One Shell Plaza

29°45′33″N 95°22′04″W / 29.7591°N 95.3677°W / 29.7591; -95.3677Completed1971; 53 years ago (1971)HeightAntenna spire304.8 m (1,000 ft)Roof218 m (715 ft)Technical detailsFloor count50Floor area113,900 m² (1,226,000 sq ft)Lifts/elevators22Design and constructionArchitect(s)Skidmore, Owings & MerrillDeveloperHines Interests Limited PartnershipEngineerSkidmore, Owings & MerrillMain contractorW. S. Bellows ConstructionReferences^[1][2][3][4]

One Shell Plaza (OSP) is a 50-story, 218 m (715 ft) skyscraper at 910 Louisiana Street in Downtown Houston, Texas. Perched atop the building is an antenna that brings the pinnacle height of the building to 304.8 m (1,000 ft). 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.

The Hancock Whitney Center 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, the Hancock Whitney Center also has Shell Oil as a major tenant, and was previously named One Shell Square.

History

At its completion in 1971, the tower was the tallest in the city. The building was renovated in 1994.^[5] 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.^[6]

In December 2011 Shell renewed the lease for 804,491 sq ft (74,739.7 m²). The new lease retroactively had the start date of January 1, 2011, and will last for 15 years, ending in 2025.^[7]

In June 2012 One Shell Plaza, together with 17-story Two Shell Plaza at 777 Walker Street, were purchased by Enterprise Products Partners, which is owned by the family of Dan Duncan, Houston's wealthiest man.^[8] The two buildings sold for a reported $550 million.^[8]

Tenants

Shell Oil Company, a subsidiary of Shell plc, was headquartered in this building until 2016.^{[9][10][11][12]}

Baker Botts, one of the largest law firms in Houston, has been a tenant in the building since it opened in 1971.^[13][14][15] Baker Botts renewed its eight-floor, 172,301-square-foot lease in 2022, making it a tenant for over 50 years.^[13]

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.^[5]

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 (later KDOG, now KRIV) and a mast that simultaneously radiated signals for eight FM stations KYND (then 92.5, now KKBQ on 92.9 MHz), 93.7 KRLY (now KQBT), 95.7 KIKK-FM (now KKHH), 99.1 KODA, 100.3 KILT-FM, 101.1 KLOL, 102.1 KLYX (now KMJQ), 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

• 
  Houston skyline in 1971 shortly after completion of the building
• 
  Entrance on Smith Street
• 
  Dusk

In popular culture

The building was used as the fictional "World Building", the setting of fictional oil company "World Oil", a fictional Houston-based firm, as part of initial storylines presented on the former NBC soap opera Another World. It featured even more prominently on spinoff series Texas, set in Houston.

See also

• List of tallest buildings in Texas
• List of tallest buildings in Houston
• List of tallest buildings in the United States

1. ^ "One Shell Plaza". CTBUH Skyscraper Center.
2. ^ "Emporis building ID 117759". Emporis. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016.
3. ^ "One Shell Plaza". SkyscraperPage.
4. ^ One Shell Plaza at Structurae
5. ^ ^{a b} "One Shell Plaza." Hines Interests Limited Partnership. Retrieved on January 17, 2009.
6. ^ TheSquareFoot "910 Louisiana Street." November 15, 2013. November 15, 2013.
7. ^ Patel, Purva. "Shell renews downtown lease." Houston Chronicle. December 5, 2011. Retrieved on December 5, 2011.
8. ^ ^{a b} Pulsinelli, Olivia (10 July 2012). "Duncan family reportedly buying Shell Oil buildings". Houston, Texas: Houston Business Journal. Retrieved 13 February 2024. The family of late billionaire Dan Duncan reportedly is paying about $550 million for two buildings occupied by Shell Oil Co
9. ^ Sarnoff, Nancy (21 September 2016). "Namesake tenant departing One Shell Plaza". The Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
10. ^ "Shell Wind Energy offices Archived 2008-12-27 at the Wayback Machine." Royal Dutch Shell. Retrieved on January 14, 2009.
11. ^ "Request for a Grant from Shell^{[permanent dead link]}." Royal Dutch Shell. Retrieved on January 14, 2009.
12. ^ "Privacy Policy Archived 2011-01-29 at the Wayback Machine." Royal Dutch Shell. Retrieved on January 14, 2009.
13. ^ ^{a b} "Baker Botts renews 172K-sqft lease at old One Shell Plaza". The Real Deal. 10 August 2022. Archived from the original on 13 February 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2024. The Houston-based law firm has been a tenant since it was built in 1971
14. ^ "Baker Botts hires corporate partner." Austin Business Journal. Wednesday January 21, 2004. Retrieved on August 25, 2010.
15. ^ "Houston, Texas Archived 2010-08-31 at the Wayback Machine." Baker Botts. Retrieved on August 25, 2010. "One Shell Plaza 910 Louisiana Street | Houston | Texas..."

AreasEducation

Primary and secondary schools	Houston ISD Kinder HSPVA Incarnate Word Academy
Colleges and universities	University of Houston–Downtown (Template) South Texas College of Law Houston Community College (closest campus is Midtown)
Libraries	Houston Public Library (Jones Building, Julia Ideson Building, and HPL Express Discovery Green)

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complexesParks and
public plazasNational Register of
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