Uptown (more commonly called The Galleria Area) is a business district in Houston, located west of Downtown and is centered along Post Oak Boulevard and Westheimer Road (Farm to Market Road 1093). The Uptown District is roughly bounded by Woodway Drive to the north, I-610 (West Loop) to the east, Richmond Avenue to the south, and Yorktown Street to the west. It covers .
At of office space, the Uptown District is the 17th-largest business district in the United States, comparable in size to the downtowns of Denver and Pittsburgh."Office ." Uptown Houston. Retrieved on January 18, 2009. The district is home to approximately 2,000 companies and represents more than 11 percent of Houston's total office space.
History In 1948, what is now Uptown was outside the city limits of Houston. A local reporter described the roads as "lonely, unlit, pockmarked booby trap for nocturnal animals and boozed up motorists." Development increased after Gerald D. Hines and other individuals began to develop properties in Uptown in the 1960s.Breeding, John R. "After years of labor, San Felipe is ready for viewing." Houston Chronicle. July 16, 2010. Retrieved on July 17, 2010.
By 1987, the Uptown area had more hotel rooms and retail shopping centers than Downtown Houston had. The Uptown area, with 55,000 employees, also had more office space than Downtown Atlanta and Downtown Denver.Mintz, Bill. "METRO/The Transit Question: Bus or Rail?/Metro goal is to link employment centers across sprawling city." Houston Chronicle. Sunday July 19, 1987. Section 3, Page 1. Retrieved on October 28, 2012.
Overview
The Uptown District measures about 5 million square feet (500,000 m2) of retail space, and is the center for Houston's high-fashion retail. Various trendy shopping centers, eateries, and other sorts of entertainment venues exist in the district. Uptown is home to many upscale boutiques, as well as many Houston-based and local high-fashion designers and stores. Uptown is also host to Houston's largest hotels, which host about 20 million visitors a year.
A major feature of Uptown Houston is The Galleria, the largest shopping mall in the state of Texas and the seventh-largest in America. The Galleria hosts many of the upscale shops of the area as well as citywide chain stores that appear in many Houston-area malls. It also includes several well-regarded restaurants and a large indoor ice skating rink.
Cityscape The Uptown District is bounded by Woodway Drive to the north, the I-610 (West Loop) to the east, Interstate 69/U.S. Highway 59 to the south, and Yorktown Street to the west."Uptown District Map ." Uptown Houston District. Retrieved on January 30, 2009.
Several subdivisions, including Afton Oaks, Briarcroft, Briargrove, Broad Oaks, Briarmeadow, Del Monte, Larchmont, St. George Place, Tanglewood, and Westhaven Estates border Uptown Houston.
Economy
Uptown, the 17th largest business district in the United States, has of office space, representing 11% of all of Houston's office space and 22% of Houston's Class A office space. Major employers include 3D/International, Air Liquide, Aon, Apache Corporation, BBVA Compass, BHP, Bechtel Corporation, Beirne, Maynard & Parsons, Bindview Corporation, CBRE, Dow Chemical, Duke Energy, General Electric, Hines, iHeartMedia, Inoapps, Litton Loan Servicing, Marathon Oil Corporation, MWH Americas, Net IQ Corporation, Nextira One, Panhandle Pipeline Co, Schlumberger, Stewart Title Guaranty Company, Telecheck International, The Lab Consulting, GDF Suez Energy Resources NA, and Williams Companies."Careers at Clear Channel ." Clear Channel Radio. Retrieved on April 24, 2009. Around 2,000 companies maintain operations in Uptown."Uptown Houston" Map (Archive). Uptown Houston. Accessed July 22, 2008.
Numerous radio studios are located in Uptown. Two of the four major English-language commercial radio broadcasters have studios here. Three radio stations owned by Urban One, which are KKBQ,"Contact Us ." KKBQ. Retrieved on April 24, 2009. KGLK,"Contact Us ." KHTC. Retrieved on April 24, 2009. and KHPT,"Contact Us ." KHPT. Retrieved on April 24, 2009. is in 3 Post Oak Central. The IHeartMedia Houston cluster of KBME, KODA, KQBT, KPRC (AM), KTBZ-FM, and KTRH is located in 2000 West Loop South. Spanish-language Univision Communications Houston TV studio (KXLN-DT and KFTH-DT) and radio cluster (KLTN, KAMA-FM, KLAT, KOVE-FM and KQBU-FM) is located near the Southwest Freeway and Loop 610 interchange.
Cushman & Wakefield's Houston office is in Four Oaks Place.Martin, Betty L. "Top broker sees good times ahead." Houston Chronicle. April 15, 2008. Retrieved on November 12, 2009."Global locations." Cushman & Wakefield. Retrieved on November 12, 2009.
In the 1990s Weatherford Enterra (now Weatherford International) had its corporate headquarters in Four Oaks Place."Contact Us." Weatherford Enterra. December 18, 1996. Retrieved on January 23, 2010/ By 2000 Weatherford moved to a new location in Houston."Locations." Weatherford International. August 15, 2000. Retrieved on January 23, 2010. Before its dissolution Stanford Financial Group had its headquarters in Uptown."Contact Us > North America." Stanford Financial Group. Retrieved on February 18, 2009.
Many international hotel chains have locations in Uptown.Nicholson, Heather. "Galleria area offers varied housing options." Houston Chronicle. March 26, 2010. Retrieved on March 30, 2010.
Diplomatic missions Several consulates-general are located in Uptown. The consulates of Angola,"Consular General ." Embassy of Angola in Washington, DC. Retrieved on December 22, 2008. Australia, Argentina,Home Page. Consulate-General of Argentina in Houston. Retrieved on December 22, 2008. Chile,"Oficinas Consulares en Estados Unidos ." Consulate-General of Chile in Houston. Retrieved on December 22, 2008. Denmark, France,"Map and working hours." Consulate-General of France in Houston. Retrieved on December 22, 2008. Germany,"Address, Contact and Office Hours ." Consulate-General of Germany in Houston. Retrieved on December 22, 2008. India,Home page . Consulate-General of India in Houston. Retrieved on December 22, 2008. Italy,"Consulate location." Consulate-General of Italy in Houston. Retrieved on December 22, 2008. Peru,"Jurisdicciones Consulares en USA ." Consulate-General of Peru. Retrieved on December 22, 2008. Qatar,"Consular Services ." Embassy of Qatar in Washington, DC. Retrieved on December 22, 2008. South Korea,Home Page. Consulate-General of South Korea in Houston. Retrieved on December 22, 2008. Spain, Turkey,"Contact Us." Embassy of Turkey in Washington, DC. Retrieved on December 22, 2008. and Vietnam are in Uptown."The Consulate General Directory ." Consulate-General of Vietnam in Houston. Retrieved on May 12, 2010.
From its founding on May 25, 1982, to April 1988, the Consulate-General of Indonesia in Houston was located in Post Oak Central in Uptown."Short History of the Consulate General of Indonesia in Houston." Consulate-General of the Republic of Indonesia in Houston. The Consulate-General of Egypt in Houston was located in Suite 1750 at 2000 West Loop South and later in Suite 2180 in Post Oak Central."Background Notes: Egypt." Office of Public Communication, Bureau of Public Affairs. December 15, 1990. Retrieved on December 22, 2008.Maxwell, Virginia, Mary Fitzpatrick, Siona Jenkins, and Anthony Sattin. Egypt. Lonely Planet. 2006. "526. As of 2008 the consulate is now at 5718 Westheimer Road, outside Uptown.Home page. Consulate-General of Egypt in Houston. Retrieved on December 22, 2008.
The Consulate of the Netherlands was in Uptown."Welcome to The Netherlands Consulate in Houston, Texas ." Consulate of the Netherlands in Houston. Retrieved on December 22, 2008.
Architecture
The Uptown District boomed along with Houston during the 1970s and early 1980s. A collection of mid-rise office buildings appeared along the Interstate 610 west (or simply "West Loop"). It became one of the most impressive instances of the edge city. The highest achievement of Uptown was the construction of the landmark Williams Tower, designed by Philip Johnson (known as the Transco Tower until 1999). At the time, it was believed to be the world's tallest skyscraper outside of a central business district. The Williams Tower was the product of a unique era in Houston: energy companies were highly profitable entities and they sought impressive, monumental structures to broadcast their power.
The Williams Waterwall is a multi-story sculptural fountain which sits at the south end of Williams Tower in Uptown. It and its surrounding park were built as an architectural amenity to the adjacent tower. Both the fountain and tower were designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Philip Johnson. Construction of the complex was completed in 1983. The semi-circular fountain is tall and sits among 118 Texas Live Oak trees. Approximately of water flow over both sides of the wall every minute. The Uptown District is also home to other buildings designed by noted architects such as I. M. Pei and César Pelli among others also designed by Philip Johnson; Pelli designed the Four Oaks Place complex. Large-scale office construction in Uptown came to an end with the collapse of energy prices and the meltdown of Houston's economy in the mid-to-late 1980s. Uptown had 23.8 million square feet (2,210,000 m2) of office space in 2001, whereas Downtown Houston had about 40 million square feet (4,000,000 m2). In the late 1990s, there was a mini-boom of mid-rise residential tower construction, typically about 30 stories tall. Uptown has accumulated a large concentration of high-rise residential structures.
Four Leaf Towers, a high-rise residential complex consisting of two 40-story buildings located on San Felipe Street was constructed in 1982. The towers were designed by architect César Pelli.
Completed in 2004, Saint Martin's Episcopal Church (with spires and antennae reaching into the sky), designed by Jackson & Ryan Architects, was featured on the covers of three national magazines: Civil Engineering magazine (April 2005), Modern Steel Construction magazine (May 2005) and Structure magazine (December 2005).Award-Winning Projects , Matrix Structural Engineers (maintained by Rhonda Hurley).Super Green Solutions Houston, 28 January 2023
Government and infrastructure
Local government
Uptown Houston is a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ), which is a self-imposed taxing entity created by property owners in economically challenged areas in order to fund improvements and encourage development within the zone.About Uptown . Uptown Houston District The area was designated as a TIRZ by city council. The Uptown District has used the funds for landscaping and mobility improvements as well as specialty street lamps, signage and stainless steel gateways and halos over major streets and intersections.
Houston Fire Department operates Fire Station 28, a station in District 28, west of Uptown."Fire Stations." City of Houston. Retrieved on May 8, 2010. Station 28 moved to a location at Westheimer Road at Sage in what is now Uptown in 1953. The station moved to Chimney Rock at Dolores in 1987. The station received a minor renovation in the fiscal year of 2006."Fire Station 28." City of Houston. Retrieved on May 8, 2010.
The neighborhood is served by the Houston Police Department's Midwest Patrol Division, headquartered in Greater Sharpstown."Beat Map." City of Houston. Retrieved on May 8, 2010."Districts ." Greater Sharpstown Management District. Retrieved on August 15, 2009.