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33-594: The building is connected to the Downtown Houston tunnel system . The building, located at 1201 Louisiana, opened in 1971. The building was the headquarters of Entex . In 1975, Mercure Co. N.Y., a Dutch company, bought the Entex Building for US$ 40 million . The plaza, which had Class B space, was sold in 1984. In 1994, the main offices of the University of Houston System were in the Entex Building. In 1996, after

66-415: A 300-metre (980 ft), $ 65-million tunnel connecting Union Station to Wellington Street, the first publicly owned segment of the 370,000-square-metre (4,000,000 sq ft) Path subterranean shopping district. Toronto planners have begun work to guide future Path development and ensure Path construction is included in basement levels of key new buildings. The network was particularly hard-hit during

99-516: A major shopping mall. They are widely and heavily used by office workers and tourists. Only two buildings, Wells Fargo Plaza and McKinney Garage on Main, offer direct access from the street to the Tunnel; other entry points are from street-level stairs, escalators, and elevators inside buildings that are connected to the tunnel. Access is allowed to the general public into these buildings with few restrictions, during normal operating hours, in order to reach

132-446: A now-closed tunnel to the former Toronto Coach Terminal , while its southern point is Waterpark Place on Queens Quay . Its main north–south axes of walkways generally parallel Yonge and Bay Streets, while its main east–west axis parallels King Street . There is continuous expansion of the Path system around Union Station . Two towers being built as part of CIBC Square will be linked to

165-553: A renovation, the building was renamed from the Entex Building to the Louisiana Place. During that year, brokers Jay Bonano and Jesse Amundsen left Koll Real Estate to start their own company. The leasing contract for Total Plaza was taken with Bonano and Amundsen. Previously, the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas (METRO) headquarters were in the Louisiana Place. The agency occupied 10 floors in

198-436: A safe haven from the winter cold and snow, as well as relief from the summer heat and humidity. In 1987, City Council adopted a unified wayfinding system throughout the network. The design firms Gottschalk+Ash International and Muller Design Associates were hired to design and implement the overall system in consultation with a diverse group of land owners, City staff and stakeholders. A colour-coded system with directional cues

231-538: A subsidiary of Total S.A. , signed a lease to occupy space in the Louisiana Place. In late 2005, Total Petrochemicals USA moved hundreds of employees into the building. The building's name changed to the Total Plaza. The company signed a 15 year lease for 150,000 sq ft (14,000 m) and had scheduled to relocate 250 employees by November 2005. It had an option for an additional 75,000 sq ft (7,000 m). The space that Total Petrochemicals USA moved into

264-478: Is the largest underground shopping complex in the world, with 371,600 square metres (4,000,000 sq ft) of retail space which includes over 1,200 retail fronts (2016). As of 2016, over 200,000 residents and workers use the Path system daily with the number of private dwellings within walking distance at 30,115. The Path network's northern point is the Atrium on Bay at Dundas Street and Bay Street , including

297-505: The COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto , with Bloomberg News calling the area a "ghost town". The pedestrian system's narrow halls in some locations were noted as a particular challenge, even once downtown employees returned to the office. The Toronto Financial District Business Improvement Area has planned various movement modifications to the space for future use. In early November 2020, a connection

330-593: The Eaton's Annex located behind the (then) City Hall . It was the first underground pedestrian pathway in Toronto and is often credited as a historic precursor to the current Path network. The original Eaton's tunnel is still in use as part of the Path system, although today it connects Toronto Eaton Centre to the Bell Trinity Square office complex on the site of the former Annex building. Another original underground linkage, built in 1927 to connect Union Station and

363-518: The Royal York Hotel , remained an integral part of the Path network for many years until it was replaced by a newer connection between the Royal York Hotel and Royal Bank Plaza , which continues onward to Union Station. The network of underground walkways expanded under city planner Matthew Lawson in the 1960s. Toronto's downtown sidewalks were overcrowded, and new office towers were removing

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396-468: The FDBIA completed a comprehensive update of all existing Path installations that brought this system to all buildings with Path installations. The new system no longer uses the colour-coded compass system and refers to neighbourhoods and landmarks instead. The system also integrates with TO360, Toronto’s neighbourhood mapping and wayfinding system. More than 50 buildings or office towers are connected through

429-616: The Path system, extending it to the east to cross over Yonge Street by a pedestrian bridge into the Backstage Condominium building (Esplanade and Yonge corner), giving closed access to Union Station, Scotiabank Arena , and other buildings in Toronto's Financial District . In 1900, the Eaton's department store constructed a tunnel underneath James Street, allowing shoppers to walk between the Eaton's main store at Yonge and Queen streets and

462-568: The St. Joseph Medical Center are connected via skywalks at the southeast corner of downtown near the Pierce elevated . The Houston Chronicle complex, at 801 North Texas, was connected to the Tunnel until those buildings were imploded in 2017; the newspaper's operations relocated to the former Houston Post complex (off the Southwest Freeway ) in 2014. Other parts not connected to the main Tunnel are

495-509: The Total Plaza were scheduled to open two weeks later. The club space at the Total Plaza has an energy industry theme as it uses gold, bronze, and metallic colors. Younger club members had requested a bar, so the new club has a bar with the view of the skyline of Houston. Kirksey, an architecture company based in Houston, designed the facility. Nancy Sarnoff of the Houston Chronicle wrote that

528-515: The Tunnel. Most of the retail areas of the Tunnel are in the basements of these buildings, connected by passageways. While walking through, one can determine which building one is in by the unique signage and/or architectural design of that building, as well as the wayfinding system and Houston Tunnel maps. Most of the Tunnel is in the western half of downtown Houston. The tunnel is generally open during weekday business hours only. The Tunnel has been criticized for its numerous stairways, especially in

561-503: The building and did not receive any federal funds to cover the US$ 3.8 million annual rent. The METRO Board Room was located on the 16th floor. By 2002, the agency announced that it was moving into a new administration building, scheduled for completion in 2004, owned by the agency. METRO's lease of 193,000 sq ft (17,900 m) expired in April 2005. In early 2005, Total Petrochemicals USA ,

594-573: The building was 88 percent occupied. During that year Hilcorp Energy Company signed a lease to stay in the building and increase its space. Hilcorp previously leased around 72,000 sq ft (6,700 m) on three floors. After it re-signed its lease, it will take an additional floor. In 2007 Coast Range Investments, a privately held company in San Francisco , sold the Total Plaza to Brookfield Properties , previously known in Houston as Trizec Properties , for an undisclosed amount. During that year,

627-496: The building was 88 percent occupied. During that year, aside from Total S.A. , its tenants included Hilcorp Energy and Reliant Energy Retail Services. The Petroleum Club of Houston occupies the building's 35th floor. The club was forced to move from the ExxonMobil Building due to the building's impending sale and renovation. The club's ExxonMobil space was scheduled to close after January 10, 2015, and its new quarters in

660-553: The buildings installed floodgates to prevent another occurrence of tunnel flooding. 29°45′N 95°22′W  /  29.75°N 95.37°W  / 29.75; -95.37 PATH (Toronto) Path (stylized as PATH ) is a network of underground pedestrian tunnels , elevated walkways , and at-grade walkways connecting the office towers of Downtown Toronto , Ontario, Canada. It connects more than 70 buildings via 30 kilometres (19 mi) of tunnels, walkways, and shopping areas. According to Guinness World Records , Path

693-506: The construction, but with the election of a reform city council , this practice ended. The reformers disliked the underground system, agreeing with Jane Jacobs 's notion that an active street life was important in keeping cities and neighbourhoods vital and that consumers should be encouraged to shop on street level stores rather than in malls (whether they be above ground or below); however, the system continued to grow, as developers bowed to their tenants' wishes and connected their buildings to

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726-576: The expansion plan, there will be 45 new entry points, and the walkway expanded to as long as 60 kilometres (37 mi) when changes are completed. In August 2014, a major southward expansion of the Path network brought it closer to the Toronto waterfront , with the opening of a covered pedestrian bridge connecting Scotiabank Arena south to RBC WaterPark Place on Queens Quay (crossing the Lake Shore Boulevard / Gardiner Expressway corridor and Harbour Street). The City of Toronto constructed

759-454: The fourth quarter of 2007. Completion of this section closed the last remaining gap in the north–south route through Path that parallels Yonge Street, thus eliminating the need to double back from Bay Street to get between buildings located on the eastern edge of Path. In 2011, the City of Toronto released a long-term expansion plan for the Path network, developed by Urban Strategies Inc. As part of

792-778: The idea for the tunnel system came when the Bank of the Southwest Building was "linked by tunnel to the 1010 Garage and the Mellie Esperson Building" in 1961. The Tunnel is a series of underground passageways that, with above-ground skywalks , link office towers to hotels, banks, corporate and government offices, restaurants, retail stores, and the Houston Theater District . Portions of the tunnel contain gift shops, newsstands, banks, technology centers, flower shops, copy centers, dry cleaners, and food courts similar to

825-523: The much-needed small businesses from the streets. Lawson thus convinced several important developers to construct underground malls, pledging that they would eventually be linked. The designers of the Toronto-Dominion Centre , the first of Toronto's major urban developments in the 1960s (completed in 1967), were the first to include underground shopping in their complex, with the possibility of future expansion built in. The city originally helped fund

858-606: The northern portion, which make wheelchair use impractical in some locations. Bob Eury director of the Houston Downtown District, stated that, "These areas haven't been made ADA -compliant because it would be difficult or impossible to put in ramps and still leave enough headroom for pedestrians." The Harris County tunnel at the far north side of downtown is not connected to the rest of the system by either tunnels or skywalks. It connects Harris County courts, jails, and associated buildings totaling 10 blocks. Six blocks of

891-510: The result is the current system. Many complain the system is hard to navigate. In 2016, the Toronto Financial District Business Improvement Area (FDBIA) and City of Toronto began study of updating Path signage and maps to make navigation easier. In 2018, Steer Davies Gleave completed design of a new wayfinding system that is still used today. This system was rolled out in some buildings in 2018. In 2024,

924-681: The skywalk connections between the Hilton-Americas Hotel and George R. Brown Convention Center , the skywalk connections at the Toyota Center , and at the Houston Public Library . This is a partial listing. The tunnels, being underground, are prone to flooding. They serve as channels for floodwater, allowing it to move through the tunnels from flooded buildings to unflooded buildings, flooding buildings that would not have been flooded otherwise. After Tropical Storm Allison , some of

957-633: The space has a "more modern look" compared to the previous space at the ExxonMobil Building. Downtown Houston tunnel system The Houston tunnel system is a network of subterranean, climate-controlled, pedestrian walkways that links 95 full city blocks 20 feet (6 m) below Houston 's downtown streets. It is approximately six miles (9.7 km) long. There are similar systems in Chicago , Dallas , Oklahoma City , Montreal , and Toronto . Architectural historian Stephen Fox has stated that

990-599: The system. This also converted low-valued basements into some of the most valuable retail space in the country. The next expansion of the network occurred in the early 1970s with the construction and underground connection of the Richmond-Adelaide Centre office tower with the Sheraton Centre hotel complex. Construction of the Path tunnel north from Scotia Plaza through the Bay Adelaide Centre started in

1023-545: Was deployed in the early 1990s. Within the various buildings, pedestrians can find a Path system map, plus cardinal directions (red for south, orange for west, blue for north, yellow for east) on ceiling signs at selected junctions. These same colours are also used in the Path logo. The signage can be hard to find inside some of the various connected buildings. Building owners concerned about losing customers to neighbouring buildings insisted any signage not dominate their buildings or their own signage system. The city relented and

Total Plaza - Misplaced Pages Continue

1056-828: Was opened between the Maple Leaf Square complex (via the basement-level Longo's supermarket) and ÏCE Condominiums at York Centre. On December 5, 2020, the new Union Station Bus Terminal was opened within the new CIBC Square complex and connected via a skywalk to the Scotiabank Arena. Path provides an important contribution to the economic viability of the city's downtown core and is also used to supplement sidewalk capacity in downtown Toronto. The system facilitates pedestrian linkages to public transit, accommodating more than 200,000 daily commuters and thousands of additional tourists and residents en route to sports and cultural events. Its underground nature provides pedestrians with

1089-462: Was previously occupied by METRO, which planned to move into a new administration building in January 2005. In addition, Total Holding U.S., a 20 person office representing Total S.A.'s North American holdings, was scheduled to move to Downtown Houston. Before METRO moved out, the building had a 96 percent occupancy rate. After METRO left and after Total moved in, the occupancy rate was 86 percent. In 2006,

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