Available Now, for a Limited Time Only: Views of a Downtown Art Deco Classic

View of Former Gulf Building, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Building, 712 Main St., Downtown Houston

Reader Mat Wolf sends in a couple of photos showing new but temporary street-level views of the building that for 34 years ranked as downtown’s tallest: the 1929 Gulf Building (officially, the JPMorgan Chase & Co. Building) at 712 Main St. Although views like the one above taken from the northeast, looking down Main St. from Texas Ave. have been available for quite some time (until about 10 years ago graced by a suburban-style McDonald’s in the foreground), sightlines of the 36-story tower have widened with the demolition of the Texas Tower at 608 Fannin St.

Behold another shot taken from the corner of Fannin and Texas Ave., in front of Christ Church Cathedral:

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View of Former Gulf Building, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Building, 712 Main St., Downtown Houston

But it’s all going away: Construction of Hines’s new tower at 609 Main St. will soon block street views from these angles.

Photos: Mat Wolff

 

Engulfed Views Downtown

4 Comment

  • ~sigh~
    Sometimes progress is a bitch. Good to see the old girl in her full beauty for a while at least.

  • The lobby is downright gorgeous, must be seen. Even if it’s a faceless fee happy bank.

  • The Gulf Building is perhaps the closest of the copies of Eliel Saarinen’s Second Place Entry for the Chicago Tribune Tower. Do a Google search and see for yourself.
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    Not sure most will agree, but I think it’s pretty cool. We have a Saarinen design in our City, but we don’t. The building was designed by Alfred Finn and Kenneth Franzheim. It’s a lot like all of our ersatz Fran Lloyd Wright buildings that were actually designed by MacKie and Kamrath.

  • Anytime I go to lunch in that part of downtown I make it a point to walk through the ground floor and gawk at the ceiling, then onto that glorious lobby on the Main St. side. Certainly a detour that never fails to make me smile.