One Shell Plaza


One Shell Plaza is a 50-story, skyscraper at 910 Louisiana Street in Downtown Houston, Texas. Perched atop the building is an antenna that brings the height to. At its completion in 1971, the tower was the tallest in the city.

Designers

One Shell Plaza was designed by the architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Associate architects were Wilson, Morris, Crain & Anderson, and the landscape architects were Sasaki Associates. One Shell Square, in New Orleans and Republic Plaza in Denver, also designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, have designs very similar to that of One Shell Plaza. Like One Shell Plaza, One Shell Square has Shell Oil as a major tenant.

Tenants

, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, was headquartered in this building until 2016. The law firm of Baker Botts is also headquartered there.
As of 2018, NRG Energy occupied the bottom 22 floors of the building.
The Houston Club, on the 49th floor of the building, has dining, entertainment, and meeting facilities.

History

The building opened in 1971 and was renovated in 1994. The $80 million in major renovations included an updated lobby and plaza, elevator modernization, upgrades to the buildings EMP systems, new lighting, and ADA modifications.
In December 2011 Shell renewed the lease for. The new lease retroactively had the start date of January 1, 2011, and will last for 15 years, ending in 2025.
In March 2012 Hines Interests Limited Partnership announced it was putting the building up for sale.

Antennas

The 170 ft mast atop the building has carried various television and radio signals since the building's completion. The mast supported 1971 start up channel 26 KVRL and a mast that simultaneously radiated signals for eight FM stations KYND, 93.7 KRLY, 95.7 KIKK-FM, 99.1 KODA, 100.3 KILT-FM, 101.1 KLOL, 102.1 KLYX, and 104.1 KRBE. The combiner and antenna was supplied by Electronic Research Inc. One Shell was used until the completion of the then Texas Commerce Tower and Allied Bank Plaza in 1982–1983, creating a skyscraper canyon that causes multipath distortion, and necessitated the move to the Houston antenna farm in Missouri City.

Gallery

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