One of downtown's most recognizable skyscrapers has been renamed. The 56-story postmodern building at 700 Louisiana is now called TC Energy Center after its lead tenant, pipeline, power generation and gas storage company TC Energy Corp.
Photo: Elizabeth Conley / Houston Chronicle
TC Energy occupies more than 300,000 square feet, roughly 25 percent, of the 1.25 million-square-foot building. The new name was announced Tuesday by building owner M-M Properties and Calgary, Alberta-based TC Energy, with representatives from the leasing team at Madison Marquette and Central Houston on hand.
“We are over 8,000 strong, with over 3,600 U.S. employees and in-house contractors working across assets in 40 states,” Stan Chapman, TC Energy's executive vice president and head of U.S. natural gas pipelines, said in a statement. “Over 1,000 members of our U.S. workforce are based in Houston and the majority are located in our U.S. headquarters – the TC Energy Center.”
Designed by architects Philip Johnson and John Burgee and developed by Hines in 1983 as RepublicBank Center, the building was most recently known as Bank of America Center. Its previous namesake tenant moved out in June to consolidate its downtown operations to the new Bank of America Tower at 800 Capitol. The bank vacated 168,000 square feet, including an expansive banking hall with 35 teller spots.
The renaming comes six months after TC Energy changed its name from TransCanada to better reflect the scope of its operations across North America and growth in the U.S. TC Energy says it transports about 25 percent of U.S. gas demand across 31,000 miles of pipeline and operates about 10 percent of U.S. natural gas storage. It is expanding its network to supply oil to refining markets in the Midwest and Gulf Coast.
TC Energy has been a tenant in the tower since mid-2013.
“When we first put together a plan for TC Energy to relocate to the building we were able to demonstrate a path for growth that met the goals of both the tenant and ownership," said Madison Marquette's John Spafford, who handles leasing along with Madeline Gregory. "It is extremely gratifying to see the plan come to its full realization.”
Tenants at TC Energy Center will get new amenities in the coming years.
The first phase of a $20 million renovation program under way in the lobby will bring a white-tablecloth restaurant and 10,000 square feet of creative office space with views of Jones Plaza across Capitol Street.
The next phase of the renovations will bring a new tenant lounge and conference center, a lobby coffee bar and mezzanine level of collaborative workspaces above the former Bank of America lobby.
