Evolution of One Shell Plaza

In Houston, The downtown skyscraper formerly known as One Shell Plaza, the first high-rise office tower created by legendary developer Mr. Gerald D. Hines, will get a heavy $50 million redo, making the street level more welcoming to people with the addition of restaurants and landscaping.

The 50-story tower, now called 910 Louisiana, is owned by Busycon Properties LLC.

Hines manages the 1.2 million-SF building, which opened in 1971, and will oversee the redevelopment, designed by HOK.

The ground level of 910 Louisiana is being redeveloped to add restaurants, making the building more pedestrian friendly. Rendering Image: HOK. The Evolution of One Shell Plaza.

Winfield Haggard, Jr. and Chip Colvill of Partners Real Estate represent the owner in leasing the building, which will drop to 35% occupancy when Shell’s lease expires around the end of the year.

The building enters 2026 with 500,000 SF of contiguous vacant space, a huge chunk of emptiness on a key block bounded by Louisiana, McKinney, Walker and Smith streets.

910 Louisiana has historically been fully leased to major tenants, including Shell Oil Company and Baker Botts. In 2015, Shell vacated the building and subleased its space to numerous subtenants. The building was then renamed 910 Louisiana. In 2022, Baker Botts extended its lease for 175,000 SF.

In Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the 714, foot-tall, travertine-wrapped tower has undergone extensive renovations in the early 1990s, with additional upgrades over the years.

The renovation strategy has been embraced by other downtown building owners in the post-Covid environment where employers contend with the popularity of work-from-home trends. Although total renovation budgets are not disclosed, Downtown Houston landlords have spent over an estimated $1 billion in upgrades to keep office towers attractive to tenants. Even then, there’s no guarantee that major renovations lead to long-term success.

After Mr. Hines completed One Shell Plaza in the early 1970s, a construction boom swept over Downtown Houston for the next 15 years. Contending with the large inventory of 40- and 50-year-old buildings remains a challenge today. Downtown’s third-quarter vacancy rate stands at 29.2%, as stated by CBRE.