Fourteen of the 23 Fortune 500 corporate headquarters in Houston are located downtown. Why is downtown HQ central? In interviews with these and other downtown employers, Central Houston, Inc. has discovered a wide variety of reasons to office in downtown Houston:

Access to largest, most diverse employment base
Downtown is the only Houston employment location for the company that requires the talents of Houston’s large and diverse employment base. Downtown attracts employees from all parts of the region, and is the only office location that is centrally accessible to the whole area by all modes of transportation – car, bus, van and train, using highway, HOV and Metro. About 40% of the workforce commutes by LightRail, Park and Ride buses, Express buses, and local buses.

Best access to Metro's transit system
More than 70% of Metro's bus lines lead to and from downtown, including all of Metro's Park and Ride services. Downtown employers have found that many of their employees, when given the opportunity, want to ride Metro, reducing parking requirements below most initial estimates. Central Houston, Inc. can give examples of other firms.

Proximity to other businesses
Companies are able to do more business because of their proximity to so many other businesses, as well as city, county and federal government offices. In the words of one executive, "The top corporations are here. It is the financial headquarters of Houston." A senior banking officer says downtown helps her keep up with who is doing what by watching who is walking through the downtown tunnel system, a practice she calls "tunnel marketing." Law firms are especially drawn to downtown by its proximity to county and federal courthouses and other law firms. Service providers benefit from being near to their customers and allies.

Prestige of a Central Business District address
Companies have found that a downtown address adds prestige to their business image. One national firm has told us they will only locate in a city's major business district, and in Houston, downtown is the location for them. A Houston-based accounting firm told us they wanted to locate downtown to increase their stature in the business community and compete with larger competitors. An oil & gas firm said, "This is where our industry is located."

Employee productivity
Employees need to run errands during the day. Rather than having to get in their car, drive to a destination, drive back, park and get back to the office, employees can accomplish their errands within one or two blocks of their buildings, sometimes even within their buildings. Typically available within a few blocks are financial institutions, fitness centers, tailor services, physicians, jewelry shops, flower shops, dry cleaners, copier stores, gift shops and more. For lunch itself, employees often have more than 10 restaurants within a three-block radius of their office buildings. Your employees will spend less time away from the office because of the tremendous convenience offered by these restaurants and shops.

Availability and cost of office space
Downtown's Class A tenants have the opportunity to consider a variety of office buildings at rates which are very competitive with other parts of Houston. Companies such as Chevron, King & Spalding, Lyondell and others are taking advantage of these opportunities.

Proximity to business services
In close proximity are chain and boutique hotels, business/client-quality restaurants and bars, baseball, basketball, the George R. Brown Convention Center (#9 in size in the U.S.) and other entertainment and services convenient to the business world.