Chevron Tower For Downtown: 58-Stories At 1600 Louisiana St.

[cloud713]

Ugh... WTF Chevron?

[Urbannizer]

I don't mind, since one reason is to allow more time for the design. There'll still be big things going on downtown next year.

[cloud713]

Oh well if they are trying to make the design better I'm all for it... And true. 609 Main, Capital Tower and the residential projects should be enough to keep us entertained in the downtown area for the next year..

[houstonfella]

On the flip side, at least it is still planned, just at a later date. 

[arche_757]

Doesn't take a year to redesign something like this.  Any firm would bust their "you know whats" to get a 50-60 floor tower finished and ready to go.  Not like they're reinventing the wheel.

 

What I find really odd is the timing on this announcement.  I will bet the folks who own Allen Center are working on all sorts of levels to keep their Chevron clients happy, and maybe even convince them to move additional resources into those recently announced "soon to be renovated" buildings.

[bachanon]

Oh my.....the plot thickens.

[wxman]

Wow. In a word: retarded. 

[Triton]

Doesn't take a year to redesign something like this. Any firm would bust their "you know whats" to get a 50-60 floor tower finished and ready to go. Not like they're reinventing the wheel.

What I find really odd is the timing on this announcement. I will bet the folks who own Allen Center are working on all sorts of levels to keep their Chevron clients happy, and maybe even convince them to move additional resources into those recently announced "soon to be renovated" buildings.

Agreed.

Something seems fishy here.

[Naviguessor]

Damn.  Didn't see that coming. But, I am sure that it will be worth the wait. 

[invisibletrees]

Doesn't take a year to redesign something like this.  Any firm would bust their "you know whats" to get a 50-60 floor tower finished and ready to go.  Not like they're reinventing the wheel.

 

 

obviously, no one said it did. there's a number of reasons why this and other projects by chevron have been placed on the back burner.

[arche_757]

^I was responding to someone who said the extra year will allow for a better design.  Usually when projects get "put on hold" it is due to money.  Nothing more, nothing less.  Even for a company as big and powerful as Chevron. Perhaps the money is better spent elsewhere now?  Maybe enough shareholders raised concerns that they don't need a new tower in Houston?  Or executives are rethinking if perhaps they wouldn't be better off doing something else?

[ig2ba]

I don't think we should read into this too much as being a downtown- or even Houston-specific issue. The word is that they planned other buildings in Pittsburgh and Bakersfield, and these have been delayed (but I don't think cancelled yet).

The expansion of their building in Louisiana, which was over capacity from when it was opened in 2008, has also been delayed.

[GoodToBeMe]

Which building of theirs in Louisiana? I was not aware they had personnel there.

 

Is this typical for tall buildings in Houston? I read on another thread here about several other tall structures being placed on hold.

[ig2ba]

They have offices at Lafayette, Covington, and Henry Hub. The Covington one was built soon after Katrina, so it must be that one.

[cloud713]

He means Louisiana ave I'm pretty sure, the property chevron currently owns in downtown

[H-Town Man]

Just recently read an article saying that, barring major regional conflict in the Mideast, oil prices are heading way downward soon. Not looking good folks!

[Moore713]

 they have frozen all projects in place , except for the mid land one( not just Houston but varies other cities) but
 They are still going thu with employee tranfers to Houston, and stated they are still bulking of their employee work force in Houston, so the tranfers are still happening.

what it sounds like to me is that they may have signed a tenet deal with one of the new towers planned. Why else would they freeze the building , but state they will go ahead witht he employee transfers

[lockmat]

I wouldn't doubt if he meant the state. Most oil and gas companies have a presence there.

[King Owl]

 

 they have frozen all projects in place , except for the mid land one( not just Houston but varies other cities) but

 They are still going thu with employee tranfers to Houston, and stated they are still bulking of their employee work force in Houston, so the tranfers are still happening.

what it sounds like to me is that they may have signed a tenet deal with one of the new towers planned. Why else would they freeze the building , but state they will go ahead witht he employee transfers

 

 

hmm.  If I were Shorenstein, I'd be trying to entice them over to Bell St.

[Howard Huge]

Just recently read an article saying that, barring major regional conflict in the Mideast, oil prices are heading way downward soon. Not looking good folks!

Time to start a war!

[ig2ba]

Sorry for not replying directly. Lafayette, Covington, and Henry Hub are all in the state of Louisiana. Hurricane Katrina did not hit Louisiana Street.

[LTAWACS]

Pardon my French but... UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111

[Tumbleweed_Tx]

Mexico is ending their oil monopoly, inviting foreign investment. Look for oil prices to drop and production there doubles in the next few years.

 

 

you would think that if Chevron grabs a chunk of that, they'll need more office space... lol

 

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-16/north-america-to-drown-in-oil-as-mexico-ends-monopoly.html

[Moore713]

And there it is the reason they put it on hold.

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2013/12/20/with-an-eye-on-australia-plans-on.html

[fatesdisastr]

Boooooo

[cloud713]

This tower is like 1/170th the cost of the Australia project and they can't manage to squeeze this tower into their budget? Lame.. Hopefully 2015 brings us better news

[tangledwoods]

This isn't a problem of budget, rather a problem of cash flow.  This project is critical to the future of their operations, they will likely start sooner than one they announced.  In the meantime look on the bright side, this does allow time for redesign!!!

[Howard Huge]

This tower is like 1/170th the cost of the Australia project and they can't manage to squeeze this tower into their budget? Lame.. Hopefully 2015 brings us better news

Thats what I was thinking.

"My budgets kinda strapped right now and I wanna finish building out my home theatre setup so im not gonna buy any gum this month."

[fernz]

This isn't a problem of budget, rather a problem of cash flow.  This project is critical to the future of their operations, they will likely start sooner than one they announced.  In the meantime look on the bright side, this does allow time for redesign!!!

 

I can imagine when the RE team goes in front of the capex committee to request additional funds for the redesign: "I know we are billions of dollars over budget on other projects, but we really need more money on this one, the haifers don't like the design!" 

[kbates2]

I would assume that a large reason for this tower is to compete with Exxon for talent.  This shiny new tower in downtown vs Exxon's shiny campus in the boonies.  As much as I hate that they have a cash flow issue delaying it, I am still confident that they will build it.  

[Houston19514]

This tower is like 1/170th the cost of the Australia project and they can't manage to squeeze this tower into their budget? Lame.. Hopefully 2015 brings us better news

Not lame at all. You need to focus not on the total Australia cost, most of which was already budgeted/allocated, but on the unexpected increase of $2 Billion. The company has a certain amount of money available for capital projects. They aren't the federal Government, which can just print more money.

[wxman]

I would assume that a large reason for this tower is to compete with Exxon for talent.  This shiny new tower in downtown vs Exxon's shiny campus in the boonies.  As much as I hate that they have a cash flow issue delaying it, I am still confident that they will build it.  

 

Boonies? You speak like you're from a small little town somewhere. You people need to wake up and realize that The Woodlands is a major economic hub now in a county pushing over 500,000 people. I'm not sure ''Boonies'' is the word I would have chosen for it. The campus (Exxon) is sitting on the Harris/Montgomery county line. If it were in Willis or Huntsville, then I could agree.

[JJxvi]

It might be the word that Chevron recruiters will use for it.

[htownproud]

How about "BFE"? The woodlands is definitely out there for folks wanting to live in a big city. I don't know anyone that is excited about the new Exxon campus so I'm not sure chevron needs the tower to compete for talent. My understanding s that Exxon is anticipating having some retention issuers wih the move . . . .

[Slick Vik]

The woodlands is very far from everything except itself.

Edited December 25, 2013 by Urbannizer
Quote removed

[kbates2]

Boonies.

[Howard Huge]

The woodlands is in the boonies.

Edited December 25, 2013 by Urbannizer

[LTAWACS]

Boonies? You speak like you're from a small little town somewhere. You people need to wake up and realize that The Woodlands is a major economic hub now in a county pushing over 500,000 people. I'm not sure ''Boonies'' is the word I would have chosen for it. The campus (Exxon) is sitting on the Harris/Montgomery county line. If it were in Willis or Huntsville, then I could agree.

Hardly.

[lockmat]

This isn't a problem of budget, rather a problem of cash flow.  This project is critical to the future of their operations, they will likely start sooner than one they announced.  In the meantime look on the bright side, this does allow time for redesign!!!

 

I can imagine when the RE team goes in front of the capex committee to request additional funds for the redesign: "I know we are billions of dollars over budget on other projects, but we really need more money on this one, the haifers don't like the design!" 

True, but I bet the RE team is not the only group that has input on projects this big. If anything they're probably just a middle man at least for the facade design.

[H-Town Man]

Boonies? You speak like you're from a small little town somewhere. You people need to wake up and realize that The Woodlands is a major economic hub now in a county pushing over 500,000 people. I'm not sure ''Boonies'' is the word I would have chosen for it. The campus (Exxon) is sitting on the Harris/Montgomery county line. If it were in Willis or Huntsville, then I could agree.

The Woodlands is a shining emerald in a sea of booniness. You might say it's the Houston of Montgomery County... As Houston is to Texas.

[HoustonIsHome]

The woodlands is very far from everything except itself.

Its far from many things important, but it's not really that far from the Houston Urban Area.

In fact the Exxon Campus is closer to the city of spring than to The Woodlands CDP. I don't know why the Conroe/ Woodlands UA is separate from Houston UA, because the development seems continuous for a large area. But the Exxon plant will definitely cement the two urban areas together.

Houston UA had 4.944M people in 2010, Conroe/Woodlands had .240M, Dallas Fort worth had 5.121M. If the Woodlands was part of Houston Urban area the totsl would be 5.184M which would make the Houston urban area bigger.

It would be really odd for Chevron to build head quarters in Conroe. Now that would be out there

[Urbannizer]

Several comments have been removed to prevent this topic from going into the wrong direction.

[Slick Vik]

Its far from many things important, but it's not really that far from the Houston Urban Area.

In fact the Exxon Campus is closer to the city of spring than to The Woodlands CDP. I don't know why the Conroe/ Woodlands UA is separate from Houston UA, because the development seems continuous for a large area. But the Exxon plant will definitely cement the two urban areas together.

Houston UA had 4.944M people in 2010, Conroe/Woodlands had .240M, Dallas Fort worth had 5.121M. If the Woodlands was part of Houston Urban area the totsl would be 5.184M which would make the Houston urban area bigger.

It would be really odd for Chevron to build head quarters in Conroe. Now that would be out there

 

Being close to Conroe and Spring is still far from anything of note.

[H-Town Man]

Two things:

1. Can we keep this thread about Chevron tower? Posts have had to be removed, and already we're debating that Montgomery County crap again?

2. Anything north of FM 1960 = boondocks.

[HoustonIsHome]

Being close to Conroe and Spring is still far from anything of note.

I don't disagree

[Golyadkin]

The story I've gotten is that this tower is delayed because Chevron is diverting a lot of money to upstream development (exploration, etc.) and the money for the tower isn't there because of it.

[j_cuevas713]

The news sucks but we still got a lot to look forward to DT

[Mab]

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/Chevron-purchases-downtown-block-5112259.php

 

Chevron purchase a downtown block 

 

 

 

In late November, the oil and gas giant acquired the block bounded by Milam, Travis, Leeland and Pease. The property is used primarily as a surface parking lot, but it contains a low-rise office building at its southwest corner.

 

Also a update on the push back on the announced building

 

About two weeks ago, Chevron said it decided to push back construction of its new tower. Explaining the delay, Higgs said the company was in a "unique, capitally intensive period" and for the time being that it would be focusing its resources elsewhere.

He said Chevron was still committed to building the tower and that the delay would not affect previously announced employee moves to Houston. The decision on when to resume the project would not be made until after 2014.

 

[cloud713]

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/Chevron-purchases-downtown-block-5112259.php

 

Chevron purchase a downtown block 

 

 

Also a update on the push back on the announced building

woah.. what does Chevron want with that block? thats the one south of the ExxonMobil building.. i know that along with the YMCA block at 1600, they also own the block east of 1500 Louisiana for a future 4th tower.. could the new block be for a parking garage for all these new workers?

and who owns/what is the structure on the block just east of YMCA/south of the Chevron daycare block? its directly between the new plot they bought and the rest of their campus..

[Texasota]

That's a beautiful building on that block. I'd hate to see it razed.