American General Center

The American General Center is a complex of several office buildings in Neartown Houston, Texas located along Allen Parkway. It is owned by AIG American General.

The America Tower is a 590 ft (180m) tall skyscraper. It was completed in 1983 and has 42 floors. It is the 19th tallest building in the city. It serves as the headquarters of Baker Hughes. It served as the former headquarters of Continental Airlines; it now houses AIG American General and BDO USA, LLP. The other buildings include the Life Building, the Wortham Tower, the Woodson Tower (a.k.a. the Liberty Tower), and the Riviana Building.

History

On July 1, 1983 Continental Airlines's headquarters were located at the America Tower, and would remain there until relocation to Downtown Houston in 1998 and 1999. Stephen M. Wolf, the president of Continental said that the company moved its headquarters because Houston became the largest hub for Continental. During the existence of Texas Air Corporation in the 1980s, it had its headquarters in the America Tower. In September 1997 Continental announced that it would move its headquarters to Continental Center I. Continental had occupied around 250,000 square feet (23,000 m²) in space in the America Tower before its lease expired in July 1998.

Allen Parkway

Allen Parkway is an arterial road west of Downtown Houston, Texas. It has a distance of approximately 2.3 miles (3.7 km), running from Interstate 45 west to Shepherd Drive, where it becomes Kirby Drive. Originally known as Buffalo Parkway, it was later named after John Kirby Allen and Augustus Chapman Allen, the founders of Houston.

Location and interchanges

The entire length of Allen Parkway is considered a limited-access parkway and closely follows the south bank of Buffalo Bayou. Memorial Drive, another limited-access parkway, closely follows the north bank of the bayou. Allen Parkway passes under Studemont Street/Montrose Boulevard, Waugh Drive, and Shepherd Drive. At the Waugh Drive and Studemont/Montrose interchanges, which have exit and entrance ramps and feeder roads on each side, Allen Parkway is below grade. The south side (eastbound) has continuous feeder roads, the north side (westbound) has discontinuous feeder roads. Access is not controlled at Dunlavy Street, where traffic to or from Allen Parkway can cross the median. Also, there is a continuous green T-intersection at Taft Street, allowing controlled access for westbound traffic, with a stoplight for eastbound traffic.