Trae

Okay, here's a screenshot of Google Maps. You wanna know what I see? I see private property, being stolen by the county/state. I see farmland. I see green grass, fresh air, and peacefulness. I see no neighborhoods. I see no "people", except for the ones that are being bent over, and shown where the wild goose goes...

This map is old though. Bridgeland is not even there and Fry Road is only highlighted because Google updates their streets. It's not even built on this map. I don't feel like cropping a picture, but anyone can go and look at Google Maps/Earth and see an updated photo if they just zoom in. There are more neighborhoods dotted all along this map. If you are coming back from Hempstead on 290, you start seeing rooftops at Katy-Hockley now.

Here is a more clear rendering:

Expect to see workers moving dirt on the 1.5-acre site at the northeast corner of Greenbriar and 59 within the next few weeks; the city’s planning commission last week voted to approve a variance granting permission for a 7-story auto dealership building at 2120 Southwest Fwy. to poke a few feet further toward Greenbriar (at left in the above rendering) than regulations allow. The result: the country’s largest — and tallest — flagship Audi dealership, featuring a 2-story car display case on the corner of the third and fourth levels that’ll bring the latest models up to eye level for drivers on the raised freeway who aren’t looking where they’re going.

http://swamplot.com/7-story-southwest-freeway-audi-dealership-gets-go-ahead-will-split-momentum/2012-05-14/#more-41181

Over 10,000 jobs expected to be added and $1.6B in local economic impact expected:

Was looking forward to seeing a new tower rendering today. Maybe tomorrow.

I really don't think United has much of an argument here (it'd be different if the corporate HQ was still here). There is nothing they can do to stop Southwest. With the amount of gates and flights that Southwest plans to operate daily, it shouldn't hurt the international businesses at IAH much. With growth in the Houston region, United is still going to have to go through expansion plans at IAH. This will only create cheaper airfare to Latin America and the Caribbean for Houston area travelers. I'm all for it.

If it gets city approval, Southwest says it would spend an estimated $75 million to $100 million to build a new international terminal equipped with full-scale Customs facilities, as well as to improve the aging airport's domestic terminals. Southwest flights would depart from the new terminal to destinations such as Cancun and the Caribbean.

http://www.chron.com...4923.php#page-1

no

For the general public, no. But it is for employees: V

I'm with RedScare on that one. All the Texans need to get to the Superbowl is a healthy starting quarterback. I would hate for them to trade away half the team to get Manning, which is what it would take.

Why would the Texans need to trade away half the team? Manning has already said he wouls do an incentive based contract. People talk abouy his neck, but not many players have come back from a lisfranc injury. And the worst part about Schaub's is that it happened on his plant foot. I know Kubiak said he should be back by May, but the Texans medical staff is never right. If Kubiak says May, what he really means is October. I'd take the chance on Manning amd trade Schaub for picks. Worst case scenario, Yates is the starting qb with a full offseason and running with the ones.

Believe it or not - I am for regulating the industry. This is where government belongs. Not in deciding what to build downtown. I don't particularly like breathing benzene and other byproducts of refining and have quite a bit of personal experience of what runaway pollution can cause. But it needs to be done intelligently and comprehensively. Not what the EPA (and CARB) are presently doing. Regulate the refineries and get rid of all the old grandfathered provisions that have been around for 40 years and have been used as loopholes. But since gasoline/diesel/etc are by nature extremely fungible products, also subject every single drop imported into the country to the exact same standards - require it to be refined at a facility with comparable pollution controls. Would not be terribly hard to verify. Refineries are not exactly small operations - only a few hundred in the world, set up a "verified refinery" system with inspectors - like Nike and friends do at their factories for labor practices. This would eliminate a lot of the arguements that refiners have of if we have to upgrade our old facilities, we will have to close them and go offshore.

Well that was quite off-topic as well.

Oh and as far as commuter rail - wonderful in theory - but in application not so much. Commuter rail would only be able to connect the big hub of downtown with a spoke in the Woodlands, Katy, Sugarland, etc. Trains leave maybe very 30 minutes (at best). You would have to drive several miles to park at the originating station. If you missed it, wait 30 minutes or drive in. And it only works if you work downtown. What about if you work in the Galleria area? Or Greenway Plaza? Or on Allen Parkway? No place at all for the heavy rail to run + too spread out for just one central stop. And yes one day the uptown line will go through - but that is just one more connection to have to time. Which means waiting for some indeterminate amount of time between trains. All this adds up to not a good option.

The existing park and rides and vanpools while less sexy are better options because they are much cheaper and pick up the people actually interested in mass transit. Plus for the most part - you get dropped off very near your business vs. multiple connections and long-distance hikes.

Come on now, commuter rail is nothing new. Many cities have it. It wont he just one straight shot to Downtown. There would he stops along the way, so people can get off and get on another train or bus. It's not all about saving time, but also saving money. And wake up on time so you dont miss the train (which would run more in peak times anyway). Park and rides also stop after peak hours. Commuter rail won't.

The heavy rail proposal from the early 1980s. Probably would have been pretty big today.

Only 6 to 8 stories? Too bad. However hideous Turnberry was, at least it would've added some density to the Uptown skyline. At least something is going on the site, though.

I think this newer development also adds density to Uptown. May not add height, but definitely at street level.

http://swamplot.com/welcome-to-the-land-of-exxonmobil-a-tour-of-the-companys-new-north-houston-campus/2011-06-07/#more-29569

With how nice the campus is, I'm wondering why the corporate HQ is supposedly out of the question. The articles I've read said Exxon is still studying on whether to relocate other US offices. I'd say that includes everything, but who knows.

How full is that parking garage on the weekends? I remember when it first opened, it could get pretty full, but at that time the retail was thriving and Vans was also there.

You also seem to forget, not everyone lives in the 'burbs.

This would be better marketed to the people coming in for business or conventions, not to mention the occasional Midtowner.

Just a pity we couldn't get a hotel in there, I think it would have been more successful.

That's what happens when you cut so many damn corners. If the Pavilions looked like the first rendering they showed, I don't have much doubt that it would be a success. They should have kept the condo/hotel tower (just build that parking!), maybe add a 12-screen movie theater (AMC or Cinemark), add jumbotrons (with ads for the Rockets, movie ads, etc.), and probably the most important, make stores accessible from the sidewalk. There should be two entrances, one in the inside corridor, and one on the sidewalk.

I had the privilege of speaking with an Exxon media relations guy and I informed him of the arial photographs we had of the area. I asked him straight up if indeed Exxon was moving forward with an elaborate corporate campus. The gentleman said "I can tell you that site work continues at that location and all options are still on the table---that's anything from leaving things as is on one end to building a new corporate campus on the other. I replied to him, "but sir, there have been thousands of trees cleared from the area and clearly this is in the exact location of the planned corporate campus according to Springwoods Village. Site work requires the removal of thousands of trees?" He replied, a statement on the campus would be released "very soon" and that all he could confirm is that site work continues at that location. When I asked what "very soon" mean, whether it was days or week, he would not comment. So that's the latest from the horses mouth.

Good work sir. Looks like we can expect an announcement later on this month.

Swamplot has some aerials of the site taken about a month ago:

Plenty of trees have been left to stand guard around the high-security future North American headquarters of the U.S.’s largest oil company. These views are from the southwest. The freeway running from the top left to the right of the above image is I-45; the Hardy Toll Road branches off and heads toward Downtown just opposite where a new road, Springwoods Village Parkway, connects the campus to the freeway feeder road.

http://swamplot.com/aerial-views-of-exxonmobils-new-sprawling-top-secret-houston-headquarters/2011-04-15/#more-27794

It's nothing out of the ordinary. A 20 story building will be less than spectacular in a sea of skyscrapers on Post Oak. I think the forum is 'dying' simply because we are all tired of these fabulous renderings that come out and ultimately the project gets cancelled or the rendering is scaled down considerably. As much as I like Dallas, I hate that when they propose something, 90% of the time, they break ground and build it. Their uptown is booming right now---evidence by the numerous of cranes on their skyline.

Yeah, but a lot of those buildings sit empty. Condo/office vacancy in that part of Dallas is high, due to the speculative building that they do there. In Houston, there does not seem to be as much speculation. Oh, and Dallas has zoning. That's the only spot in Dallas where highrises can go up (for the most part). In Houston, buildings go up all over the place.

I don't know. Have you seen Rex Tillerson's house? And will the Boy Scouts of America move their headquarters to Houston, too? (Mr. Tillerson is president of BSA.)

This isn't all about who builds nice buildings. Powerful people often like to stay in the city in which they are powerful. And, besides, all of their friends are in Dallas. Why would he want to move to Houston?

True, which is why I said they have it good up in DFW. I know it's not all about shiny new buildings, but you can't deny that the new campus would be at least a little enticing to Tillerson. Or he could be perfectly content in his Irving digs, plus nice home out in Bartonville (small little town off the beaten path in the DFW Metroplex). And hey, the Boy Scouts could move, too if Exxon moved. The Woodlands has some speculative office buildings going up that I'm sure BSA would fit right at home in. Isn't there a Scout camp near there, too? One thing is for sure, Houston will at least be getting their North American HQ. Houston basically runs the company already, and having the HQ would only be an added feather into Houston's cap, plus some prestige.

It may be nothing more than a confused journalist, but the linked article has the Exxon spokesman throwing the possibility of world HQ back in the mix. FWIW, I've always been less than convinced that Exxon had truly 100% ruled out the world HQ relocation as a possibility. The previous statements made by Exxon have been less than iron-clad denials.

Same here. The new campus (it's only proposed right ) are just too nice and big for the world HQ to not consider moving to Houston, in my opinion. They have it good up here in DFW, but what they have here won't compare to the new digs in Spring. Along with the Springwoods development, it has to at least be a little enticing to the CEO and Exxon board. To blow off steam coming from Irving leaders and to ease those Las Colinas developers, when the campus was first leaked out, they came out and said the Irving HQ is safe. But, as we get closer to the official announcement later on this month, it seems to be coming back up again. We'll see. Could be a mistake, like you said.

office demand is gaining a ton of momentum in the woodlands and it haseverything to do with everyone fleeing the greenspoint area mainly due to exxon's forthcoming departure. i'd expect to see a couple of tenant-lead office buildings pop up over the next year or two.

I wonder what the future holds for Greenspoint. That place needs some help if this is true.

Edit: Just read Red's post.

ExxonMobil considers world headquarter, corporate campus in North Harris County

ExxonMobil is considering the possibility of consolidating multiple offices to a new corporate campus location in North Harris County, just south of The Woodlands. ExxonMobil is the world's largest publicly traded international oil and gas company. The company is presently evaluating a financial analysis on office consolidation and relocation before making a final decision.

One of the areas of consideration is a tract of land located in North Harris County west of I-45 and the Hardy Toll Road, said ExxonMobil media spokesperson Alan Jeffers. Incidentally, ExxonMobil already owns the land.

"Basically, all options are on the table," Jeffers said. "The site has potential for new office buildings. Depending on the conclusions of the study later this year, we'll know more."

Jeffers said the options range from consolidating several of the company's offices to a central main-campus facility, including the possibility of a worldwide headquarters. Then, there is still the possibility that no action will be taken at all.

Stuff we already know pretty much: http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/cypress/news/article_471a8224-5a89-11e0-9252-001cc4c002e0.html

Many field trips there in elementary school.

Is Denver Pavilions enclosed, too?

Nope.

Nothing ground breaking here, but I got to talking to this guy on our bowling league the other night and found out that he just moved to The Woodlands from Michigan. Anyway, he works for Exxon and he said that the development at the Hardy and 45 is on the fast track and will break ground sooner than later. He said it is DEFINITELY happening and that all offices from Denver, Fairfax and some from Dallas and Houston are all moving to the Spring/Woodlands location. So there ya go. At least it's not 'dead' or on a 'hiatus.'

Don't think anyone thought it was, since the study wasn't even suppose to be complete until this year anyway. As far as Dallas offices moving here, I doubt Exxon is moving their corporate HQ to Houston (already said they won't). But, Exxon strangely picked Irving randomly for their HQ years ago, so maybe they change their mind at the last minute again and relocate to Houston.

Houston needs another oil boom. A big one.

I think it's coming with the way they're talking about gas prices going up.

Yeah, because I think Dallas is the only Texas city with a NYE event (though I'm sure SA has one). They're clever, in that they always have a Stars game that lets out right when "Big D NYE" starts. Hopefully Glowrama grows. I believe the Rockets usually have a NYE game at home. Maybe they could try directing a lot of the crowd towards Discovery Green (what a great development this is turning out to be). They need to put some fireworks on the top of the GRB.