Rendering of Hines/Ivanhoé Cambridge's office building in Downtown Houston

The Texas Tower is going to be as grandiose as the state it resides in.

Hines and Ivanhoé Cambridge are developing the 47-story, 1M SF office tower in Houston and its features could be described as amenities on steroids.

Tenants and their employees will have plenty of natural light coming from 10-foot, full-height windows. There will be a high-performance fitness center, access to plenty of food and beverage options, cold storage lockers for groceries and Amazon lockers.

Green space will be abundant. Not only will tenants have access to public parks outside the building, they will also be able to check out several public gardens inside the high-rise tower. Some tenant employees on the ground floor will have access to a private garden, a Hines official said.

Workers will have the ability to set their own temperature at their workstations and visit an outdoor seating area designed like a carousel (called an urban pavilion) to meet and collaborate.

“The war for talent is a very real thing,” Hines Senior Managing Director John Mooz said at the National Association of Real Estate Editors conference in Austin, Texas. “This is a hyper-amenitized building. ... It is intended to be responsive to the recruiting and retention needs of all of the tenants.”

What Hines and Ivanhoé Cambridge are developing with the Texas Tower is a reflection of the current office development landscape.

With the national unemployment rate continuing to fall — at 3.6% as of June and the lowest rate in nearly half a century — companies are in fierce competition to attract and retain talent.

For office developers, this means building, rehabbing and putting in features and amenities that will help draw in tenants that want to separate themselves from the rest of the pack.

“This is really driven by the war for talent," said Brian Harrington, chief experience officer for Hana, a CBRE-backed flexible office provider. "As occupiers and owners of buildings look at assets and workplace environments, it’s really about highlighting, capturing and retaining employees that I want in that space. That’s what is driving a lot of the innovation."