Brookfield released a few renderings this morning of the plans to make over One, Two, and Three Allen Centers at the corner of Smith and Dallas streets downtown. The rendering above depicts the new plan for the greenspace between One and Two: to subtract 1 of the 2 second-story skybridges currently running parallel to Smith and add an events venue. The redo plans also include a major street-level change for One Allen Center, depicted above with a 2-story glass lobby running around corner in place of the current largely-bricked-over podium facade.
That tiny neon sign on the left edge of the turn-of-the-decade photo above once marked the location of Don Patron; the quarter-centenarian Tex-Mex lunch spot started to close in February and finished the job in March. The remodel plans swap it out for a higher-end restaurant, which will get some patio space along Smith St:
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Here’s another angle on the facade, focused on the Smith-side entrance at the corner with Dallas St.:
And here’s a peek inside along Dallas St., with Heritage Plaza (also owned by Brookfield) visible out the window to the right:
- Reimagining Allen Center [Allen Center]
- Tex-Mex Stalwart in Allen Center Is Closing on Friday [Houston Press]
Images: Studio AMD (renderings), Bob T. (photo)
Nice finished product, but all that construction – ugh! I already get miffed when they take over that skywalk during peak lunch hours for the yoga ladies. The current courtyard at Allen Center sucks balls, too – lots of ugly 80’s style fountains, minimal sitting space, minimal shade for eating lunch outdoors (at least where the tables are), and a bizarre system of steel rails to prevent people from walking between certain parts of the buildings.
Oh yeah..Sweltering on hot concrete under the greenery in Downtown Houston in the fricking summer !!! That’ll be VERY popular…
superdave, i agree about those weird railings, but disagree about the current courtyard sucking. its actually really nice in there. i used to go over there to take a break from work or whatever, and it always surprised me how cool it seemed even in the summer with a breeze going through there. there arent many places like this downtown, and because its private property they don’t have a bum problem over there either. i also have been really impressed with how brookfield is ballsy enough to bring in lots of art for their properties (the bunnies!). hopefully they won’t cock it up by trying to do too much to this space. they’ve been doing some odd construction on the street by the doubletree entrance for a while now, and im not really sure what they’re hoping to accomplish there.