Trae

http://www.bizjourna...-slam-dunk.html

Magic Johnson and his new investment partner plan on turning the Hotel Icon Downtown into either a W Hotel or Ritz Carlton (within the next 45 days). Just in time for the Final Four this April, too.

completely misleading post... nothing is said of the consolidation and campus near the woodlands being scrapped, only that the official XOM HQ would not be moving here. the 4M SF (or whatever # it is now) campus is happening, it just won't be XOM HQ.

Exactly. All of Fairfax, Virginia is still moving to the new campus, as well as some other offices around Houston.

Awesome, maybe they will renovate some of the team while they are at it .

I like the youth the Astros have now. Excited for this upcoming season.

I think this is good news and definitely great for Spring. I'm just not that excited about this because it still creates to the Houston area's existing sprawl. I'm more interested in seeing downtown and areas inside the loop develop. Still a good looking development though!

Well, at least they aren't going further out. Instead, they are filling in the gaps between The Woodlands and North Houston.

Here are some articles about the move/expansion:

http://frontburner.d...ying-in-irving/

I wouldn't completely rule out an HQ move, though it is unlikely. A new shiny corporate campus, with an entire master-planned community (and VERY nice one at that) built right behind it? That may entice a move from Irving, where there are hardly any Exxon employees compared to Houston.

Not everybody lives within 2 miles of downtown. Go back to your small town. If it was WAYYYYYY out, people wouldn't live there. Clearly you have not seen how full The Woodlands Express busses are in the morning times. Clearly you have not seen how jammed 45 is during the morning and afternoon commutes in north Harris County or south Montgomery County. If it was WAYYYY out, why is The Woodlands so prosperous? If it was WAYYYY far out, why is Montgomery County one of the fastest growing counties in the nation? Funny, nobody ever says a word about "Sugar Land" <nose in the air> or Kingwood.

Sugar Land and Kingwood are no where near as far out as The Woodlands is.

The renderings from the link:

Spec or not, I don't think this office building would have a hard time filling up. Especially at it's location and the size of it (not too big). Not to mention it's a nice looking building that will provide some good views.

Which is why I believe adding one lane in each direction, and maybe an HOV in each direction, with rail in the middle is the best thing to do. They could also follow the Katy Freeway model through the Katy area by having an auxiliary lane (for entrances and exits off and in the freeway).

Nice to see! I remember there being an article in the Chron not too long ago saying construction was going to start soon, and they plan on opening the stadium in 2012. They plan on having the Dynamo play a lot of road games during the first couple of weeks in the season, and then have their home opener at the stadium.

Good, because tollways in both directions are pointless on 288. It works on the Katy Freeway because that's a huge employment center. Pearland? Not even close. Why can't they just add another lane in each direction, as well as a HOV in each direction? If they really want the tollway, maybe build one that changes direction during peak times.

So, the Ritz-Carlton is back? That's good to hear. It has such a nice design and looks tall enough to make a big impact on the Uptown skyline. And I wonder what type of movie theater they are talking about? Studio Movie Grill? That seems like a lot of condos though. I'm sure Houston can support that, as it shouldn't even be completed for four years at the earliest.

The movie studio concept is included in plan C I believe. It just wouldn't be the whole building.

By the way, there is a bunch more information available on Reliant Park's website

If they can do this, then this would be really nice. I imagine a movie studios could bring in a lot of "movie" type conventions for Reliant Park. But, what will all this expansion at Reliant Park mean for the GRB? Isn't there suppose to be another convention center hotel across from the Hilton? Oh, and if we were to host the World Cup in 2018 or 2022, Reliant Park is looking like a great place to have the International Broadcast Center.

Edit: And I think all of that science stuff would work better with NASA/JSC. Move that stuff over there and put the movie studios in the Astrodome.

Can the Astrodome become the movie studios, but keep the other plans shown in the renderings (hotel, festival plaza, etc.)? Overall, I think that would be the best idea.

Those renderings are definitely not from before the recession. Those are just a list of "fantasy" stores. Nothing permanent.

Wall Street Journal reports today that Ft Worth-based Mallick Group bought the Astroworld site. Says they haven't decided how to develop it but noted TMC is running out of land, so "we're looking at medical and a number of things . . . offices, apartments"

TMC - South?

I see they show a Le Meridien instead of the W (was this the project that was going to maybe include a W?). Interestingly enough they show a building with an "M"... that "M" looks identical to that of W Hotels just flipped backwards.

They didn't replace the W, with the Le Meridien. Since the beginning, it's been rumored that both are going into this development. That's why the W is upside down.

I heard over the weekend that ExxonMobil will not be moving the corporate headquarters to Houston but that this new campus will bring a very significant number of ExxonMobil employees into Houston from outside of Texas. The numbers I heard were much larger than I expected. This is great news for Houston.

Was hoping for ExxonMobil to return to Houston. Would have been nice (and still seems to be a possibility). I can see why they wouldn't want to move though.

I'll continue to eat my meal in the terminal and sleep on the flight. Thanks.

I live Inside the Loop and other than the damn potholes, I don't have any issues with regards to services in Houston. About on par with my experiences in Boston.

Back on topic, I heard from a very good source today the Exxon might officially be coming home to it's Humble roots! Apparently this corporate spread will do more than just consolidate employees...it will bring the headquarters to the place it should have moved several years ago.

Irving seems pretty confident that they won't leave:

"We would certainly hate to lose them, and we're going to do everything we can to communicate that we do want them here in the North Texas region and in Irving," Wallace said.

He said the chamber has already told Exxon that officials want a chance to offer a retention package if leaving becomes a consideration.

Irving officials are quick to brag about the stable of high-profile and Fortune 500 companies that call the city and its Las Colinas Urban Center home.

They've long seen Exxon's headquarters as a source of pride and a marketing tool in luring other business behemoths.

The company also donates money to many North Texas charities.

Exxon's Jeffers said the company undertakes such real estate studies periodically, and might choose the status quo.

"As the business changes and evolves you continually look at what your requirements are and make sure they're appropriate," he said.

Jeffers said the study doesn't include XTO Energy, the Fort Worth natural gas producer that Exxon recently agreed to buy. The deal hasn't yet closed.

Irving Mayor Herbert Gears said he's not worried about Exxon leaving.

He said big companies like to keep their corporate headquarters and operational hubs separate.

He said Irving's business-friendly reputation, North Texas setting and proximity to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport make it hard for other cities to compete.

"We think however many ways you study it and look at it, you're going to come to that conclusion," he said.

Gears echoed Wallace's willingness to aggressively woo Exxon if need be. But both men also played down the study.

"You're talking about the largest public company in the world," Gears said. "These types of periodic reviews are conducted so they are always understanding and updating their business models for efficiency and effectiveness."

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/DN-exxon_30bus.ART0.State.Edition1.3cc2381.html

I think that they will most likely move. It's about time anyway.

These city vs city arguments are pretty dumb. Makes everyone look childish.

I think Kubiak is a good coach, but lousy at bringing intensity to his team which to me is their biggest issue. I've never seen a team than was so consistently in a position to win games to only choke in the end. Sure some blame goes to player execution, but a lot of that has to do with a coaches mental power over his team and whether they believe they can win in the end. The Texans don't believe it.

Kubiak and his staff also seem to be very slow at adjusting they're game plan at times. They waited until the second to last Titans drive to start a man on man defense and to strt ghosting Young, which I found perplexing.

Bye, Kubiak. It's time for McNair to make a play at Bill Cowher. Dude even said that the Bears and Texans are two teams that "excite him" (according to the NFL Network). The Bears would not have enough money for him because Lovie Smith makes too much money for them to cut him and then try to sign Cowher. The Texans can though...

I'm sure they can finish it by then.

Yeah, that isn't a bad dress code at all.

Anyone go?