A prominent 20-story office tower in the heart of Downtown Houston has been renamed the Harris County Sylvester Turner Administration Building, tying a highly visible piece of the city skyline to a public figure whose career was shaped within Houston’s Black communities.
The building, known as the Sakowitz building, was a high-end clothing store in the 1950s and now stands at 1010 Lamar St., near the county’s downtown government center. Harris County officials held a dedication ceremony, formally unveiling the new name roughly nine months after Turner’s death.
Turner served as Houston mayor from 2016 to 2024, after a long tenure representing House District 139 in the Texas Legislature. He then moved to Congress, becoming the U.S. representative for Texas’ 18th Congressional District in 2025. He passed away on March 5, 2025, at the age of 70.
What the building is for
The structure itself is not a new construction project. It is the former Lamar Plaza office tower, a long-standing part of downtown’s commercial real estate landscape, which Harris County has purchased and is renovating to convert into office space for government work, including the Harris County Attorney’s Office and other county departments.
Public records indicate that the county’s renovation work has been ongoing and phased. For example, a state project listing describes design and renovation work for executive offices within the building, including an 18th-floor project with an estimated cost of $1.5 million and a timeline extending into early 2026.
A site with layered Houston history
The location carries its own civic symbolism. The adjacent garage at 1111 Main is closely connected to the former Sakowitz department store, a mid-century retail landmark that remains in Houston’s memory even after the building’s reuse.
Harris County leaders, clergy, elected officials, and Turner’s family gathered for what Commissioner Rodney Ellis called “a great day,” the formal naming of the building in honor of Turner. But, he refused to overlook the building’s past, “until the mid-60s.”
“African-Americans and Hispanics could buy clothes from Sakowitz, but you couldn’t come in and try them on,” he said, adding that history mattered to him in the decision to rename the building.
Ellis returned repeatedly to Turner’s origin story, “getting on the ‘fofo’ [#44] bus coming into downtown” and looking up at the skyline, a dream Turner referenced on the campaign trail. Ellis framed the building naming as a response to that narrative.
“What made Sylvester special was that he didn’t just dream for himself, he dreamed for all of us…That is why we honor
Commissioner Rodney Ellis
Sylvester Turner.”
“What made Sylvester special was that he didn’t just dream for himself, he dreamed for all of us,” Ellis added. “His values came from his community. He believed in giving people respect, in opening doors that had been shut, and in widening the circle of opportunity so that every child could have a path forward. That is why we honor Sylvester Turner.”
Turner’s daughter, Ashley Turner Captain, accepted Ellis’ public challenge to complete her father’s unfinished book. She shared the personal power of seeing her father’s name attached to a downtown tower and what it means to tell that story to her son.
“I get to tell my son the story of his pop pop pop getting on that bus coming into downtown from Acres Homes, dreaming and being inspired by these big buildings, and now this building is dedicated to his pop,” she said. “That’s just an amazing way to honor him.”
The county’s purchase
Harris County’s acquisition of the 1010 Lamar building and its adjacent garage was a roughly $26 million deal.
County agenda documents also show that commissioners had authorized negotiations for the purchase of 1010 Lamar and the adjacent parking structure at 1111 Main as part of a broader facilities strategy downtown.
The Turner building also joins a cluster of downtown sites that commemorate figures tied to the political legacy of Congressional District 18, a seat that has functioned for decades as one of Houston’s most visible pipelines for Black political leadership.
The Turner building sits alongside the Mickey Leland Federal Building, a site named for Barbara Jordan and a county building renamed in honor of Sheila Jackson Lee.
Leaders weigh in
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo spoke as someone who worked alongside Turner through overlapping emergencies and disagreements.
“This city shaped Mayor Turner, Congressman Turner, just as much as he shaped it,” she said, listing what their partnership faced: Hurricane Harvey, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the winter freeze.
Commissioner Adrian Garcia shared how Turner pushed him to build relationships.
He recalled a standout example from Turner’s time as a state representative, the senior’s utility compensation program, describing it as proof Turner thought beyond his own district. He framed the building’s name as a prompt for future generations.
“Generations after us will look at this building, see this name, and begin to inquire who was Sylvester Turner,” Garcia said.
