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The Williams Tower (originally named and still commonly referred to as the Transco Tower) is a 64-story, class A office tower located in the Uptown District of Houston, Texas. The building was designed by New York-based John Burgee Architects with Philip Johnson in association with Houston-based Morris-Aubry Architects (now known as Morris Architects). Construction began in August, 1981 and was completed in December, 1982. The tower is among Houston's most visible buildings and is the 4th-tallest in Texas, the 26th-tallest in the United States, and the 140th-tallest building in the world. The Williams Tower is the tallest building in Houston outside of Downtown Houston,〔 and at the time of its construction was believed to be the world's tallest skyscraper outside of a central business district. ==History== Real estate developers Gerald D. Hines Interests hired New York-based John Burgee Architects with Philip Johnson to design the building, in association with Houston-based Morris-Aubry Architects (now known as Morris Architects).〔 Construction was completed in 1983. The building was named the Transco Tower after its first major tenant, Transco Energy Co. Transco Energy Co. merged with the Williams Companies in 1995 and in 1999 the name of the building was changed to the Williams Tower. Despite the name change, the building is often referred to as "the Transco" by long-time Houston residents. In December 2002, Ryan John Hartley climbed the tower and jumped from about halfway up, resulting in his death, which was ruled a suicide. In 2008, Hines REIT Properties LP, an affiliate of Hines Real Estate Investment Trust Inc., purchased the Williams Tower for $271.5 million from Transco Tower Ltd., a partnership consisting of Kuwaiti investors represented by Atlanta-based Fosterlane Management Corp. The building was offered along with a parking garage, a tract across the street from the Williams Tower, and a 48% stake in the Williams Waterwall (now named the Gerald D. Hines Waterwall Park) and the surrounding park; prior to this transaction Hines had already owned the other 52% of the waterwall.〔"(Project Sale: Williams Tower )." ''Houston Business Journal''. Friday April 10, 2009. Modified on Saturday April 11, 2009. Retrieved on November 15, 2009.〕 On the morning of September 13, 2008, during Hurricane Ike, the top of the tower was damaged near the rotating beacon and many windows were blown out. The high-rise suffered over $3.5 million in wind damages. Twelve of the 49 elevators were damaged, most by water damage〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Williams Tower Water damage repair project )〕 due to roof failures and others due to extreme building sway. Hines Real Estate Investment Trust Inc. put the Williams Tower up for sale in August 2012, selling it to Invesco Ltd. subsidiary Invesco Advisers Inc. for $412 million in March, 2013.〔 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「Williams Tower」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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