hot co.
d o w n to w n's m o v e r s a n d s h a ke r s
by sandra cook
90 Years of Building Houston Fretz Construction stands strong on its foundation of service and quality photography by john c. lindy
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or nine decades Fretz Construction has built – and preserved – a vast catalogue of Houston’s iconic structures. For the company, which celebrates 90 years in 2013, the ideals put into place by its founder Edmond A. Fretz remain pillars of the company today. After 10 years as the City of Houston Engineer, Edmond Fretz founded the Standard Construction Company in 1923. Nine years later he changed the name of the firm to Fretz Construction Company, and today the company continues under the management of the Fretz family. Edmund Fretz’s son Bob Fretz served as president from 1967 to 1998, and was succeeded by Bob Fretz, Jr. the company’s current president and CEO. Fretz Construction grew with Houston, teaming with the prominent developers and architects of the time, including Jesse Jones, John F. Staub, Maurice J. Sullivan and A.C. Finn. Their work was varied, from building Houston’s first shopping center, River Oaks Shopping Center, to the Tower Theater, to the Heights Senior High School, now known as John H. Reagan High School. Time and time again, Fretz Construction has been called upon to build and restore Houston-area churches and religious facilities, including St. Anne’s Catholic Church and School, Temple Emanu El, and Saint Vincent de Paul Church, just to name a few. The company has built an impressive roster of medical and research facilities as well, including Diagnostic Hospital and Clinic and the Gene Medicine headquarters. Fretz Construction works exclusively in the private, commercial market and is driven by repeat business. The company prioritizes stay-
4 spring 2013
downtownhouston.org
ing on budget, working closely with architects to develop projects that fit client budgets but still maximize the results for money spent. Since 2009, Fretz Construction has won four Outstanding Construction Awards from the Texas Building Branch of the Associated General Contractors of America and four additional awards in the area of safety from the AGC. Preservation Houston has recognized Fretz Construction with eight Good Brick Awards since 1996. “Our company has done more historic restoration than probably any other company in the area,” says Bob Fretz, Jr. “And we like that. I feel it would be crazy to let these beautiful old structures go away.” Fretz explains that the purpose of specializing in restoration construction is to make it possible for building owners to be able to avoid demolition by neglect. Today, Fretz Construction employs 90 people. Most work in the field on various construction projects, and some are third and fourth generation employees of the company. Return to downtown
For its first 20 years, the company’s offices were in the iconic Esperson building on Travis, but the company spent many recent years headquartered on the South Loop. “We were so proud to relocate back to downtown in 2012," says Fretz. The opportunity to return to a downtown location was much more than happening upon available office space. Fretz Construction’s connection with its future headquarters began in 2009 with a bid to refurbish the drastically dilapidated façade of the former Wilson Printing building at 500 Fannin. Fretz was contracted to restore the façade by the previous property owner, who had also retained Ziegler Cooper Architects. Soon after, building permits were acquired. Then the owner decided to sell the building, but gave the façade restoration plans and building permits to Fretz and Ziegler Cooper with hopes that the project would continue to move forward. That prior owner set up what would turn into the full restoration of the entire building. Charmed by the old building, Bob Fretz and a group of investors formed 500 Fannin LLC to purchase the building to ensure a full restoration of the entire structure inside and out. Initial research for the job had revealed the long-neglected building to be the 1932 Wilson Stationary and Printing Company building, designed by William Ward Watkin (the longtime Rice University architecture professor and department head). Wilson Printing occupied the building from its opening day in June 1932 until the company ceased operations in the summer of 1979. The building sat vacant for the next 30 years, essentially left for dead. Never air conditioned, the empty building grew less and less desirable over the years as the downtown office market trended toward modern, climate-controlled spaces. When the 500 Fannin group purchased the building, their goal was to make it an operable and functional office space with the essential features such as air conditioning, elevators, and safety measures like sprinkler systems. For the renovation, Fretz Construction was able to use Watkin’s original drawings to guide restoration and construction. Fretz Construction collaborated with Ziegler Cooper to revive the stunning structure that Watkin intended as well as to develop a viable commercial building for modernday downtown Houston.