors and about 5 years old. The elevators are by Fujitec. Did the developer go on-the-cheap with this elevator company or are they reputable?

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Hines has had the elevator speeds reduced by 50% to "minimize to the greatest extent possible the opportunity for another entrapment." Entrapment my a**! Uh, opportunity?

Fujitec bigwigs are in route to Houston.

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I read that story earlier this morning and immediately wondered if it was in your building again. Have you noticed people on lower floors taking stairs?

We have an on-site Otis guy in my building whom I kind of know from the gym. I'm going to ask him what the deal is. I'm guessing elevator dudes in high rises have all kinds of stories. I don't think too much about fires and elevator mishaps, but I sure didn't have any heartbreak over moving from 38 down to 9.

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I read that story earlier this morning and immediately wondered if it was in your building again. Have you noticed people on lower floors taking stairs?

We have an on-site Otis guy in my building whom I kind of know from the gym. I'm going to ask him what the deal is. I'm guessing elevator dudes in high rises have all kinds of stories. I don't think too much about fires and elevator mishaps, but I sure didn't have any heartbreak over moving from 38 down to 9.

The lowest floor on this elevator bank is 21. The other elevator bank starts at 10; parking is below that in another elevator bank. No, I've not noticed anyone walking around panting from taking the stairs. The conversations on the elevators between various tenants is quite humorous though.

Let me know what Otis Man says or knows.

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Yikes, she's still in the hospital after a month. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6212062.html

Alas, we get confirmation from three first-hand witnesses that the elevators were in freefall. The official line from building management was that the emergency brakes unexpectedly engaged.

Now that the elevator speed has been reduced by 50%, that gives you twice as long to suffer anxiety while riding.

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Otis man didn't have much to allow, but confirmed what was in the Chron story today about last month's malfunction --the gross part about compound fractures and it was a messy scene. He didn't have any firsthand accounts from this week. He appeared to hold the offending non-Otis elevator company in very low regard.

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Otis man didn't have much to allow, but confirmed what was in the Chron story today about last month's malfunction --the gross part about compound fractures and it was a messy scene. He didn't have any firsthand accounts from this week. He appeared to hold the offending non-Otis elevator company in very low regard.

:huh: Oh, great. I'm seriously considering taking the stairs, down anyway. I just can't imagine if this were to happen in a full elevator. The elevator drops, everyone leaves the ground and everyone falls into a mangled mess and are stuck there for 30 minutes.

Yep, stairs for me.

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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/hei...ws/6209171.html

Back before the Christmas HAIFfy hour, an elevator at 717 Texas 'stopped abruptly' breaking both legs and injuring the back of the passenger. The official statement was that the safety brakes engaged unexpectedly. Yesterday, the elevator right next to the other one (which is still out of service) did the same thing. Only, the passengers are not hospitalized and were able to give a true account. The elevator fell several floors, at which point the brakes kicked in.

This building is the newest skyscraper downtown, at 30+ floors and about 5 years old. The elevators are by Fujitec. Did the developer go on-the-cheap with this elevator company or are they reputable?

The four biggies are Otis, Schindler(Westinghouse), ThyssenKrupp(Dover) and Kone. Fujitec has been trying to break into the Houston market for years. This will probably set them back, at least locally. However, everybody remembers the poor doctor that got his head lopped off in an Otis elevator mishap at St. Joseph's a few years back.

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The four biggies are Otis, Schindler(Westinghouse), ThyssenKrupp(Dover) and Kone. Fujitec has been trying to break into the Houston market for years. This will probably set them back, at least locally. However, everybody remembers the poor doctor that got his head lopped off in an Otis elevator mishap at St. Joseph's a few years back.

wasn't that doctor intoxicated while on the job?

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Otis is the only elevator for me!

An Otis elevator was the one that decapitated the doctor several years ago at St. Joseph's. His head rolled into the elevator compartment as the elevator continued upward. The woman in the elevator was horrified.

http://www.houstonpress.com/2003-10-09/new...hing-elevators/

wasn't that doctor intoxicated while on the job?

I don't remember anything like that.

Edit: Oh, looks like you were right after all.

Edited by kylejack
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An Otis elevator was the one that decapitated the doctor several years ago at St. Joseph's. His head rolled into the elevator compartment as the elevator continued upward. The woman in the elevator was horrified.

http://www.houstonpress.com/2003-10-09/new...hing-elevators/

I don't remember anything like that.

I just remember that he was Russian.

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I saw my Otis Dude again this morning, and so we chit chat and I ask him how the elevators are working today and he grins and says just fine. Can tell he's getting a kick out of how many people who never talk to him are talking to him now. He also laughed and said 'you know, I just tell 'em that the elevators are doing what they're designed to do in the event of a malfunction, because if they weren't, those people would be dead. '

I guess the compound fractures don't sound so bad after all.

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I saw my Otis Dude again this morning, and so we chit chat and I ask him how the elevators are working today and he grins and says just fine. Can tell he's getting a kick out of how many people who never talk to him are talking to him now. He also laughed and said 'you know, I just tell 'em that the elevators are doing what they're designed to do in the event of a malfunction, because if they weren't, those people would be dead. '

I guess the compound fractures don't sound so bad after all.

Oh thanks, I feel better now. People on the elevators always get off laughing now. I guess it's a mechanism to conceal their fear.

I keep getting a picture in my head of the old Warner Brothers cartoons; the elevator drops beneath you and you remain stationary for a bit, and finally crash and burn (uninjurred, of course).

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The four biggies are Otis, Schindler(Westinghouse), ThyssenKrupp(Dover) and Kone. Fujitec has been trying to break into the Houston market for years. This will probably set them back, at least locally. However, everybody remembers the poor doctor that got his head lopped off in an Otis elevator mishap at St. Joseph's a few years back.

It isn't necessarily about what brand of equipment, but rather who is maintaining the equipment. The Fujitec equipment is highly proprietary, so they charge a small fortune to maintain their own equipment because no one else can. Now, I am not saying it is the worst equipment, but it would allow you to be very relaxed on the maintenance, since you know that you have about a 0% chance of losing the contract. So, the real problem may be that Fujitec wasn't maintaing the equipment properly. The only company that doesn't really make proprietary equipment is Otis. Anyone can work on their equipment compared to Schindler, Kone, and Thyssen. This is probably because Otis is the only American company and they understand that they don't have to keep their stuff proprietary to keep their customers. Their customers like them and choose them because they are a reputable company. P.S. my building has Otis and we love them, maybe why I am biased, but I have worked with all of them in all sorts of buildings.

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An Otis elevator was the one that decapitated the doctor several years ago at St. Joseph's. His head rolled into the elevator compartment as the elevator continued upward. The woman in the elevator was horrified.

http://www.houstonpress.com/2003-10-09/new...hing-elevators/

I don't remember anything like that.

Edit: Oh, looks like you were right after all.

well OTIS and I are friends so he would not do that to me and I usually do not lead with my head into the elevator or use my head as the appendage to try and keep the elevator door from shutting :o

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I usually do not lead with my head into the elevator or use my head as the appendage to try and keep the elevator door from shutting :o

Neither did he. The account given by the woman who was in the elevator when it happened said that the doors closed on his body and pinned him.

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  • 3 weeks later...

How old is this article. Hines has advertised on their website that this building is LEED Silver certified for a very long time. Also, they might want to share with their tenants that there is a program for recycling batteries, computers, etc.

Now, if we could just get the elevators to stop injuring people...

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  • 1 year later...

Got this press release in the e-mail a few days ago.

I noticed Hines is calling it "717 Texas" now. Is it no longer the Calpine Center?

----------------

HINES' 717 TEXAS RECERTIFIES AT LEED PLATINUM

Only LEED Platinum Skyscraper in Texas

(HOUSTON) - The Houston office of Hines, the international real estate firm, announced today that 717 Texas has been certified at the Platinum level under the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) LEED® rating system for Existing Buildings (EB). The building is the only skyscraper in the state of Texas to achieve the USGBC's highest green building designation.

Hines Senior Vice President and Project Officer John Mooz said, "When design was initiated in 2000, we made a purposeful decision to incorporate as many sustainable features as commercially possible. As a result, in 2009, 717 Texas became the first commercial office building downtown to earn LEED EB. Now it is the only LEED EB Platinum skyscraper in the state. The quality of the tenancy and its high retention rate appear to confirm that our strategy was indeed sound."

Improvements over the building's previous Silver certification include: an increase in ENERGY STAR rating; increased waste diversion rates; further reductions in potable water use inside the building and zero potable water use for exterior landscaping; and improvements in green cleaning products and practices. Additional building features include: a vegetated green skygarden terrace; highly efficient air ventilation and filtration systems; variable speed drives; and a condensate recovery system.

City of Houston Mayor Annise Parker said, "This is the kind of activity we are hoping to see from more commercial office property owners and managers in Houston-reaching for certification, and then maintaining those improvements over time. It helps the environment and it elevates Houston's reputation as a green city, which goes a long way toward attracting and retaining top employers."

717 Texas has earned the ENERGY STAR label four times. With a current ENERGY STAR score of 90, the building is 41 percent more energy efficient and saves more than $700,000 in annual energy costs when compared to the average U.S. office building. This translates to estimated annual greenhouse gas reductions equivalent to removing 1,010 passenger vehicles from the road

Hines Property Manager Adam Rose said, "As one of the first buildings in the world to re-certify under the LEED EB program, we have demonstrated that sustained progress in a large multi-tenant building is feasible over the long term through the attentive and collaborative efforts of the building management, tenants and ownership."

Designed by HOK and Kendall Heaton Associates, and developed by a joint venture of Hines and Prime Asset Management in 2003, 717 Texas is a 33-story, 696,421-square-foot office tower located in downtown Houston. Relying on sustainable design principles and cutting-edge building technologies, the building's architect executed on a design to maximize energy efficiency and occupant comfort. As a result, the building was invited to participate in the LEED for Core & Shell pilot program in the early part of the last decade.

To assist Hines with the LEED EB re-certification process, Kirksey Architecture was retained as a consultant. Hines and Kirksey have completed over 16 million square feet of LEED EB certifications since 2009.

717 Texas is leased to: Avalon; Calpine; Jones Day; Plains Exploration; and TransCanada. Hines is responsible for building management and leasing.

Hines is one of the most sustainable real estate companies in the world. In 2010 Hines was recognized by the EPA, for the third time, with the ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence Award; Hines manages 153 labeled buildings, representing more than 77 million square feet, in the ENERGY STAR program. Twelve Hines development or redevelopment projects, representing more than six million square feet, have been designated as Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR.

Hines is also a leader in the U.S. Green Building Council's programs, with 202 projects, representing more than 107 million square feet that have been certified, pre-certified or registered under the various LEED® rating systems. Hines was a founding member of the German Sustainable Building Council and the Russian Green Building Council, and is active in the Green Building Council Brasil, the Green Building Council España, the Green Building Council Italia, the Indian Green Building Council, the BRE Environmental Assessment Method program in the United Kingdom and the Haute Qualité Environnementale program in France.

Hines is a privately owned real estate firm involved in real estate investment, development and property management worldwide. The firm's historical and current portfolio of projects that are underway, completed, acquired and managed for third parties includes 1,119 properties representing more than 457 million square feet of office, residential, mixed-use, industrial, hotel, medical and sports facilities, as well as large, master-planned communities and land developments. With offices in 100 cities in 17 countries, and controlled assets valued at approximately $23 billion, Hines is one of the largest real estate organizations in the world. Visit www.hines.com for more information. To learn more about sustainability at Hines, visit www.hines.com/sustainability.

--------------------

Here's the official HAIF portrait of the building:

CalpineCenter-Jan08-008a.jpg

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