Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County - Headquarters

Headquarters

The METRO headquarters are in the Lee P. Brown Administration Building in Downtown Houston. The $41 million 14 story glass and steel building has over 400,000 square feet (37,000 m2) of space. The facility includes the Downtown Transit Center, a METRO Ride store, a Houston Police Department storefront, and toilets for transiting passengers. The building was designed by Pierce Goodwin Alexander & Linville. As of August 2010, two floors of the building are not occupied and are not used in any way.

The building was scheduled to open in early 2004, coinciding with the beginning of the METRORail. The groundbreaking was held in 2002. Patti Muck, a spokesperson for METRO, said that the agency would save $273 million assuming that the agency occupied the building for a 30 year span instead of renting for the same length of time. The Federal Transit Administration, a part of the federal government of the United States, paid 80% of the construction costs, while METRO paid the other 20%.

Previously the METRO headquarters were in the Louisiana Place (now the Total Plaza), also in Downtown Houston. The agency occupied 10 floors in the building and did not receive any federal funds to cover the $3.8 million annual rent. The METRO Board Room was located on the 16th floor. Total Petrochemicals USA, a subsidiary of Total S.A., moved into the space that was previously occupied by METRO; the agency scheduled its move into the Brown building to occur in January 2005. METRO's lease of 193,000 square feet (17,900 m2) of space expired in April 2005.