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Commercial Dry wall, Inc.
Craftsman
Vol. 3, No. 5
March 1982
The Park
ODD begins unique downtown office/retail project
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Commercial Drywall is already several weeks into its portion of the work on The Park, a 16-story, multiuse office and retail building in downtown Houston. The Park, downtown Houston's first retail shopping development in 25 years, is one of the newest projects in the 33-block Houston Center and is being undertaken by Texas Eastern and Cadillac Fairview Urban Development, Inc. Architects for the project are RTKL Associates of Dallas and Morris Aubry Architects of Houston. The Park will cover a two-block area, bounded by San Jacinto, McKinney, Austin and Lamar streets. The full height of the building will bridge Caroline Street between McKinney and Lamar. The retail mall will occupy the first four floors of the building, with 185,000 square feet of retail space surrounding a central atrium. The east end of the retail mall will be the site of The Park’s food court, consisting of a wide selection of restaurants surrounding a common sitting area capable of seating 500. Beginning at the fifth level, The Park's office tower will rise 12 more stories and provide 675,000 square feet of leasable space. Four all-weather sky bridges will connect The Park with the Houston Center, while a tunnel to the First City Tower will link the project to the downtown tunnel system. The building will feature an eightstory, arched skylight and a pipe sculpture extending the length of the mall. Pools, waterfalls and planters filled with tropical plants will also decorate the mall. General contractor for the job is HCB Contractors. Initial office
The architect model of the Park shows the office tower projecting from the multi-story lower retail/office area. The project for HCB Contractors spans two city blocks in downtown Houston.
occupancy is expected to begin in January, 1983, with retail occupancy beginning in mid-1983. The Park’s low, horizontal design will sit in sharp contrast to downtown Houston's vertical skycrapers. In fact, “It’s almost like taking a 70-story building and laying it on its side,” commented CDI project manager, Frank Sciullo. C.D.I. began its part of the work on The Park around the first of March, according to Frank. CDI is responsible for the interior core, the exterior structural studs and sheathing, drywall ceilings, mall signbends and planters, including the fiberglass tub liners. CDI will also do all lease work. Frank estimates CDI will finish with the core work in May, 1983, and
wind up the lease work a year or two later. The number of CDI craftsmen on the job at one time could reach 75, depending on the pace of construction. John Thacker is on the site as job supervisor and George Dreeves is the general foreman. “The whole job is tricky,” asserts Frank. “The mall area has a multitude of angles and will probably make every architectural publication in the country. The job in general is very unique." CDI craftsmen are presently busy on two projects adjacent to The Park—The Gulf Tower, Three Houston Center, and The Four Seasons Hotel, both of which are part of the Houston Center Development.