Cool Cribs

A spectacular office can invigorate a company, awe clients, and well... be a lot of fun for us to tour. We stopped by three of Houston CREs most impressive offices, starting with one building that just got its second occupant in 70 years.

Fretz Construction prez Bob Fretz and operations manager Millie Scott showed us around their office at 500 Fannin, which theyve occupied since September. The property was built in 1932 for Wilson Stationary and Printing Co and was designed by legendary architect William Ward Watkins. It had been vacant since 1979, and was nearly beyond repair when Fretz launched construction in November 2011--the first order of business was making it structurally sound. Fretz teamed up with Ziegler Cooper Architects to bring it back to the good ol' days and make it look almost exactly as it did in the 30s. (Although we doubt Wilson had a sweet rooftop deck with Wi-Fi and views of Minute Maid Park like the one above.)

The lobby wallpaper features recreations of the original blueprints. Fretz occupies the third and fourth floors (the first two are available for lease), and Millie says the most difficult part of renovations was cutting a hole in the concrete for stairs between them. (You should have hired someone to drill it instead of pulling a Shawshank Redemption.) The team put skylights back in, and the rooms include something you wont see in almost any other Houston officewindows that actually open. (We forgot those existed!)

Apparently the office was a lot less colorful in 1938, but that natural light was just as lovely. The renovated building is on track for LEED Gold, and Millie says it changed the atmosphere of the office, making it a fun place to work. And her mornings sound a lot more pleasant than ours: She says she can watch the sunrise and hear the Christ Church bells while enjoying a breeze from the windows. Bob says the new office is also an exciting move back into Downtown for Fretz, which left the submarket in the 30s.