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https://product.costar.com/home/news/1654779263?tag=1 Construction is set to start soon on a project being developed by Hines for a Houston energy company relocating its headquarters about 7 miles west to reduce commute times for employees as well as save money. Marathon Oil Corp., a publicly traded producer, plans to start building its 15-story headquarters in CityCentre at 990 Town & Country Blvd. this month, said Curtis Ryland, vice president of special projects at Marathon Oil. When the tower is completed at the end of 2021, Marathon Oil expects to relocate into the roughly 440,000-square-foot building from its current home at 5555 San Felipe St. in the Uptown-Galleria area, where it’s been for 35 years. The new multimillion-dollar project comes as energy companies are under pressure to ratchet down spending amid falling oil prices and concerns of a slowdown in the energy sector and the economy at large. However, Marathon Oil officials say building a new tower from the ground up is actually more cost effective than staying in the current office and will boost efficiency and shorten commute times for hundreds of their employees in the Houston area. While the move provides a glimpse at the steps companies under pressure take to cut costs, it also gives an insight into the decision facing all growing corporations at some point on whether to expand or relocate. The Marathon situation is a study how companies look at a transforming city, an industry facing fluctuations and the challenges in trying to project industry and economic trends for the next 35 years. With Marathon Oil’s lease at 5555 San Felipe set to expire at the end of 2021, the energy firm evaluated options and decided it was more cost-effective to relocate rather than pay for renovations of their space and deal with the disruption of construction, Ryland said. The new location in CityCentre at the southeast corner of Interstate 10 and Beltway 8 will also drastically reduce commute times for many of its employees, Ryland said. More than half of Marathon Oil’s nearly 1,000 local employees commute to the Uptown-Galleria area from the quickly growing west side of Houston and Katy. CityCentre will also give employees access to restaurants and other amenities, he noted. The 50-acre mixed-use district developed by Midway Cos. has 400,000 square feet of restaurants and retail space, a movie theater, a gym, and a bowling alley. "We wanted an environment to provide balance to employees and CityCentre is highly sought-out in terms of its connectedness," said Ryland in an interview. It will also give Marathon Oil a chance to create a more modern workspace to improve efficiency, promote collaboration and give employees better access to upgraded and reliable technology, executives said. "The building we are in was built in the 1980s and it's very much a traditional office that was designed before the internet and before computers were on every desk," Ryalnd said. "Now when you have teams at work and the types of spaces they need, we’re trying to create a more active workspace. Flexibility and choice are key aspects of our design." `Project Thunder' Estimate Marathon Oil held a groundbreaking ceremony earlier this month commemorating the start of the project and the selection of its general contractor, D.E. Harvey Builders, but the project's construction will start sometime this month. Kendall/Heaton Associates Inc. is the architect on record for Marathon Oil's new tower. Last year, Marathon Oil purchased the land for the new tower from Midway through a financing agreement known as a synthetic lease. In that type of deal, Marathon Oil leases the land from SMBC Leasing and Finance Inc. but essentially acts as the owner, Ryland said. Marathon Oil did not provide an estimate for the total construction costs, but initial filings with the state for a project at the same address called "Project Thunder" show the shell of the building was estimated to cost $109.6 million and the interiors were estimated to cost $60 million. Marathon Oil had a blockbuster year for earnings in 2018 when capital efficiency and a 24% jump in oil production boosted its profits from $1 billion in 2018, compared to posting a $5.7 billion loss the year earlier. But like the rest of the oil sector, tepid crude prices this year have dinged Marathon Oil’s profits, which fell 35% year-over-year in the third quarter to $165 million, according to its latest earnings report. The phrase "capital discipline" was cited often on company earnings calls with investors as executives emphasized their efforts to keep spending in check. Despite planning to boost oil production by 10% this year, Marathon Oil has planned to keep its capital budget flat at $2.6 billion. Meanwhile, at Marathon Oil's space at 5555 San Felipe, the owners of the 41-story tower are in the midst of significant remodeling to modernize the building, which is known as Marathon Oil Tower. Elsewhere in CityCentre, Midway is planning to build a 300,000-square-foot office tower called CityCentre Six directly south of the Marathon Oil project. A Midway spokeswoman told CoStar News that Midway has launched the CityCentre Six project, but did not immediately respond to a phone call and email requesting more information about the project's timeline. Midway recently sold a majority stake in CityCentre Five, a 15-story office tower anchored by Amazon Web Services at 825 Town & Country Lane. Farther west down I-10, Harvey Builders has reportedly halted construction on the buildout of McDermott International's space at 915 N. Eldridge Parkway in the Energy Corridor, according to the Houston Business Journal. McDermott, an oil field services company, leased the entire 525,000-square-foot office building last year for its headquarters. Harvey Builders filed a lien against the property in October, citing McDermott owed the contractor $14.2 million in unpaid bills, according to a filing with the Harris County Clerk. Another lien was filed in October against the property by Trio Electric, an electric subcontractor, citing the owner of the building, TCH Energy Corridor Venture LLC, owed Trio Electric $4.7 million for unpaid work for McDermott's space, according to the Harris County Clerk. TCH Energy Corridor Venture is a joint venture between Dallas-based Trammell Crow and Des Moines, Iowa-based Principal Real Estate Investors. It was not immediately clear what company owed Trio Electric the funds. CoStar News reached out to McDermott, Harvey Builders, TCH Energy Corridor Venture and Trio Electric for additional comment.

^^^ and that's how the power of the internet can be used for good. i bet someone could start a gofundme or crowdfunding campaign to help get this restored, assuming the city or someone else w the funds available doesn't simply step up to the plate. hell, if i'm an adjacent property owner i'd give consideration to this. a historical restoration would do wonders for the property and who knows could lead to a repurposing to something other than seedy convenient store (no offense to Mr. Iqbal). i'm sure the current incarnation is a cash cow for him, though, so who knows. either way, at least there's some hope.

you do realize they are calling it this because the term "founders" refers to the startup founders they are catering to, right?

the beautiful thing about this is that Vinny's is a completely different type of pie so both can live together in harmony. plus Vinny's being attached to Miss Carousel can't easily be replicated or replaced.

whaaaaaa??? some of the best news i've heard all year! home slice is my favorite pizza joint in austin and we go regularly. what a glorious announcement!

no matter, DFW is absolutely smoking Houston in terms of corporate relocations and national appeal. austin as well. there have been next to zero major corporate relocations to the houston area the last several years and it's even scarcer if you exclude o&g. Houston has a lot going for it, but it competes non-stop w DFW and Austin and we lose out nearly 100% of the time. most times, Houston doesn't even get a seat at the table, it's just DFW and Austin. The corporate landscape is changing and Houston is getting left in the dust. This is a huge problem moving forward - o&g is shrinking and will continue to do so as more attrition occurs in the industry and related companies do more w less people. our only saving grace, potentially, is TMC. the city needs to be investing significant time and money into attracting healthcare, medical and related companies, bc we will never compete w the tech/creative scene in austin and the consumer, professional services, tech etc. etc. of DFW.

this is my understanding - at or around 50 stories requires another elevator bank which not only adds mechanical costs but also requires additional square footage.

Do we have a render of this one?

Mine of the best features of a city like London is that it is awash w parks, many quite large, that make enjoying and traversing the city quite spectacular. Houston, especially central Houston, lacks natural reprieves from the concrete... I fully support surrounding downtown w a green oasis.

chase is only 1.65m sf currently designed, this project will span both blocks with a common amenity deck. Office about 15 stories and mf about 30-35. i'm sure that's subject to change, though.

this will be a fine looking development... i'm sure renders will make their way out soon enough.

2 or 3 floors of office over 2 floors of retail. CBRE will be leasing the project. Excellent addition to the neighborhood. As @CREguy13 said it will be very well received. Very distinctive.

there's no real classification system for office properties - it's all marketing more or less. AA/A+ is commonly used for the newest asset classes, though.

part of the benefit of memorial park now falling under the uptown TIRZ (i believe that's the correct authority) will include much better bike and pedestrian connectivity from uptown to memorial park. i'd assume bike sharing would be a part of that plan.

Not sure about recladding but I’ve been told the building will undergo major renovations.