By Ralph Bivins (Realty News Report)
HOUSTON – Family, friends and food (especially turkey and dressing). Just about everybody has some traditional benefits to be thankful for on this special Thursday.
As the turkey cooks, here are some additional things for Houstonians to ponder.
One: I am thankful that the world’s most important skyscraper is located in Downtown Houston.
Developed by Mr. Gerald D. Hines with architecture by Philip Johnson and John Burgee, Pennzoil Place was anointed as “Building of the Decade” by famed New York Times architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable after it opened in 1975. The 1.4 million SF Pennzoil Place consists of two trapezoidal towers wrapped in dark bronze glass. Pennzoil Place kicked blandness to the curb and changed the way corporations view corporate headquarters.
Pennzoil Place changed architecture, demolishing old design norms and introducing what architects call the Post Modernism movement.
With the remarkable towers, Mr. Hines delivered a new money-making principle: buildings with great design can make more money than run-of-the-mill architecture. After Pennzoil, finding a top-notch “Starchitect” to design a superior skyscraper became a reliable business plan for a developer.
Thereafter, urban skylines became more interesting.
Why does Houston have one of the best downtown skylines in the World? Give thanks on Thursday for Pennzoil Place and the visionary leadership of Mr. Gerald D. Hines.
“Gerald Hines envisioned Houston as a city of beautiful buildings, a truly quality built environment. He enlisted the aid of great architects to produce buildings that made people proud and that raised the quality of other developers.” – President George H.W. Bush – Comments at the U.S. Building Museum in 2000
Two: I am thankful that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will be leaving the Fed in 2026. President Donald Trump says he wants a new Fed Chair who will be more prone to supporting rate cuts. What could be better for real estate than lower interest rates?
Three: Be thankful for warehouses. Propelled by demand from AI tech manufacturing and other economic growth, Houston led the Lone Star State in the industrial real estate markets. Texas has 47.8 million SF of industrial space under construction, according to CBRE’s Q2 report.
Houston now has 89 industrial projects totaling 12.9 million SF in the construction pipeline. Sizable new AI-related projects will house tech assembly production by Apple, Nvidia, and Foxconn, bringing a lot of new jobs to Space City.
Four: Be thankful for soccer. The FIFA World Cup soccer tournament will be played in the U.S. next summer, attracting thousands of sports fans from around the world to 16 North American cities, including Houston. Seven games will be played in Houston. The first one will be June 14. The last game will be July 4. Hotel occupancy will be high. Restaurants and taxi drivers will do well. Seven blocks on Houston’s Main Street in downtown will be transformed into a wide promenade for celebrating fans.
The only ones who may be disappointed could be the folks at NRG Energy Inc. The FIFA World Cup organization requires that stadiums be “de-branded” during the World Cup games. Houston’s NRG Stadium will become Houston Stadium. In Little D, the AT&T Stadium will become “Dallas Stadium.”
Of course, Houston has experience in de-branding stadiums in rapid order. When Enron went south in 2002, the Astros stadium operators stripped off the Enron Field labels quicker than a Nolan Ryan fastball. Who could blame them? Nobody wanted to be associated with the “Crooked E” logo.
“Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted … in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks.” – Proclamation by President George Washington. Oct. 3, 1789
Nov. 27, 2025 Realty News Report Copyright 2025
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File: Reasons to Be Thankful in 2025