The corporate logo - the head of a long-maned male lion - will be headlining a luxury hotel project of le Triomphe Property Group of Baton Rouge, LA. The developer is undertaking a historic rehabilitation at the well-known Texaco building, a Texas landmark situated in the downtown at the intersection of Rusk, Capitol, San Jacinto and Fannin.
Le Triomphe recently completed a similar project at the former Maison Blanche department store on the fringes of the French Quarter. The company purchased the property about two years ago and is now nearing the end of the asbestos abatement stage. The renovation is expected to be finished in about 18 months, say company officials.
Built around the turn of the century, the Texaco building is considered the "most princely" of the city's early skyscrapers. Intricate tilework, limestone arcades and exterior bronze-cast columns bearing the Texaco star, the structure stands in stark contrast to the city's glass skyscrapers.
The oil company vacated the 13-story structure in the 1980s, relocating to the $1.2 million Texaco Heritage Building across town.
The le Triomphe project calls for 320 rooms at an estimated $300 per room rate topped off by corporate apartments. About 50 condominiums are planned for the nearby Texaco annex.
Hotel analysts say a new luxury hotel is needed downtown, where demand is high and rooms are too few to meet pressures from the entertainment district, Bayou Place, and the August opening of the Astros' Enron Field. But recreation is just part of the economic renaissance evidenced by the increasing number of corporate employers who are abandoning the suburbs for the CBD.
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