Right in front of you, you’ll spot a modern tower with crisp, mirrored glass and big square columns-just look above the “Louisiana” street sign, and you’ll see the entrance with “Total Plaza” spelled out in metallic letters.
Alright, welcome to Total Plaza-one of those buildings that seems to change identity more often than a Houston weather forecast. Since opening in 1971, this place has answered to at least four different names, depending on what company was signing the checks at the time. It kicked off as the United Gas Building, became the Entex Building, got dubbed Louisiana Place, and today-courtesy of some very big oil money-it’s Total Plaza.
Back when bell-bottoms were all the rage and Houston was just starting to boom, this building rose up on the block next to Allen Center, quickly stacking up tenants and stories-35 floors in all, each covered in that reflective glass, which on a sunny day, could practically double as a giant makeup mirror for the downtown skyline.
A long parade of Houston history has stomped through these halls. In the ‘70s, Entex called this tower home. Not long after, a Dutch company saw an opportunity and scooped it up for 40 million bucks. By the '80s, folks were wheeling and dealing office space up and down these corridors-this was back before working “from home” meant anything besides being out sick.
In the ‘90s, the University of Houston System posted up their main offices here for a while-probably navigating red tape over morning coffee. But for many Houstonians, this building became famous as the perch of METRO, Houston’s public transit authority. Imagine those suits and transit planners spread across TEN floors, plotting out bus routes and budgets with a bird’s-eye view of all the commuters hustling below.
The turn of the millennium brought another shake-up. METRO packed its bags for its own digs and Total Petrochemicals moved right in-bringing a fresh wave of French oil energy to downtown. By late 2005, the building was reborn again with its new identity, Total Plaza.
But don’t think it’s all just cubicles and conference calls up there. The very top-35th floor-is reserved for the Petroleum Club of Houston, a long-standing institution that’s part social club, part networking powerhouse. When their old home, the ExxonMobil Building, was up for sale, they grabbed the chance for a glow-up at Total Plaza-bar included, because... well, networking in Houston just isn’t the same without a good drink and a knockout city view.
If you get the chance, step inside and you might feel like you’ve wandered onto a movie set for the energy sector: lots of metallic colors, sleek decor, and just enough glass and steel to remind you you’re in the heart of Houston’s oil country.
And, as big city rumor has it, if you know the right person, you can enter the building’s tunnel system and practically crisscross all of downtown without your shoes ever touching actual sunlight. Just another day at Total Plaza-where change is the only constant, and the next chapter is probably being negotiated upstairs right now.
