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:''For the building in Chicago, Illinois formerly named Continental Center II, see CNA Center.'' Cullen Center is a skyscraper complex in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States. The complex is now managed by Brookfield Properties. Previously Trizec Properties owned all four office buildings.〔"(Cullen Center )." Carlin/White Associates. Retrieved on August 23, 2009.〕 The complex includes the headquarters of the Houston Fire Department and KBR, and it formerly included the headquarters of Continental Airlines. The buildings include 1600 Smith (formerly Continental Center I),〔"(Continental Center I )." Brookfield Properties. Retrieved on June 7, 2009.〕 600 Jefferson (formerly Continental Center II), KBR Tower, and 500 Jefferson Street. ==History== In 1959 the family of Hugh Roy Cullen, an oil businessperson and philanthropist who was recently deceased, announced that they would build a skyscraper complex in Downtown Houston. The family planned for the , 5½ city block site to accommodate several sites. The first two buildings were to be a 500 room, 15-18 story hotel and a 25 story office building. Next, a 40-45 story office building was to be completed. Other buildings were planned to be added at later times. Gerald E. Veitmann, president of the Cullen Center, said that it was going to be "a memorium to Mr. and Mrs. Cullen, an investment in excess of 100 million dollars," and "to Houston what Rockefeller Center is to New York City." Work for clearing the land was scheduled to begin in December 1959.〔"(Cullen Family Plans Skyscraper Center )." ''Associated Press'' at ''Corpus Christi Caller-Times''. Volume 31, No. 5. Sunday December 6, 1959. Page 1. Retrieved on July 3, 2010.〕 During the year, the family's plans also included another 25 story office building and a parking garage.〔"(Proposed Cullen Center )." ''Corsicana Daily Sun''. Monday December 14, 1959. 6. Retrieved on July 3, 2010.〕 Construction of the Cullen Center, which was planned to have around one dozen buildings, was scheduled to begin on October 1, 1960, with the first building being a 21-story office building with an attached parking garage.〔"(Memorial to Cullen To be Started Soon )." ''Associated Press'' at ''Corpus Christi Caller-Times''. July 17, 1960. Page 59. Retrieved on July 3, 2010.〕 Welton Beckett and Associates master planned the first two buildings, the 21 story, $12 million 500 Jefferson and the 12-story, $6 million Hotel America. Gerald E. Veltmann, the president of Cullen Center, Inc. said that the development "represents a marked departure from the traditional downtown scene" because the development "centers around a planning concept with four separate levels: sub surface, used for parking and mechanical equipment; surface, used for vehicular traffic, parking, entrance lobbies, and service entrances, a second level, used for pedestrian-oriented facilities such as main lobbies, shops, displays, galleries, lounges, and restaurants; and the top space, into which will rise the main towers containing hotel rooms and offices."〔"(Traditions Shattered by Houston's Cullen Center )." ''The Christian Science Monitor''. July 5, 1963. Real Estate Start Page 10.〕 In other words, the building design separated the pedestrian and vehicular traffic from one another. The first levels were to have open plazas. The developer planned to establish air-conditioned bridges connecting the buildings at their second levels. The architect, Welton Becket of FAIA, said that the two original buildings were "esthetically related through the use of a common material—concrete—in a variety of forms—physically related by the second-level pedestrian bridges, and visually related around open plaza areas and a common exposed aggregate sidewalk."〔 500 Jefferson opened in 1962.〔"(500 Jefferson Street )." Brookfield Properties. Retrieved on June 7, 2009.〕 Continental Center II opened in 1974.〔"(Continental Center II )." Brookfield Properties. Retrieved on June 7, 2009.〕 The KBR Tower was built in 1973 and renovated in 1991.〔"(KBR Tower )." Brookfield Properties. Retrieved on June 7, 2009.〕 Continental Center I was completed in 1984.〔"(Continental Center I )." Brookfield Properties. Retrieved on August 13, 2009.〕 By 1987 the Canadian company Trizec Corporation bought debentures carrying an option to buy portions of the Cullen Center, including 1600 Smith Street.〔Nichols, Bruce. "(The Selling of a City )." ''The Dallas Morning News. June 7, 1987. Retrieved on November 11, 2009.〕 By 1991 the M. W. Kellogg company, which has already taken space at the M. W. Kellogg Tower formerly held by its parent company, leased an additional of space on 12 floors within one building in Cullen Center.〔Stuart, Lettice. "(REAL ESTATE; A Big Swap Of Offices In Houston )." ''The New York Times''. Wednesday May 15, 1991.〕 By 1997 Trizec had convinced several Cullen Center tenants to move to the nearby Allen Center, which was also owned by Trizec. During that year Continental Airlines announced that it was moving its headquarters to the Cullen Center. Paul Layne, a vice president of the TrizecHahn Office division, said that the Continental move would raise the Cullen Center's occupancy rate from 81 percent in November 1996 to 94 percent.〔Zehr, Leonard. "TrizecHahn nabs U.S. leasing deal Continental Airlines enticed to move head office to downtown Houston from suburbs." ''The Globe and Mail''. September 11, 1997. Report on Business B7. Retrieved from LexisNexis on April 1, 2010.〕 Tim Reylea, the vice president of Cushman Realty Corp., said that the Continental move "is probably the largest corporate relocation in the central business district of Houston ever."〔 Bob Lanier, Mayor of Houston, said that he was "tickled to death" by the airline's move to relocate to Downtown Houston.〔Boisseau, Charles. "(Airline confirms relocation/Continental moving offices downtown )." ''Houston Chronicle''. Wednesday September 3, 1997. Business 1. Retrieved on August 23, 2009.〕 In 2001, when Enron collapsed, it vacated of space in the Allen Center and Cullen Center complexes in Downtown Houston.〔Bivins, Ralph. "(SURVIVAL OF THE NEWEST / OCCUPANCY DOWNTOWN TUMBLING, BUT THREE TOWERS DEFY TREND )." ''Houston Chronicle''. Sunday July 27, 2003. Business 1. Retrieved on November 11, 2009.〕 In 2008 Continental signed five year lease renewals for its Downtown Houston office space. In 2010, Continental Airlines and United Airlines announced that they would merge and that the headquarters of the combined company would be in the Chicago Loop. Continental has not stated how much of the of space that it leases in Continental Center I and the of space that it leases in Continental Center II will be vacated.〔Sarnoff, Nancy. "(Tenant has a ticket to fly )." ''Houston Chronicle''. May 8, 2010. Retrieved on July 12, 2010.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cullen Center」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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