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Viva Center: Mixed-Use Tech-Hub At 11445 Compaq Center West Dr.


mrfootball

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4 buildings that were originally part of the wooded HP Campus in northwest Harris County on 249 are going to be redeveloped into corporate office buildings as part of a $100M, 44.5 acre project headed up by Macfarlan Capital Partners and Buchanan Street Partners. It is being marketed as the largest block of office space available for a corporate campus in Houston.

The project, to be named the Centre at Cypress Creek will include:

3 interconnected 4-story office buildings and 1 computer manufacturing facility

630,000 sq ft of space

4 Parking Garages

Complete in 2008

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/5020331.html

*This may have been the portion that UH was hoping to buy before having to postpone their plans for a NW Harris County campus.

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They're still there, I believe when they merged with Compaq, they downsized the workforce and reduced the need for some of those buildings. Additionally, HP has some new $400 million data center located on the Vintage Park side of 249. Perhaps somebody else might be able to give us more info on what is planned for that area.

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HP still has more than half the campus.

There have been some layoffs, but also they are taking everyone that had an office and squeezing them into cubes - so mainly they are just packing people a lot more tightly into the remaining buildings.

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My dad use to work for Compaq back in the glory days. He said it was much better back then, than now. He doesn't work there anymore, but back then (don't remember the years, but I was a toddler), he had his own office, and use to go jogging out there..

Edited by Trae
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The question is, who wants to locate their company way out there? It's not exactly an easy place to get to unless all your employees live in the neighborhood.

It's actually quite common for corporations to build their corporate campuses in the suburbs where there's lots of housing and good schools. This location has excellent access to the big airport as well as corporate jet service at nearby Hooks and is located on a good side of town, making it easy to attract good workers and their families.

Obviously, this is a great location for a corporate campus. Compaq rose from nothing to become the #1 computer maker in the world before merging with HP.

if I were CEO, greater Tomball would be the last place I'd put my company.

I wouldn't worry about that happening, Midtown.

Greater Tomball? :lol: not quite.

Speaking of Tomball, anyone seen BJ Services new Technology Center campus? I was driving back from the Woodlands the other day and was impressed with their big new campus. It's got that modern german design look, like something you'd find near Munich.

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BJ Services Technology Center corporate campus in Tomball

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More Pics of BJ Services

Edited by mrfootball
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More on this deal:

http://www.cityfeet.com/News/NewsArticle.a...mp;PartnerPath=

"We are buying it to reposition it and bring it back in its original class A setting," Jenkins tells GlobeSt.com. "It's an infill setting that has not been available to the market for 20 years. Northwest Houston has just taken off. Demand for office space is extremely strong."

Hewlett-Packard last year sold the complex to Houston developer Don Hand. Brenda Pennington, principal of locally based Brenda Pennington Commercial Real Estate, who listed the property, says the seller "had too many other irons in the fire" to devote attention to the complex after seizing an unexpected opportunity to buy it. "It was not part of his annual projection so he decided to put it back on the market," she explains.

According to Pennington, the offering drew attention from investors and users. "There was great interest from large users, including educational groups, energy companies and technology companies," she says. "But there were also many investors who wanted upside potential."

Jenkins says the project offers the largest available block of contiguous class A office space in the Houston area. He says redesigning of the manufacturing building into office space will begin in four to six months. Macfarlan has contracted with locally based Transwestern to lease and manage the complex. According to Transwestern senior vice president Michelle Wogan, the existing office space will be ready for delivery in about 90 days.

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Compaq merged becuase the CEO (Capellas) threw in the towel. I'll never forget meeting HP's Carly Fiona. They asked us to wear "Texan Gear" when she came to campus after the merger was complete. Man, that was hokey, and I am a native.

I was on the "White Room" integration teams. Blood was everywhere.

And of course, Capellas and Fiona are both history. But I still love my HP computer!

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It's actually quite common for corporations to build their corporate campuses in the suburbs where there's lots of housing and good schools. This location has excellent access to the big airport as well as corporate jet service at nearby Hooks and is located on a good side of town, making it easy to attract good workers and their families.

Obviously, this is a great location for a corporate campus. Compaq rose from nothing to become the #1 computer maker in the world before merging with HP.

Mrfootball is right, not only have all the HP/Compaq employees been clustering around there for ages, but its exceptionally easy to recruit well-educated folks, including prospective employees with families, which are typically way more anchored to wherever they happen to be than are singles and DINKs.

The map below, sourced to the Census, depicts where employees working in the highlighted block groups commute from. Clearly a move downtown isn't in the cards.

untitled1ss5.png

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We were putting underground plumbing in one of those original Compaq buildings back in 1991 (I think). This stuff was all labratory spec. pipe, fusion joint, glass and stainless steel drain bodies, the whole works. It was complicated but great work and we were all proud of our craftmanship. Then the day after we back filled, plans had changed. Apperently they (Compaq) did not need this technology any more so we were paid through a change order to cut everything off at grade and plug it all up. Concrete was poured over it the next day for a future "storage area". Money well spent! ;)

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HP currently has plans underway to sell of 1/2 of the remaining buildings. What former employees would know as CCA10 - CCA15, leaving only CCA4 - 9 and 2 of the old manufacturing facilities. They will share the Commons and gym facilities with the new tenants. Houston still remains a strong presence for HP but the HP Board, in respect of the founders and their families, would never consider moving the corporate headquarters out of the Silicon Valley. The original house where HP began is still in California on HP's main campus and is treated as a museum. As stated earlier, Houston was chosen as the site of one of HP's very large data centers and are commited to staying in Houston.

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  • 11 months later...
There is a rumor that the buildings have all been sold to one company who currently has offices inside the loop. Anyone know who that is?

I know at one time they were offered up to NHMCCD/Lonestar College.

The district looked at them and decided the remodeling cost would be very high. Later, I was told the HP made the same offer to U of H.

Now a U of H campus satelite in northwest Houston area would be a great idea. I wonder what happened?

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I know at one time they were offered up to NHMCCD/Lonestar College.

The district looked at them and decided the remodeling cost would be very high. Later, I was told the HP made the same offer to U of H.

Now a U of H campus satelite in northwest Houston area would be a great idea. I wonder what happened?

There is some confusion regarding which building we are talking about.

Buildings CCA1-3 and CCM1-2 were sold at least 2 years ago and they were supposed to be the UofH branch campus. However, that was fought by other nearby schools, namely Texas Prairie View that were afraid that UofH would take away from their enrollment. So the developer has been trying to sell/lease the buildings for some time. I believe they are the buildings that might have been rumored to sell again. This was the 44.5 acre redevelopment that started this thread.

CCA9-15 are being vacated, and will eventually be sold/leased. However, to my knowledge, several of those buildings still house HP employees and are not vacant at this time.

That leaves CCA4-8 and CCM3-8 as HP offices. They are expanding Parking garages 6 and 13 to eleviate the parking congestion.

Edited by Mr. Chenevert
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So how many HP folks are left on the campus?

Man I think 8000 would be on the really high side! If you are talking strictly whats left of the campus there at Louetta and not all of Houston. There were only about 12k in the hey days and so many have been laid off or transferred out I would guess maybe a 1/4 were left if that... I dunno. Maybe someone can call the welcome center and find out.

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There is some confusion regarding which building we are talking about.

Buildings CCA1-3 and CCM1-2 were sold at least 2 years ago and they were supposed to be the UofH branch campus. However, that was fought by other nearby schools, namely Texas Prairie View that were afraid that UofH would take away from their enrollment. So the developer has been trying to sell/lease the buildings for some time. I believe they are the buildings that might have been rumored to sell again. This was the 44.5 acre redevelopment that started this thread.

CCA9-15 are being vacated, and will eventually be sold/leased. However, to my knowledge, several of those buildings still house HP employees and are not vacant at this time.

That leaves CCA4-8 and CCM3-8 as HP offices. They are expanding Parking garages 6 and 13 to eleviate the parking congestion.

U of H did buy CCA 1 -3 but were banned by the state in opening a satellite branch. Prarie View, Lonestar and A&M all said it would be unfair and would affect their enrollments and the state agreed. U of H now has that space up for sale or lease.

The space that is reportadly sold are all of the remaining buidings, CCA 9 - 15. The buyer is a rumored to be a large corporation with employees in the loop currently.

Man I think 8000 would be on the really high side! If you are talking strictly whats left of the campus there at Louetta and not all of Houston. There were only about 12k in the hey days and so many have been laid off or transferred out I would guess maybe a 1/4 were left if that... I dunno. Maybe someone can call the welcome center and find out.

8000 is about right. That includes the data center on Louetta/Cutten but all the buildings have been consolidated and many of the offices were gutted and buildings turned into cube farms, including senior management. Additionally, many employees work from home part of the time so the number fluctuates by day.

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The space that is reportedly sold are all of the remaining buidings, CCA 9 - 15. The buyer is a rumored to be a large corporation with employees in the loop currently.

Very interesting. If its true, then Im sure there will be an announcement before too long. They told the employees about the UofH sale quickly.

You hear about layoffs, but you generally don't hear about hiring. It doesn't take long to be right back to the same employment level as you were prior to a 5-10% layoff. And instead of transferring out of Houston, a large number of employees transferred to Houston from other locations.

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