Why Locate in Downtown Houston?

The corporate headquarters of nineteen Fortune 500 companies are in Houston, and nine of those are in downtown.  In interviews with these and other downtown employers, Central Houston, Inc. has discovered a wide variety of reasons to office in downtown Houston.  The following are just a few of the many reasons.

Available labor force.  More than 140,000 people work downtown.  More than 3.8 million people live within 25 miles of downtown.  There are more than 2.2 million workers within the Houston CMSA.  Downtown draws from a significantly larger area of Houston than any other business district.

Best access to Metro's transit system.  More than 70% of Metro's bus lines lead to and from downtown, including all of Metro's Park and Ride services.  Downtown employers have found that many of their employees, when given the opportunity, want to ride Metro, reducing parking requirements below most initial estimates.  Central Houston, Inc. can give examples of other firms.

Proximity to other businesses.  Businesses have told us they are able to do more business because of their proximity to so many other businesses, as well as city, county and federal government.  In the words of one executive, "the top corporations are here, it is the financial headquarters of Houston, and many of my clients are here."  A senior banking officer says downtown helps her keep up with who is doing what by watching who is walking through the downtown tunnel system, something she calls "tunnel marketing."  (See also a Houston Business Journal article regarding Houston-based energy banking.)  Law firms are especially drawn to downtown for proximity to county and federal courthouses, and other law firms.  Service providers benefit from close proximity to their customers and allies. 

Prestige of a Central Business District address.  Companies have found that a downtown address adds prestige to their business image.  One national firm has told us they will only locate in a city's major business district, and in Houston, downtown is the location for them.  A Houston-based accounting firm told us they wanted to locate downtown to increase their stature in the business community and compete with larger competitors.  An oil & gas firm said, "this is where our industry is located." 

Employee productivity.  Employees need to run errands during the day.  Rather than having to get in their car, driving to a destination, driving back, parking, and getting back to the office, employees can accomplish their errands within one or two blocks of their buildings, sometimes even within their buildings.  Typically available within a few blocks are financial institutions, fitness centers, tailor services, physicians, jewelry shops, flower shops, dry cleaners,  copier stores, gift shops, and more.  For lunch itself, employees typically have more than ten restaurants within a three-block distance of their office buildings.  Your employees will spend less time away from the office because of the tremendous convenience offered by these restaurants and shops.

Availability and cost of office space.  Several years ago, downtown's Class A office space was virtually full.  Today, tenants have the opportunity to consider a variety of office buildings at rates which are more competitive with other parts of Houston.  Companies such as Burlington Resources and others are taking advantage of this opportunity.

Proximity to business services.  In close proximity are chain and boutique hotels, business/client quality restaurants and bars, baseball, basketball, the George R. Brown Convention Center (#9 in size in the US) and other entertainment and services convenient to the business world.