Arena Theater
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Arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...
Place is a complex including two office towers and a theater located in
Sharpstown Sharpstown is a master-planned community in the Southwest Management District (formerly Greater Sharpstown), Southwest Houston, Texas.
,
Southwest Management District Southwest Management District, formerly Greater Sharpstown Management District, is a district in Houston, Texas, United States. The district is split into 6 neighborhoods: Sharpstown, Chinatown, Mahatma Gandhi District/Little India, Westwood, ...
,
Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
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Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
.Districts
." Greater Sharpstown Management District. Retrieved on August 15, 2009.
It was built in Sharpstown Commercial Park. The complex, located on Highway 59 and (Southwest Freeway), includes One & Two Arena Place, two 19-story towers each with about of space, the Arena Theatre, a live performance theater with a 2,850 seats, and two nine story parking garages with a total of 2,200 spaces.Dawson, Jennifer.
Group pays $24.5 million for Arena complex with rowdy past
" ''
Houston Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes ''The Business Journals'', which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States with each market ...
''. Friday December 10, 2004. Retrieved on April 24, 2010.
Due to the facility's circular shape, all of its seats are no further than from the stage. Because of the presence of the garages, the theater has on-site parking.Azevedo, Mary Ann. "Arena Theatre back in show business." ''
Houston Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes ''The Business Journals'', which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States with each market ...
''. Friday October 19, 2007
1
Retrieved on April 24, 2010.
The complex has a two-story,Stromberg, Laura A.

" ''
Houston Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes ''The Business Journals'', which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States with each market ...
''. Friday July 25, 1997. Retrieved on April 24, 2010.
office tower penthouse.Azevedo, Mary Ann. "Arena Theatre back in show business." ''
Houston Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes ''The Business Journals'', which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States with each market ...
''. Friday October 19, 2007
2
Retrieved on April 24, 2010.
The complex is located near
PlazAmericas PlazAmericas, formerly known as Sharpstown Mall and earlier Sharpstown Center, is a shopping mall located in the Sharpstown development in Greater Sharpstown, Houston, Texas. The mall is located on the northwest corner of Interstate 69/ U.S. R ...
(formerly Sharpstown Mall). The concession stands are located inside the theater.Hoffman, Ken.
Beloved Arena Theatre gets a second life
" ''
Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...
''. April 27, 2009. Retrieved on April 24, 2010.
The complex, which has Class A office space, is located in proximity to the
610 Loop Interstate 610 (I-610) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway that forms a loop around the inner city sector of the city of Houston, Texas. I-610, colloquially known as The Loop, Loop 610, The Inner Loop, or just 610, traditionally marks ...
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Beltway 8 Beltway 8 (BW8), the Sam Houston Parkway, along with the Sam Houston Tollway, is an beltway around the city of Houston, Texas, United States, lying entirely within Harris County, Texas, Harris County. Beltway 8, a state highway mai ...
, and the
Westpark Tollway The Westpark Tollway, also Fort Bend Westpark Tollway, is a controlled-access toll road in Texas, serving western Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in th ...
.


History

The Arena Theatre, now owned by a partnership which owns the office buildings, was built in 1965.
Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...
, a comedian, was an investor in the original Arena Theatre. The towers, colored black, were developed in the early 1980s by Melvin Lane Powers. Powers built a personal penthouse on top of one of the towers and received a lot of attention for this. The penthouse, located in Arena Tower I, had a helicopter pad and a private swimming pool on the rooftop. Robert Williamson of the firm Holliday Fenoglio Fowler said that the Powers case was "pretty celebrated" and that the complex was "very storied." Williamson described Powers as a "very flamboyant developer." The complex was the most well-known development established by Powers. Powers filed for bankruptcy. Afterwards, in 1986, Powers attempted to claim Arena Tower I, the north side tower, as his personal residence to prevent foreclosure.
Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...
repossessed the building and evicted Powers. Lawrence Wong, a real estate developer, acquired tower one from Bank of America in 1989. In 1990 he acquired the second tower from the Midland Bank of England. Laura A. Stromberg of the ''
Houston Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes ''The Business Journals'', which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States with each market ...
'' said that when Wong purchased the buildings, they were "substantially vacant." At the time a block of space in tower one was vacant. In 1997 Arena Tower I was 88% leased and Arena Tower II was 73% leased. During that year Houston Cellular was the main tenant in Arena Tower I, and the building was named after the company. Other tenants in the Arena Towers included Houston Allstate, LTD Financial Services, and Prudential. During that year Logan Brown, a senior vice president of Grubb & Ellis, a real estate firm, said that the buildings were worth $30 million. Brown also said that they were "in poor condition" and needed updating. In 1997 Stromberg said that, according to real estate sources, the towers were reportedly under a contract of sale to Texas Commercial Properties Inc. Stromberg said that the sale would be the largest transaction of Class B office space in 13 years. For many years the Arena Theatre was operated by H'Town Arena, a tenant. In December 2004 the Arena Group and two limited partners bought the entire Arena Place complex from Lennar Partners for about $24.5 million. At the same time Transwestern Commercial Services replaced PM Realty Group as the agency that manages and provides leases for the property. H'Town Arena had stopped leasing in the theater days before the sale occurred, and as a result the theater stopped operating. As of 2004 the Class B office space in the complex was about 70% occupied, and the tenants included several large call centers. In September 2006 the limited partners sold their stake, which was 50 percent, to Boxer Property. Since the acquisition occurred, all of the buildings underwent renovations. As of 2007 the office towers had an occupancy rate of around 70 percent. As of that year most of its tenants were professional groups and included 25 law firms, medical users, radio stations, and television stations. As of the same year
Westwood College Westwood College was a private for-profit college owned by Alta Colleges Inc. with 15 campus locations in five states and online learning options. Westwood was nationally accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Scho ...
occupied several floors in the complex. By that year $5 million in capital investments had been made to the towers. A total of $6 million was invested into the renovation of the towers. As part of a $1 million renovation, the Arena Theater was scheduled to re-open on November 9, 2007. Arena Theatre Inc. became the new tenant of the theater. As part of the renovation the theater received new carpeting, new lighting and sound systems, repaired seats, modernized toilet facilities, and a video system. The ceiling was altered absorb sound instead of reflecting sound. The operators also planned to hold events in the office tower penthouse. In 2009
Affiliated Computer Services Affiliated Computer Services Inc. (ACS) was a company that provided information technology services as well as business process outsourcing solutions to businesses, government agencies, and non-profit organizations. ACS was based in Dallas, Texa ...
announced that it was going to add 120 job positions to its call center in Arena Tower II; after hiring was scheduled to be complete, the company planned to have 400 employees in its Arena Place operation. As of 2016, Xerox Business Services (after acquiring ACS in late 2009) is currently managing a 400-seat call center for CVS Pharmacy in Arena Tower II.


Tenants

The College of Health Care Professions' Southwest Houston, TX Campus is located at One Arena Place, 7322 Southwest Freeway, Suite 110, Houston, Texas USA. The
China Airlines China Airlines (CAL; zh, t=中華航空, poj=Tiong-hôa Hâng-khong, p=Zhōnghuá Hángkōng, first=t, c=, s=) is the state-owned flag carrier of the Taiwan, Republic of China (Taiwan). It is one of Taiwan's two major airlines, along with E ...
Houston Mini Office (Chinese: T: 休士頓營業所, S: 休士顿营业所, P: ''Xiūshìdùn Yíngyèsuǒ'') is located in Suite 204 of Two Arena Place.
Westwood College Westwood College was a private for-profit college owned by Alta Colleges Inc. with 15 campus locations in five states and online learning options. Westwood was nationally accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Scho ...
's Houston South Campus was located in One Arena Place.Houston South Campus
."
Westwood College Westwood College was a private for-profit college owned by Alta Colleges Inc. with 15 campus locations in five states and online learning options. Westwood was nationally accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Scho ...
. Retrieved on April 24, 2010.
713radio.net


References


External links


Arena Theatre

Arena Place
- Boxer Property Management * -
Emporis Emporis was a real estate data mining company with headquarters in Hamburg, Germany. The company collected data and photographs of buildings worldwide, which were published in an online database from 2000 to September 2022. Emporis was acquired ...
* Hoffman, Ken.
Arena Theatre evokes readers’ fond memories
" ''
Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...
''. May 1, 2009. {{coord, 29.7019, -95.5175, type:landmark_region:US-TX, display=title Skyscraper office buildings in Houston Theatres in Houston Music venues in Houston 1965 establishments in Texas