jgriff

My point was:  Why increase your expenses beyond the national inflation rate?  Oil and Gas companies seem to do this gleefully.  When that happens, whenever there is a downturn then they suffer because they've not saved enough money for a rainy day.  My Dad has decades of experience and he thought the starting salaries for new employees at oil/gas companies was just crazy.  His exact words were "I hope they enjoy it while it lasts"

 

Why would any profession put such huge profit margins on working in said profession?  Pay those who got you there well.  Pay the rest a reasonable amount and they'll still be happy.  In my experience you only pay people who you *REALLY* want absurd money.  Average architects with 20 years experience make less money than oil/gas newly hired workers, and we have more schooling and require a more stringent set of licensing standards.  If architectural firms nationally saw a 100% increase in profits I'll wager wages would increase, but not two-fold, three-fold etc?!

 

Oil and gas companies have socked away money - and yes they take a lot to make money as the infrastructure is outrageously expensive - but still common sense dictates that you don't overpay people.  Other industries by-and-large do not.

 

Would you rather 1) work at a company getting paid a decent amount of money knowing that they won't have to lay off anyone during a major recession and you have great job security?  Or 2) work at a company getting paid gobs of money knowing that you'll probably get laid off at the first hint of trouble and then have issues getting new work because you're a part of 10,000 other people just like you?

I'll take number 1 please.  I'd rather toil along for years and save my own money never really having to worry about my job than make 2-3 years worth of money in 1 year and then worry that I'll probably end up out of work for 2-3 years.

The oil and gas industry does not overpay people. They pay what is necessary to get the people they need. This is basic economics. I will admit that part of the reason that we have to pay so much money is because of a lack of skilled labor that is caused by the boom and bust cycle. If you can find me people that can do the job I need for less than I'm paying now I'll be glad to hire them. The only way we've been able to find people that will work for less is to go to India. 

I still find it hard to believe that companies that made billions of dollars at $35 - 40 oil, are so strapped for cash now?

That's not the problem. If business activity is not profitable it stops. It doesn't matter how much money you have. Would you spend it to get oil out of the ground at a loss. Why would these companies throw their money away? They have an obligation to their shareholders not to do that. 

I work in the downstream business. We are getting a lot of project cancellations. It's not as bad as upstream but there will be layoffs.

Perception being reality is the reason Houston ran out of homes (apartments, developable lots, retail space, etc., etc., etc.) earlier this year. If the development pipeline dries up and people keep moving to town, things will only get more unaffordable.

 

That said, I'd feel more confident that this thing gets built if I knew they had financing lined up.

With $45 oil people are not going to keep moving to Houston.

If this is at Woodway and San Felipe then it makes for an interesting story.

1. Existing buildings are torn down for two new condo towers.

2. Developer sits on the site just long enough for the economy to crash and puts off building for years.

3. A boom comes that the developer completely misses out on.

4. The next bust comes and they send out a press release about a new building again.

This site must be cursed. 

Cool shots. My new house is in one of those!

Checked the place out last night. Very upscale. They are building out a rooftop patio, which they say will be where they will eventually be having party brunches. They cited classic pre-burn down La Strada as a reference point. The second floor will be finished into a live music venue with a capacity as high as 200. Impressive.

What place? I can't tell what you are responding to.

Why would people that live in Skyhouse get on 610? I drive around this area all the time and live nearby and I never get on 610. That's for people that live in the sticks and have to drive on highways to work.

Maybe he'll change it from Muslim Outreach back to it's core mission.

Phillips 66 just cancelled a bunch of midstream projects. Some we in the early stages and others had not been started yet. 

I think Futureworld may have been filmed in some of the tunnels downtown. I know it was filmed in Houston.

I always felt like I was in Logan's Run around the Hyatt Regency. There was some filming for that movie done there but I think it was not used in the film. 

Is there any reason to believe that the nightmare security issues that airports have won't be replicated with high speed rail? What's to keep this from becoming the same as airports where you have to show up an hour plus in advance and go through TSA?

The tunnels kept me from getting soaked many times on my way to the office when I worked downtown. If they weren't there I probably would have driven to work so I could park in the garage instead of riding the bus and walking the last few blocks. 

I show 3D models to clients all the time. If we make them too pretty they complain about us spending engineering hours for something that is not needed. 

This last page is hilarious. Amegy playing a "dangerous game" haha... With who exactly? A handful of posters on an architecture message board? For the most part amegy has remained mum on the building except in its initial announcement 9 months ago.

Believe it or not, the reason nothing has been released is because the design is still being tweaked or at least it was as of a month or so ago. Amegy nor Pickard Chilton nor Hines owes anyone some sort of progress report on this project. You're not that important.

I wish I could like this post 100 times.

Same here. I just got a new iPhone and Tapatalk tells me that HAIF is unavailable.

Is there a detailed map of the proposed route through Houston available? All of them that I've seen don't show enough detail to see exactly where this might go. 

Fence is up. The dog walkers just push it aside and continue as the always have.

Here's a shot of the dog park from 12.20.2014

Yes sir

If you have any evidence of this I'd love to hear it. I'm buying a house in the area and am very interested in news about Regent Square. Its hard to take them seriously after so many years of changing and canceled plans. Their own website's latest news is from 2007.

They're back today. This time with a big load of orange barrels.

Surveyors were on the lot over the weekend. They left a huge number of orange flags along the right of way. 

I've been working in downstream engineering since about 1993. So far every time crude prices have gotten low since then it has decimated our industry. I still hold out some hope that things may be different this time. I don't foresee any layoffs in the department I manage anytime soon but that cold change with just one project cancellation.

Triton, while you may have been paying $100 to fill up your truck in summer of 2008, oil prices were no where near $100/barrel from 2004-2008. Prices mostly exploded after the shale revolution of 2009-2012 began.

 

I happen to be one of the forumers here who care both about the architecture AND economics of developments around the city. I work in single family residential development and we sell a good chunk of our homes to energy executives. I rarely post, but I certainly read others' posts every few days because I'm extremely interested in land planning, economics, development, and architecture and my lively hood depends on it.

 

What I've noticed is some of the younger posters here care little about the economics and are mostly skyscraper enthusiast.  However, some of the more seasoned super posters are so tainted by the oil bust of the 80's that it's always in the back of their heads that a bust is right around the corner. So my apologies if I came across as disrespectful to swtig with my 'negative nancy' comment.  Even though I may have overreacted, I'm sure he knows where I'm coming from when I said there's a negative tone to most (not all) of his comments.

 

I can appreciate both perspectives which is why I enjoy HAIF so much. It's great to keep economics in perspective but it's also good to see new blood in Houston that's not scared to death to develop big projects. That gun-shy attitude has held back investment in Houston for 20-30 years.

 

NEWSFLASH: Houston is not the only city that goes through these real estate cycles. In fact only a handful of cities like NYC are diverse and stable enough to limit the extremes of cycles. It may be more pronounced here with our relationship to the energy industry but certainly not unique to Houston.

 

Our motto at my company is do well enough in the good times to carry us through the lean times, but surely the good times will come rolling around again. So just as there may be a bust around the corner, there may also be a boom coming right behind it!!!!  

Oil hit its all time high of $147 a barrel in 2008.

Has anyone been to Up in Highland Village? Is it worth the view? What exactly does Fine Dining Dress Code entail (If you have to ask). I would assume coat/tie and slacks? 

I've been to Up several times, usually before heading to #s. I've never gotten a table with a good view. I've always worn jeans and didn't feel out of place. It's the kind of place you'll see people like Diane Farb. She was at the table next to me once.