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Chevron Tower For Downtown At 1600 Louisiana St.


tangledwoods

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New information on this tower that I've heard in the last couple days:

  • The final decision on whether to fund this project will be in Q3 of 2015.
  • The construction will run through 2019. I'm not sure if this includes work after the building is already opened, or if the date that it will be opened is in 2019. I suspect that it includes the finishing touches.
  • 850 feet now, but still 50 floors. I don't know which one is an error. Or maybe they're expecting future Chevron employees to be taller than current employees.
  • They are hiring Chevron employees for this project starting now.

Except for the last bullet, I can't confirm that any of these will actually come to pass, but this is the latest info.

 

Calrification please: the final decision on whether to fund this project, or final decision on funding for this project?

 

So this seems like a 2016 project.

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The final decision on whether to fund this project will be in Q3 of 2015.

 

From what I have understood the final investment decision has been slated for Q3 of 2014 not 2015.

 

I think one BIG issue that some people here are missing is that the decision to build here or there is a big decision that isn't made in reaction to small events.  This tower has been on the drawing boards at HOK for a few years now and Chevron has been planning it for even longer.  The economics of building are resolved well before a building gets to this level of design.  It would be highly unusual for a company to pull the plug on something that is this far designed.

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No. Exxon built a campus that Chevron only heard about in like the last 3 months, and it has shattered their world and caused them to rethink all of their facilities development. Its probably the most successful campus in history and its not even built yet. Chevron must follow suit, even if they have to move to Conroe.

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From what I have understood the final investment decision has been slated for Q3 of 2014 not 2015.

 

I think one BIG issue that some people here are missing is that the decision to build here or there is a big decision that isn't made in reaction to small events.  This tower has been on the drawing boards at HOK for a few years now and Chevron has been planning it for even longer.  The economics of building are resolved well before a building gets to this level of design.  It would be highly unusual for a company to pull the plug on something that is this far designed.

 

That was the plan until they announced cost cuts last month. The cuts included delays in the new downtown Houston, Bakersfield, Covington, and Pittsburgh offices.

 

I don't mean to imply that anyone is pulling the plug. The project already has money to do preliminary engineering and this will continue, though at a slower pace than expected before. The final decision will determine whether and when they get the remaining 90% of the money for the project to proceed.

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I think it is best if we can keep all Exxon / Shell commentary outside this topic as best we can - i know it gets difficult because of relationships and trends.

 

But some of this has gotten really muddled when re-reading (I can't tell if the above post is about Chevron or Exxon something) haha.

Edited by Avossos
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That is correct. That is the answer as to 'what' will be housed there. However, the answer as to 'why' its separated from the remaining campus is what my answer adresses

 

it's my understanding that the reasoning for the seperation is more related to cost than any sort of continuitty function.  The campus space is exponentially more expensive to construct and operate compared to the substantially cheaper lease space.  In other words, XOM does not want to waste costly real estate in their campus for non-income producing administrative workers.  they initially debated on leaving them in Greenspoint (to which the Greenspoint District hung their hat when the initial campus anouncement was made) but XOM ultimately determined it created too great a gap within the company and did not want to alienate the administrative employees entirely.

 

although there is probably some merit to your point regarding business continuity, having their secondary location only 3 miles away isn't the most fail-proof continuity strategy.

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No. Exxon built a campus that Chevron only heard about in like the last 3 months, and it has shattered their world and caused them to rethink all of their facilities development. Its probably the most successful campus in history and its not even built yet. Chevron must follow suit, even if they havto move to Conroe.

Yes this.

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it's my understanding that the reasoning for the seperation is more related to cost than any sort of continuitty function.  The campus space is exponentially more expensive to construct and operate compared to the substantially cheaper lease space.  In other words, XOM does not want to waste costly real estate in their campus for non-income producing administrative workers.  they initially debated on leaving them in Greenspoint (to which the Greenspoint District hung their hat when the initial campus anouncement was made) but XOM ultimately determined it created too great a gap within the company and did not want to alienate the administrative employees entirely.

 

although there is probably some merit to your point regarding business continuity, having their secondary location only 3 miles away isn't the most fail-proof continuity strategy.

 

It all seems quite odd.  They plan a large campus for the purpose of consolidating their employees in one location; and then don't consolidate all their employees there, saying "we don't like to put all our eggs in one basket."  Bizarre. 

 

Their campus costs are exponentially higher than leasing office space?  Seems unlikely.  Especially if you consider what the marginal cost would be to add 1 or 2 additional buildings for the employees who are now being shuffled off to The Woodlands.   ExxonMobil already owns the land and has built the campus infrastructure.  Can they seriously not find a way to add 480,000 square feet of buildings for a cost that is not exponentially more expensive than leasing space at Hughes Landing?  If they can't, they maybe shouldn't be building and owning the campus to begin with.

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That was the plan until they announced cost cuts last month. The cuts included delays in the new downtown Houston, Bakersfield, Covington, and Pittsburgh offices.

 

I don't mean to imply that anyone is pulling the plug. The project already has money to do preliminary engineering and this will continue, though at a slower pace than expected before. The final decision will determine whether and when they get the remaining 90% of the money for the project to proceed.

 

FWIW, I heard that the final decisions on the offices you mentioned, Bakersfield, Covington, and Pittsburgh (i.e., the extent of eventually moving part of those operations to Houston and obviating the necessity of new construction there), is what delayed the Houston tower, and that the Houston tower will be appropriately funded once those decisions are made.  It's worth noting that Chevron is moving forward with its Midland campus (uh-oh, a campus!), presumably because their future presence and needs have been well-settled.

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FWIW, I heard that the final decisions on the offices you mentioned, Bakersfield, Covington, and Pittsburgh (i.e., the extent of eventually moving part of those operations to Houston and obviating the necessity of new construction there), is what delayed the Houston tower, and that the Houston tower will be appropriately funded once those decisions are made.  It's worth noting that Chevron is moving forward with its Midland campus (uh-oh, a campus!), presumably because their future presence and needs have been well-settled.

 

I think there is very little to no work that could be moved from Bakersfield to Houston or Pittsburgh to Houston. They could always sell their assets in those locations, in which case people would be transferred to the purchasing company or have to return to home base. I think that's pretty unlikely since Chevron only exists in PA because they bought Atlas very recently (in 2011 I think).

 

I suspect Midland is going forward because the Permian is booming right now. A suburban campus in Midland means 4 miles from downtown, not 35 like Camp Strake is.

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Its probably a better location for Chevron. They should move everybody in Houston to Midland before Conroe.  Its West of Midland so its also closer to Odessa.  Midland is roughly the size of the Woodlands and Odessa is larger than Conroe. So an argument can be made that the "suburban Midland" campus is more "somewhere" than Camp Strake. The idea of moving to Camp Strake for a company that occupies 2 skyscrapers in downtown Houston  and is considering building a 3rd is ludicrous. Its not going to happen.

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I work for Chevron. They will build downtown, the last I was told the tower broke 855 feet and was going to be possibly 52 stories and they are thinking about a few more floors but nothing official yet. The towers details aren't final yet, there's still a while before they get to it but just wanted to share.

If Chevron gets approved to build their campus they will not be building their campus near the Woodlands over downtown.

Edited by Sellanious Caesar
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Thanks for the positive update. There are so many projects going up in Houston right now that by the time the fans come to the Superbowl that were here for the last one in 2000, will think they're in the wrong city. The whole city is getting a major overhaul and I think its going to blow everyone away. What a great time to be in Houston especially if you are into this kind of thing.

Were going to look like a spread out Dubai with all of the cranes all over town. There's not an area of town that won't be affected in a positive way.

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^Well actually Bob, Galveston has seen very little impact from this current building boom.  I just thought I'd rain on the parade a little.

 

Good to hear that Selanious.  Infill!  And I'm thinking the new Chevron tower will be quite a nice building, even if it stays somewhat simplistic in its geometry?  I would also hope we will someday hear about some hospitality work near Chevron's downtown campus.

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What Sellanious says rings true to me, also.  My guess is that the rumors about a Woodlands-area campus probably have to do with "Chevron Phillips", which is a joint-venture between those 2 companies that is limited to producing chemicals.  It is already based in The Woodlands.

 

I used to work for Chevron and my boss there used to compare it to a large ship:  it makes course changes very slowly.  Consequently, it seems unlikely to me that they would suddenly decide to move most of their Houston employees to The Woodlands just because ExxonMobil is doing that, after planning it for years.

Edited by ArchFan
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Were going to look like a spread out Dubai with all of the cranes all over town. There's not an area of town that won't be affected in a positive way.

A Spread out Dubai?

Like Dubai s towers are not spread out in random places?

Dubai builds more in line with Houston than NY when it comes to layout. Give them their due, they do have style. The developments are usually cutting edge

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  • 3 weeks later...
Colbert said Chevron, too, is paying attention to what its employees find valuable at the office.

She said that includes a fitness center, health care clinic, child care and as much green space as possible.

The California-based oil giant has been expanding in Houston. It had plans to start construction this year on a 50-story office tower near its downtown campus, but recently put the building on hold. The company has said it still plans to build the tower.

Colbert did not address the project during the panel, but when asked about where the company will be in 10 years, she said it is committed to downtown.

"We're excited about the infrastructure and renewal projects in downtown," she said.

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/sarnoff/article/Right-design-can-help-with-office-space-5257706.php

 

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That's wonderful news.  I got a question though, is this project going to include the creation of more parking spaces or will the parking garage that exist now (for Chevron) be sufficient?  

 

If they need more parking, why not add a multi-story parking garage below the 50+ office floors to make this tower even taller.  I'm just wondering if that's possibly in the plans.  If not, I assume a separate parking garage will get created (if it's needed) but not sure if that's been mentioned before.

Edited by democide
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Per the link below, 609 Main is 1M sqf at 48-stories, 5 Allen is 50-stories w/ 1M sqf and the Chevron tower is only 50-stories at 1.7M sqf?

 

6-Houston is 30 stories and 600k sqf. 

 

Something is not adding up. If the Chevron tower is really 1.7M sqf, it should be closer to 55-stories, unless the floor plates are like 27k sqf or something.

 

http://www.downtownhouston.org/site_media/uploads/attachments/2014-03-05/140303_Downtown_Houston_Development_Map_11x17.pdf

 

What am I missing?

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