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Chevron Tower For Downtown At 1600 Louisiana St.


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"The final investment decision for the project — designed by HOK, an architectural firm with an office in Houston — is expected in the second quarter of 2014. Groundbreaking will follow the final investment decision, and occupancy is anticipated to begin in the fourth quarter of 2016, according to the release from Chevron."

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2013/07/03/chevron-plans-new-houston-building.html

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Of all the proposed buildings potentially going up around downtown, this is the one I have the least amount of faith in.  Hines got out in front (which they were always in the front with 609), and Skanska is likely not going to spend the millions tearing down the Houston Club building and not build something there.

 

Chevron could go either way?  I understand they are looking to build a suburban campus like Exxon out near Spring Woods/The Woodlands - if that happens perhaps they move from Downtown?  If that does happen, then perhaps they will vacate both fromer Enron buildings?  That would leave 2 40 floor towers virtually empty and place little need for something like Stream to move forward.

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Chevron could go either way?  I understand they are looking to build a suburban campus like Exxon out near Spring Woods/The Woodlands - if that happens perhaps they move from Downtown?  If that does happen, then perhaps they will vacate both fromer Enron buildings?  That would leave 2 40 floor towers virtually empty and place little need for something like Stream to move forward.

 

What? That is entirely the opposite of what is going on.  Chevron is already committed to their new shiny 50 story building downtown which will start up in about 9 months.  There has even been talk of them occupying the 800 Bell after Exxon leaves.

 

I will say though that I agree that this (International Tower) is probably the least likely to go up of all the proposed downtown buildings.

Edited by brijonmang
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Of all the proposed buildings potentially going up around downtown, this is the one I have the least amount of faith in.  Hines got out in front (which they were always in the front with 609), and Skanska is likely not going to spend the millions tearing down the Houston Club building and not build something there.

 

Chevron could go either way?  I understand they are looking to build a suburban campus like Exxon out near Spring Woods/The Woodlands - if that happens perhaps they move from Downtown?  If that does happen, then perhaps they will vacate both fromer Enron buildings?  That would leave 2 40 floor towers virtually empty and place little need for something like Stream to move forward.

What in blue are you yapping about, the last interview they did they keep going on about creating a urban campus ,nothing about being like exxon"Together with Chevron's existing Houston buildings, the new tower will become part of a campus-like environment with indoor and outdoor common areas, dining facilities, a fitness center and training and conference rooms." That is the only mention they ever made about a campus style.

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Chevron could go either way? I understand they are looking to build a suburban campus like Exxon out near Spring Woods/The Woodlands - if that happens perhaps they move from Downtown? If that does happen, then perhaps they will vacate both fromer Enron buildings? That would leave 2 40 floor towers virtually empty and place little need for something like Stream to

move forward.

So the rumblings are true, then?

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What in blue are you yapping about, the last interview they did they keep going on about creating a urban campus ,nothing about being like exxon"Together with Chevron's existing Houston buildings, the new tower will become part of a campus-like environment with indoor and outdoor common areas, dining facilities, a fitness center and training and conference rooms." That is the only mention they ever made about a campus style.

 

Well.... I'm "yapping" about what a friend who works for one of the major architectural firms here in town told me about working on a campus for Chevron up near the Exxon campus.  He said that's the next major project planned.  Now, Chevron could be consolidating a campus up there for all of its researchers and training departments etc?  I'm not sure.  Its just a rumor - since I can't actually substantiate it as I'm not sure how many square feet they are building out there (or plan to), or if it is "plan b" or some other idea they are floating around.

 

Chevron's moves are a mystery.  It does seem odd that they would back out of so much square footage downtown - but I can imagine the security concerns for a company like an Exxon or Chevron would perhaps move the needle towards a more controlled campus in a more suburban setting.

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What? That is entirely the opposite of what is going on.  Chevron is already committed to their new shiny 50 story building downtown which will start up in about 9 months.  There has even been talk of them occupying the 800 Bell after Exxon leaves.

 

I will say though that I agree that this (International Tower) is probably the least likely to go up of all the proposed downtown buildings.

 

As stated in the above post - I have a friend who is well connected in a major architectural firm downtown - and what he said is that its a possible big Chevron project out near The Woodlands.

 

Personally I think its probably some sort of training and research facility (though they have a research facility on Buffalo Speedway if I'm remembering correctly).  I doubt they would bother with even paying a firm the money to develop plans for a 55 floor building and then go in the opposite direction.  Besides, they have a nice little cluster of buildings in Downtown and I'd imagine that allows their workers to live anywhere in Houston and not just in The Woodlands or Klein/Spring areas.

 

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Of all the proposed buildings potentially going up around downtown, this is the one I have the least amount of faith in.  Hines got out in front (which they were always in the front with 609), and Skanska is likely not going to spend the millions tearing down the Houston Club building and not build something there.

 

Chevron could go either way?  I understand they are looking to build a suburban campus like Exxon out near Spring Woods/The Woodlands - if that happens perhaps they move from Downtown?  If that does happen, then perhaps they will vacate both fromer Enron buildings?  That would leave 2 40 floor towers virtually empty and place little need for something like Stream to move forward.

 

Well first things first: Enron 1 (1600 Smith?) is 50 stories. Enron 2 is 40 stories. 

 

Second, the Chevron spokesperson was on every tv channel in the city doing interviews about how they are excited to see this project rise and that it'll be a premier ubran-style campus downtown.

 

Finally, I'm not going to call you out or call you a liar. If you say you have a friend in a big architecture firm, then by all means, I'm all ears. However, what you say doesn't make any sense so perhaps you can keep us updated?

 

As for the renderings of the Chevron tower, it's not like Chevron spent a ton of money on their rendering. It was one rendering and it's a glass box that looks like it was brushed with water paint. How much thought could possibly go into it? 

Edited by wxman
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Look, I'm not saying the Chevron building won't happen - far from it - I'm only saying that I've heard they plan some sort of campus (again not clear on size or square footage) up near The Woodlands.  It may only be 500,000 sq ft for training purposes?  I have no clue.  But if it is supposed to be near the size of Exxon's campus that would indeed preclude any real need for a 1.3 million square foot tower downtown.

 

And by golly you are right -- Chevron probably didn't spend much money on that very schematic looking tower did they?  Which to me means they may have several options to present their board/shareholders/who-ever-is-voting-on-moving-forward.  As we all know a company the size of Chevron isn't going to ONLY present an option for a tower and just leave every other possibility off the boards, are they?

 

Don't be angry with me if Chevron decides to go the route of Exxon.  I'm certainly not the one in charge, and if I was in charge I'd hire someone better than HOK to do the tower.  Lastly, Chevron can say what ever they want to people in and around town.  They may be publicly traded, but they are not the government and as such can do whatever they want, whenever they want to.  They could very well build the tower and a campus - they certainly have the resources.

Edited by arche_757
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Look, I'm not saying the Chevron building won't happen - far from it - I'm only saying that I've heard they plan some sort of campus (again not clear on size or square footage) up near The Woodlands.  It may only be 500,000 sq ft for training purposes?  I have no clue.  But if it is supposed to be near the size of Exxon's campus that would indeed preclude any real need for a 1.3 million square foot tower downtown.

 

And by golly you are right -- Chevron probably didn't spend much money on that very schematic looking tower did they?  Which to me means they may have several options to present their board/shareholders/who-ever-is-voting-on-moving-forward.  As we all know a company the size of Chevron isn't going to ONLY present an option for a tower and just leave every other possibility off the boards, are they?

 

Don't be angry with me if Chevron decides to go the route of Exxon.  I'm certainly not the one in charge, and if I was in charge I'd hire someone better than HOK to do the tower.  Lastly, Chevron can say what ever they want to people in and around town.  They may be publicly traded, but they are not the government and as such can do whatever they want, whenever they want to.  They could very well build the tower and a campus - they certainly have the resources.

 

They have the resources but not the people to fill a 1.7 million sq. ft. brand new, 50-story tower, plus both Enron buildings PLUS a campus consisting of 20 buildings and 3 million sq. ft. of office space in a suburban campus. Seems silly to have both. Who knows. 

 

I'll take what you say as rumor for now. Perhaps at the end of the day you DO know something the rest of us don't but your credibility is on the line if it all falls apart ;)

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This is a silly conversation.  Chevron tower is being built.  Notably Chevron sent an email to all Houston employees stating that the Bellaire location would not be consolidated downtown.  I suppose it could move that location and Westpark up North, but it would seem odd and against what it is telling/suggesting to its employees.  

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Perhaps at the end of the day you DO know something the rest of us don't but your credibility is on the line if it all falls apart ;)

Usually an opinion or information most reviled is that which you don't want to hear...

 

Like I said - my friend who is with a major architectural firm had a talk with one of his bosses about future projects and Chevron was mentioned.  Just how big, how many square feet, how many workers are involved is unknown to me.  Whether or not this supposed project costs the proposed tower downtown is absolutely unknown to me (I'm merely speculating)?  I really don't know.

 

All I know is that my friend (who I trust - as I've known him for many years, and he never lead me wrong about another big project currently under contruction also up north) said that there is a Chevron project down the pipeline that will be big.

 

This should be moved to a different thread as it has nothing to do with Stream/Essex.

 

And forgive me if I'm not as up to date on the status of the Chevron tower downtown.  I don't live or work in Houston so my knowledge is more specific towards what gets done on the island.  And like any project in my profession - until a dedicated contractor is on board and preliminary site-prep is underway the project is just on paper.

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I think my original post got taken a bit out of hand - or I didn't explain myself correctly?  Either way I'm pleased they are in Houston, and even more pleased they are absolutely moving forward with the highrise downtown.

 

I'll refrain from posting any "insider" information in the future since everyone gets so worked up.

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Chevron is indeed moving forward with this tower. I think you guys will like the design even more once new renderings are released. As to Arche, I would say that you should gather more information from your friend before spreading a rumor that's incorrect. I understand why others here are getting worked up, this is something pretty big for downtown. 

Edited by invisibletrees
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I think my original post got taken a bit out of hand - or I didn't explain myself correctly?  Either way I'm pleased they are in Houston, and even more pleased they are absolutely moving forward with the highrise downtown.

 

I'll refrain from posting any "insider" information in the future since everyone gets so worked up.

 

Chevron has a chemical division that's headquartered in The Woodlands?  Could your source potentially be referencing that entity?

 

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All I know is that he told me that his firm is working on a campus for Chevron that is very large.  He said they are well into the design of the campus.

 

I never meant to imply that they will build a campus in place of a tower, but according to my friend the scale and scope of Chevrons campus is quite large.  Again - he didn't know about Chevrons plans for a downtown tower until I told him.

 

I think others have misunderstood what I said "Chevron could go either way?  I understand they are looking to build a suburban campus like Exxon out near Spring Woods/The Woodlands - if that happens perhaps they move from Downtown?  If that does happen, then perhaps they will vacate both fromer Enron buildings?  That would leave 2 40 floor towers virtually empty and place little need for something like Stream to move forward."  [that is from post 256]

 

I never said "The tower is off"  or  "They won't build the tower because of the campus"  I was just speculating that they may perhaps do one or the other.  That was all.  Sorry for mentioning anything...  but since this is a forum and most of the posts on here are just speculation and opinions I felt I could maybe mention it.  Boy was I wrong.

Edited by arche_757
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I understand why others here are getting worked up 

 

Doesn't take much. If you doubt a project, question a project, don't like something about a project, wish a project were in a different location, or just about anything else other than cheering for the project as-is and hoping it gets done fast, people will get worked up.

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Arche_757 has done a good job of breaking down his original post to make perfect sense as to what he meant.  No need to keep dogging him for something that was taken out of context.

 

I make a motion to return this thread back to its rightful purpose...speculating on why or why not this tower will get built and why the floor height keeps changing.  Also, how it looks sort of like a head and shoulders shampoo bottle as was referenced before.

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