Gensler Relocates from Pennzoil Place to 2 Houston Center
Rendering of 2 Houston Center planned by Brookfield Properties. Architecture: Gensler
HOUSTON – The global architecture firm Gensler has signed a lease for 45,000 square feet at 2 Houston Center, part of a comprehensive renovation led by owner Brookfield Properties.
Gensler will relocate from its current 65,000-square-foot office at Pennzoil Place, the notable 1975 project developed by Gerald D. Hines.
Lease negotiations for Gensler were handled by Tim Relyea of Cushman & Wakefield and Craig Beyer of CBRE. Brookfield Properties was represented by Doug Little, David Baker, Kelli Gault, and Jack Scharnberg of Transwestern, along with Clint Bawcom and Bill Neeson of Brookfield Properties.
This signing follows another significant move into 2 Houston Center: last week Direct Energy announced it will leave Greenway Plaza and occupy 105,000 square feet in the building.
Gensler currently employs 288 people in Houston; the firm plans to consolidate and move its entire local staff into Houston Center later in 2019.
Gensler is also the design lead for the redevelopment of Houston Center, a 4.2 million-square-foot downtown complex Brookfield acquired in late 2019 for $875 million. The Houston Center campus, originally developed by Texas Eastern, includes three high-rise office towers and a 16-story office building above more than 196,000 square feet of retail.
Within 2 Houston Center, Gensler will design its own space in a 40-story, roughly 1 million-square-foot tower at 909 Fannin. “As our work, our clients and our Houston team grow and change, so should our office,” said Co-Managing Director Hunter Clayton. “The design and functionality will reflect a new generation of workspaces—one that fully represents our culture, our evolution and our craft as designers.”
Gensler has maintained a downtown Houston presence for 46 years. The firm’s local portfolio includes major projects such as The Houston Ballet, the George R. Brown Convention Center master plan, 1000 Main, Hess Tower, Capitol Tower and the post–Hurricane Harvey rehabilitation of the Theater District parking structure.
“Downtown Houston is and has always been our home,” said Co-Managing Director Stephanie Burritt. “Our employees have enjoyed being surrounded and inspired by Houston’s unique urban fabric, and we want to continue that energy by bringing it into our new space.” Gensler is a global architecture, design, and planning firm with 48 offices and more than 6,000 professionals across Asia, Europe, Australia, the Middle East, and the Americas.
Travis Overall
In January 2019, Brookfield unveiled plans for a major revitalization of Houston Center. The program includes a new arrival experience along McKinney Street with a central plaza and greenspace, landscaped terraces connected by monumental stairs, a two-story glass façade, and reclad skybridges designed to encourage street-level retail and dining activity. Clark Condon is serving as landscape architect and Harvey Builders is the contractor. Completion is targeted for late 2020.
“As the project architect on the recently announced Houston Center renovation, having Gensler’s office at 2 Houston Center underscores the capital investment we are making in the property and in downtown Houston,” said Travis Overall, Executive Vice President and Head of the Texas Region for Brookfield Properties. “Upon completion, downtown’s largest asset will be a vibrant destination for tenants and visitors alike.”
Brookfield maintains a significant downtown Houston portfolio that also includes Allen Center and Heritage Plaza.
