Complex Protection Made Easy

As Texas tradition dictates, Houston’s Greenway Plaza does nothing by halves—and its security program is no exception. The enormous business campus is watched over by a security and tenant-relations program that does the Lone Star State proud.

Greenway sprawls over 60 acres, just off of U.S. Highway 59, about five miles from downtown. Built in phases during the 1980s, the complex includes ten office buildings ranging from five to 31 stories and totaling 4.3 million vertical feet of space. Also on the grounds is the 388-room Renaissance Houston Hotel, multiple garages with parking for more than 10,500 cars, a grand plaza, a large food court, and retail and professional service shops such as florists, movie theaters, and one of the town’s most acclaimed restaurants.

And if all of that were not enough, Lakewood Church, the largest nondenominational congregation in North America, meets in what was previously the Compaq Center, home of the NBA’s Houston Rockets. Today, it is the site of services for more than 16,000 worshipers. The church is attached to the Renaissance Houston Hotel.

Lakewood uses the Plaza’s parking garages. Charles K. Hutchinson, senior security manager for Crescent Real Estate, which owns and operates Greenway Plaza, says that while the church isn’t part of the security’s purview per se, “It’s as good as attached to our property as it gets.”

The average daytime population for Greenway Plaza is about 12,000. They are primarily employees of tenant companies that include financial, legal, oil and gas, and “just about every type of business you can imagine,” says Hutchinson. On Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays, the population swells further with the Lakewood congregation.

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