What's Going On Over At Exxon?

[jb4647]

If you're not aware, I posted photos of this building under construction here:

http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/i...8&hl=Humble+Oil

My grandfather worked for Humble starting in 1927 until he died in Nov 1972, about a month after they changed to Exxon.

[ENGcons]

The Exxon building would cost more to renovate than for a new building due to abatement. Exxon owns the lot across the street and has a plan to build a new office, and tear down the original Exxon building to make way for a parkign garage. But like I said abatement before demolition would be incredibly costly.

[YakuzaIce]

The Exxon building would cost more to renovate than for a new building due to abatement. Exxon owns the lot across the street and has a plan to build a new office, and tear down the original Exxon building to make way for a parkign garage. But like I said abatement before demolition would be incredibly costly.

What is your source on this. Despite how I would like a new tower downtown, I hope this does not happen.

[MidtownCoog]

Hmmmm....

They are going to tear it down, so lets fix it up first.

Whatever.

[kjb434]

yeah,

If they are going to build a new tower, they wouldn't tear down the newly refurbised one. I would think they would want sell it off to a new other to fill it up with tennants are continue to own and make money of office rental.

[gto250us]

The Exxon Building most certainly was called the Humble (silent

[MarthaG]

When we were kids our parents would take us to the top to the observatory. It had a cool machine that would mold a replica of the Humble Building with a slot on the top for a piggy bank. I think it cost 25 cents. My mom saved everything but I have yet to find it in any of her things.

[just a small point of useless trivia]

I remember this. It was light green in color. It was a real treat to go to the observation level. At the time it was the tallest building in the city. If I remember correctly, you had to change elevators to get to the top.

I hope they restore this building.. it would be a shame to tear it down.

[Houston19514]

The "H" is silent only if you want to sound like a Texan with a corndog stuck in your throat.

... or if you want to pronounce it correctly

[nmainguy]

... or if you want to pronounce it correctly

Good one, Houston19514

One of the main problems with the Humble/Exxon Building is the columns are on 10' centers in both directions. If you gutted the building so you could actually see the structure, it would look like a forest of columns-which it is. Very hard to lease out space like that when there is better empty space available. Try laying out office space in a forest of columns...it's a cluster @#*%.

[kjb434]

I guess that what you get with the international style of architecture.

I'm think you can have an office space with few walls (open concept). Of course this doesn't work for all business.

How are the office currently in the building for Exxon? It must be a little functional, but I guess they dont' have any large rooms though.

[Houston19514]

With columns every ten feet, I guess it wouldn't make a very good candidate for condo conversion either.

[ENGcons]

I guess you should actually read my post before responding. I said Exxon has a plan for a new tower, HOWEVER, due to abatement issues it costs too much to tear down the old tower for the planned parking garage that is designed to go in the place where the Exxon building stands. And as for revealing a source you have to be nuts. This might be an anymous board but iam not selling out a source, which should tell you I didn't pick this up out of the newspaper.

[nmainguy]

I guess you should actually read my post before responding. I said Exxon has a plan for a new tower, HOWEVER, due to abatement issues it costs too much to tear down the old tower for the planned parking garage that is designed to go in the place where the Exxon building stands. And as for revealing a source you have to be nuts. This might be an anymous board but iam not selling out a source, which should tell you I didn't pick this up out of the newspaper.

Not sure who you are responding to.

I read your post.

I read them all.

As far as you having a secret "source"...well, we've all heard that one before.

[Montrose1100]

It use to be Humble, when my father use to work for Dresser (Which is now the Kellog Tower), The company (forgot the name) built the (what is now) The Exxon Building, was a customer of Dresser. Then, there were planning to build the Dresser (Kellog) Tower taller, but the company decided not to out do there customer, feering they would lose there client. And after work, they all went down to the Y.

the good ole' days!

[ENGcons]

My sources are not "seceret", this is not spy games or something. It is just these are people, who I have professional relationships with, I refuse to give out a company name, or a persons name for information I have been privilidged to. Plus, you never know who else reads this board.

And I was responding to midtown whoever his name is for snubbing my comments on the issue.

[Montrose1100]

I doubt they would tear down the Standing Exxon Building, thats just ludacris, its too tall of a building, and too important to the 60s Houston.

[gto250us]

I guess you should actually read my post before responding. I said Exxon has a plan for a new tower, HOWEVER, due to abatement issues it costs too much to tear down the old tower for the planned parking garage that is designed to go in the place where the Exxon building stands. And as for revealing a source you have to be nuts. This might be an anymous board but iam not selling out a source, which should tell you I didn't pick this up out of the newspaper.

Would you go to jail to protect your source? Seems to be popular thing to do these days.

[YakuzaIce]

As of 10-23

[Montrose1100]

Maybe there changing the window pannels? or painting perhaps?

edit: Asbestos?

[jmancuso]

this isn't new york city where real-estate is that much in demand and exhausted where you could justify imploding a 600' building in favor of a newer one. houston's downtown still has more surface lots than buildings.

[nmainguy]

Does anyone remember the funky lotus shaped fountain pools on the plaza? I tryed to get one when we redid the plaza and basement, ground and mezzanine levels. Instead of giving them away, they destroyed them. They were tacky in front of the building but one of them would have looked FABULOUS in my back yard!

[gto250us]

Hey I see today that the Chinese are buying Exxon for $430 billion. I guess they are spiffing up the place prior to moving everyone to Bejing.

[kjb434]

Are they putting in a bid or are the closing a deal? I doubt they would be sold. Don't you remember the recent Unocal fiasco?

[gto250us]

Are they putting in a bid or are the closing a deal? I doubt they would be sold. Don't you remember the recent Unocal fiasco?

I know the Unocal fiasco quite well.

Some Chinese clown put in a notice with the SEC. He has done this sort of thing in the past with other companies. Probably nothing to it. I just thought that it was funny. Although the Chinese are the largest holder of American debt to the tune of more than $700 billion in T notes. They essentially are propping up the US and paying GW's war bills, ie. the cost of killing young Americans.

[kjb434]

Ok,

I know where you stand now. How does that Kool Aid taste?

[chw9989]

This seems to be an old thread - but I'm an occasional browser of HAIF that has been inspired to post on this topic, because I think maybe I have useful info on what is going on with the facade project (at least so far), for whomever is curious and might read this later:

Full disclosure/disclaimer - I work for the company, and have officed out of the 800 Bell facility plenty of times, both during this project and before. My information about the facade project comes from an acquaintance who works for JE Dunn (the construction contractor doing the work), is the result of hallway conversation with fellow employees or my own logical reasoning. I am not involved in any way with the real estate development/maintenance groups within the company, so the below is just my own opinion, not XOM company policy/plans. I'm neither architect nor engineer, so some of this may be nonsensical.

That said . . . the so-called facade project . . .

Again, I'm no engineer, so I may be getting some of the detail wrong, but what I have been told by my contact at JE Dunn and by others working at 800 Bell that are familiar with the project: the rebar in the main exterior columns on the facade is rusting (inside the concrete somehow), and so the columns must be reinforced to ensure the long term structural integrity of the building. I've heard that this is expected maintenance because the building was never intended to last more then 50 years (that may be a load of c*ap, I don't really know).

The project is moving up floor by floor and doing something to these main exterior support columns (seems like only the corner columns) to fix this problem. Is it reinforcing with additional concrete? Adding structural steel? I don't know. But, that's why the curtains are necessary, since the project involves a lot of jackhammering and breaking of concrete. The curtains abate the dust and help deal with falling debris. Having worked on the floors where work is happening and trying to have phonecalls with people who do, I can confirm that LOTS of jackhammering is going on near the columns (VERY loud). There is more going on then just replacement of stone facade.

The project will last a few years, and will slowly move up the building. I think they are on floors 12-15 right now.

In terms of replacing the marble facade (I think actually it is limestone), I think that is also happening, but I'm not sure they are replacing it with aluminum (to match the sun shades) or matching stone. I'll check next time I am down there.

Interior design . . .

The interior of the building is indeed very choppy, the only large rooms in the facility are in the basement and in the rooftop (Petroleum Club ballroom). Most offices (save for the corners) are about 10x10, and are put together with some type of custom moveable metal wall panels. Incidentally, the same structural and interior design (including the wall panels) used at 800 Bell was also used for the Baytown refinery main office building, which I think was built around the same time. Exterior design of that building is MUCH different, as it is blast resistant (for obvious reasons)

A couple other little 'insider' factoids about 800 Bell, some are rumors among the employees, some I know for sure are true . . .

The cornerstone at the Travis/Bell corner of the building still has the 'Humble Oil and Refining Co' inscription

I believe the company owns the building and also the parking garage caddy cornered from the facility, which serves as the physical plant (AC, boilers, etc)

Downtown employees hate that the Exxon gas station in the corner of the parking garage was shut down shortly after the merger (99), as that was where most of us had our oil changes done. The station was shuttered because of poor financial performance that could not justify rebuilding once the old leaky storage tanks were removed.

The building is not connected to the downtown tunnel system because the corporation's former New York HQ was plagued with bomb threats in the publicly accessible tunnel areas under the building (complete rumor, I don't even know for sure if the former HQ was connected to any publicly accesible tunnel system at the time the 800 Bell building was constructued, or if there even is something like that in NYC, but this is something I've heard many times)

Employees (and I'm sure others) call the facility 'the radiator'

The cafeteria is run by Aramark catering now, and isn't nearly as good as it used to be.

Ironically, the coffee shop in the basement stopped selling the company's 'Bengal Traders' line of permium coffee and affiliated with Starbucks a few years ago. They came to their senses and switched back this past year (same time as the cafeteria switch)

Some think they are ugly, but the aluminum extensions on the building serve a few purposes:

(1) Serve as a windbreak (I've heard it's a critical design feature of this particular building)

(2) Act as sunshades for offices, conserving energy and making employee's lives easier in the east and west facing window offices

(3) Make for a reasonably safe exterior maintenance platform

On a new XOM office tower - -

I've been an employee for more then a few years, and there is always some type of rumor about XOM constructing a huge Houston campus to office EVERYONE in the metro. Most of those rumors circle around a large parcel of land the company (through I think Friendswood Development Co) owns (or used to own) near Conroe, and also on the old Humble oil fields near Webster (between 8 and the north edge of Clear Lake City). None of it has ever come to pass. We downtown employees heard lots of rumors about the company purchasing the 'new' Enron tower. Obviously that never happened. This is the first I've heard of a new office tower near 800 Bell. I'm not sure if the company actually even does own any of the surrounding city blocks - I've never heard that before. It wouldn't surprise me, but all but one (Bell facing side of building) have some type of structure on at least one of the corners already.

As I understand it, the company is doing the current repairs because the building will not otherwise remain structurally sound. That's it. Does that mean they are going to turn around and sell it and build another tower? I think that is unlikely. Again, my understanding is that the company OWNS the building, so vacating would either make XOM a landlord (directly or by proxy) or the building would have to be sold to some other party. Given the current slack in the downtown office tower market (as I understand), I doubt the company is at all interested in taking on either of these challenges anytime in a reasonable planning horizon. Regardless of what some secret sources might say (and I certainly am not privy to the real estate dealings of the corporation - see disclaimer - maybe others on this forum are), it just doesn't seem to make economic sense to spend a ton of money renovating a building you mean to sell or lease to someone else in the near term.

And hey - I kinda' like working in that place. It's the former HQ for one of the largest operating Standard Oil affiliate companies, and is the current HQ for some current XOM affiliate companies, so there are some very 1960s posh areas of the building (see Petroleum Club) . . . and some very 2000's posh executive floors. It's a neat place.

Hope this is helpful/interesting . . .

[Montrose1100]

Wow thanks for the post/info!!!

[jmancuso]

yes, thanx!

[mkultra25]

When we were kids our parents would take us to the top to the observatory. It had a cool machine that would mold a replica of the Humble Building with a slot on the top for a piggy bank. I think it cost 25 cents. My mom saved everything but I have yet to find it in any of her things.

[just a small point of useless trivia]

Wow, glad to see someone else remembers these. I recently poked around the net a bit and discovered that these injection-molding machines were actually called Mold-A-Rama, and quite a few of them were installed around the country in various locations, pumping out all sorts of little plastic replicas (mostly of animals and dinosaurs).

The machines looked like this:

A couple of interesting sites with lots of info and history about Mold-A-Rama are Mark McDermot's Mold-A-Rama page and Moldaramaville; there are others that are easily found by Googling "Mold-A-Rama".

The Humble Building mold was apparently one of the rarest ones, as you won't find it mentioned on many lists of Mold-A-Rama molds. I wish I still had the one I got when I was a little kid, but it was lost long ago. There's a pic of one at a recent eBay auction, but that one is brown; I distinctly remember the one I had as being plain white plastic. Probably just a different batch of plastic that was used in the machine, as I gather that it was easy to vary the color of the molds that way.

[texas911]

Exxon should build a new head quarters downtown. A signature building. Downtown needs a new skyscraper.