List of tallest buildings in Houston

The U.S. city of Houston, Texas has over 360 completed high-rises, the majority of which are located in the downtown area.^[1] In the city, there are 45 skyscrapers that rise higher than 400 feet (122 m), 31 skyscrapers at least 492 feet (150 m) in height, including 10 which rank among the tallest in the United States. The tallest building in Houston is the 75-story JPMorgan Chase Tower, which rises 1,002 feet (305 m) in Downtown Houston and was completed in 1982.^[2] It also stands as the tallest building in the state of Texas and the 12th-tallest building in the United States. The second-tallest skyscraper in the city and the state is the Wells Fargo Plaza, which is 992 feet (302 m) tall.^[3] Seven of the ten tallest buildings in Texas are located in Houston.^[4]

The history of skyscrapers in Houston began with the 1904 completion of the Lomas & Nettleton Building; this 8-story structure is often regarded as the first skyscraper in the city.^[5] It was also the tallest steel-framed building west of the Mississippi River at the time of its completion.^[6][7] The building originally housed offices, but was converted into a residential loft tower in 1999 and renamed "Franklin Lofts". As Franklin Lofts is a low-rise building,^[8] 711 Main, which was completed in 1908, was actually the city's first high-rise to rise at least 10 floors.^[9] Although originally constructed as a commercial building, 711 Main was given a new glass and granite facade in 1980 and also renovated into a residential tower.^[9] Houston went through a small building boom in the early 1920s, and then experienced a much larger boom lasting from 1963 to the late 1980s. During this time 38 of the city's 45 tallest buildings were constructed, including the JPMorgan Chase Tower, the Wells Fargo Bank Plaza and the Williams Tower. As of 2009, the skyline of Houston is ranked 13th in the world and fourth in the United States, behind New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles, with 443 completed high-rises.^[1]

For many years the Houston skyline remained unchanged, due to the 1980s oil glut which sank the local economy. About 15 years after the last skyscraper of the 1980s boom was completed, Houston entered into another high-rise construction boom in 2002, and has since seen the completion of five buildings rising over 400 feet (122 m) tall. Four more skyscrapers are under construction in the city, including BG Plaza (formerly MainPlace), which rises 46 stories and 630 feet (192 m).^[10] Completed in 2010,^[10] the building is the tallest structure built in the 2000s in Houston. There are three additional skyscrapers approved or proposed for construction in the city that are planned to rise over 400 feet (120 m). As of April 2008, there are 71 high-rise buildings under construction, approved for construction, and proposed for construction in Houston.^[11] Upon completion in 2017, 609 Main at Texas will become the fifth-tallest building in Houston, the ninth-tallest building in Texas, and the seventy-first-tallest building in the United States.

Skyline of Downtown Houston

Skyline of Uptown Houston

Tallest buildings

This lists ranks Houston skyscrapers that stand at least 400 feet (122 m) tall, based on standard height measurement. This includes spires and architectural details but does not include antenna masts. An equal sign (=) following a rank indicates the same height between two or more buildings. The "Year" column indicates the year in which a building was completed.

Rank	Name	Image	Height ft / m	Floors	Year	Notes
1	JPMorgan Chase Tower		01.01,002 / 305	75	1982	78th-tallest building in the world, 14th-tallest in the United States; tallest 5-sided building in the world; has been the tallest building in the city and the state since 1982; tallest building on the Gulf Coast; tallest building completed in Houston in the 1980s; formerly known as the Texas Commerce Tower[2][12][13]
2	Wells Fargo Bank Plaza		02.0992 / 302	71	1983	85th-tallest building in the world, 16th-tallest in the United States; formerly known as the Allied Bank Plaza and the First Interstate Bank Plaza[3][14][15]
3	Williams Tower		03.0901 / 275	64	1983	141st-tallest building in the world, 27th-tallest in the United States; tallest building in Houston located outside of the Downtown area; originally known as the Transco Tower; upon completion, it stood as the tallest skyscraper in the world located outside of a city's central business district.[16][17][18]
4	Bank of America Center		04.0780 / 238	56	1983	60th-tallest in the United States[19][20][21]
5	Heritage Plaza		05.0762 / 232	53	1987	60th-tallest building in the United States[22][23]
6	Enterprise Plaza		06.0756 / 230	55	1980	62nd-tallest building in the United States; also known as 1100 Louisiana, InterFirst Plaza and First International Plaza[24][25][26]
7	Centerpoint Energy Plaza		07.0741 / 226	47	1974	77th-tallest building in the United States; originally known as the Houston Industries Plaza; the building was originally 651 feet (198 m) tall upon its completion in 1974, but a 1996 extension increased its height by 90 feet (27 m).[27][28]
8	1600 Smith Street		08.0732 / 223	53	1984	86th-tallest building in the United States[29][30]
9	Fulbright Tower		09.0725 / 221	52	1982	90th-tallest building in the United States[31][32]
10	One Shell Plaza		10.0714 / 218	50	1971	99th-tallest building in the United States, tallest building completed in Houston in the 1970s; including its antenna mast, the building rises 1,000 feet (305 m), making it the third-tallest building in the city when measuring by pinnacle height.[A][33][34]
11	1400 Smith Street		11.0691 / 211	50	1983	[35][36]
12	Three Allen Center		12.0685 / 209	50	1980	[37][38]
13	One Houston Center		13.0678 / 207	48	1978	[39][40]
14	First City Tower		14.0662 / 202	49	1981	[41][42]
15	BG Group Place		15.0630 / 192	46	2010	Tallest building completed in Houston in the 2010s[43][44]
16	San Felipe Plaza		16.0625 / 191	46	1984	[45][46]
17	Exxon Building		17.0607 / 185	44	1963	Tallest building completed in Houston in the 1960s[47][48]
18	1500 Louisiana Street		18.0600 / 183	40	2002	Tallest building completed in Houston in the 2000s[49][50]
19	America Tower		19.0591 / 180	42	1983	[51][52]
20	Two Houston Center		20.0579 / 176	40	1974	[53][54]
21	Marathon Oil Tower		21.0561 / 171	41	1983	[55][56]
22	Wedge International Tower		22.0551 / 168	43	1983	Formerly known as the Southwest Bank of Texas Building, Unitedbank Plaza and 1415 Louisiana[57][58][59]
23	KBR Tower		23.0550 / 167	40	1973	[60][61]
24	Pennzoil Place		24.0523 / 159	36	1976	[62][63]
25	Devon Energy Tower		25.0522 / 159	36	1978	[64][65]
26	One Park Place		26.0518 / 158	37	2009	[66][67]
27	Reliant Energy Plaza		27.0518 / 158	36	2003	[68][69]
27	Total Plaza		28.0518 / 158	35	1971	Also known as Total Plaza[70][71]
29=	The Huntingdon		29.0502 / 153	34	1984	Tallest all-residential building in the city[72][73]
29=	El Paso Energy Building		30.0502 / 153	33	1963	[74][75]
31	Memorial Hermann Tower		31.0500 / 152	33	2009	[76][77]
32	Hess Tower		32.0490 / 149	30	2010	[78][79]
33	Five Greenway Plaza		33.0465 / 142	31	1973	[80][81]
34=	Calpine Center		34.0453 / 138	34	2003	[82][83]
35=	One Allen Center		35.0452 / 138	34	1972	[84][85]
36=	Four Leaf Towers I		34.0444 / 135	40	1982	[86][87]
36=	Four Leaf Towers II		37.0444 / 135	40	1982	[88][89]
38=	Eleven Greenway Plaza		38.0441 / 134	31	1979	[90][91]
38=	Nine Greenway Plaza		38.0441 / 134	31	1978	[92][93]
40	Phoenix Tower		40.0434 / 132	34	1984	[94][95]
41	Memorial Hermann Medical Plaza		41.0430 / 131	30	2007	[96][97]
42	JPMorgan Chase Building		42.0428 / 130	36	1929	Tallest building completed in Houston in the 1920s[98][99]
42	The Spires		43.0426 / 130	40	1983	[100][101]
44	Aon Tower		44.0420 / 128	30	1983	[102][103]
45	Niels Esperson Building		45.0410 / 125	32	1927	[104][105]
45=	One City Centre		46.0410 / 125	32	1961	[106][107]
45=	Bob Lanier Public Works Building		47.0410 / 125	27	1968	[108][109]
48	2727 Kirby		48.0401 /	30	2009
48=	Hyatt Regency Houston		49.0401 / 122	30	1972	[110][111]
50=	The Mercer West Tower		50.0400 / 122	30	2003	[112][113]

Timeline of tallest buildings

The Niels Esperson Building stood as the tallest building in Houston from 1927 until 1929.

This lists buildings that once held the title of tallest building in Houston.

Under construction buildings

This lists buildings that are under construction in Houston and are planned to rise at least 90 meters (295 ft).

* Table entries with dashes (—) indicate that information regarding building heights or dates of completion has not yet been released.

Approved and proposed buildings

This lists buildings that are Approved and proposed in Houston and are planned to rise at least 100 meters (328 ft).

* Table entries with dashes (—) indicate that information regarding building heights or dates of completion has not yet been released.

See also

• Architecture of Houston
• List of tallest buildings in Texas

Notes

A. ^{^} Centerpoint Energy Plaza currently rises taller than One Shell Plaza, and was completed in 1974, but at the time of its completion the building stood 651 feet (198 m) tall. An extension in 1996 increased its height by 90 feet (27 m).^[27] Therefore, One Shell Plaza was actually the tallest building completed in Houston in the 1970s, and Centerpoint Energy Plaza never held the title of tallest building in Houston.

B. ^{^} This building was originally known as the Lomas & Nettleton Building, but has since been renamed Franklin Lofts.

C. ^{^} Official height figures have never been released by this building's developer.

D. ^{^} The building was originally known as 711 Main, but has since been renamed The Capitol Lofts.

References

General

• Emporis.com - Houston

Specific

External links

• Diagram of Houston skyscrapers on SkyscraperPage