Chevron Skyscraper Proposal At 1600 Louisiana St.

[cloud713]

the giant podium.. which is 3 stories that arent included in the 50 story count (at least not in the renderings). and/or Chevron tower takes up a large chunk of the block compared to 609 Main being half the block.

[H-Town Man]

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?

 

It's not as svelte as the others. A little disappointing, since the BoA tower in Atlanta is the tallest outside New York or Chicago with only 1.2 million sf. The US Bank Tower in LA, "tallest west of the Mississippi," is only 1.3 million sf. It seems Chevron would rather have a skybumper than a skyscraper.

[Ross]

The Exxon building is 28000 sq ft per floor, at 1.2 million sq ft on 43 floors. There's plenty of room for Chevron to get 1.7 million from 50 floors. That's 34,000 sq ft per floor, or 200x170.

[lockmat]

The Exxon building is 28000 sq ft per floor, at 1.2 million sq ft on 43 floors. There's plenty of room for Chevron to get 1.7 million from 50 floors. That's 34,000 sq ft per floor, or 200x170.

That's a pretty huge floor plate. The rendering makes it look kinda thin.

[Avossos]

I would not go off the renderings provided. Those look very basic honestly. I wouldn't be surprised if this ended up 60 stories, but we will see. I think when they do it, they are going to go for something really cool and imposing

[Montrose1100]

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?

Their gigantic podium.

[fernz]

That's a pretty huge floor plate. The rendering makes it look kinda thin.

It's not that big. Standard floor plates are 25,000 sf

[ClutchCity]

I'm interested to see how Chevron's future contracts with Pemex effect their space needs here. Also happened to see the other week that they had taken down an additional 100k sq ft in 1600 Smith. Anyone know how much space they are renting now? It's got to be over 700k in Brookfield's properties alone! Can't wait for more info on this one. :]

Edited May 18, 2014 by ClutchCity

[houstontexasjack]

I'm interested to see how Chevron's future contracts with Pemex effect their space needs here. Also happened to see the other week that they had taken down an additional 100k sq ft in 1600 Smith. Anyone know how much space they are renting now? It's got to be over 700k in Brookfield's properties alone! Can't wait for more info on this one. :]

I recall Chevron bought another block Downtown last November. Their CEO has been adamant the HQ will stay out in California, but I would like to see more folks employed in Houston. I am hopeful we might get something bigger and taller as a result of the delay to this project.

[nativehoustonion]

I cannot believe this building is on hold.  Chevron got money from the state and the city, then they put it on hold.  They should be sued from the state and city because they already received the money.

[H-Town Man]

I cannot believe this building is on hold. Chevron got money from the state and the city, then they put it on hold. They should be sued from the state and city because they already received the money.

Wasn't the money for relocating jobs? And they're paid in installments over years.

[fernz]

Wasn't the money for relocating jobs? And they're paid in installments over years.

That's what I thought as well.

[ArchFan]

I wonder who's in line to be the next CEO?  I would imagine that is not determined yet, but the personal preferences of people at that level have a lot to do with HQ relocations.

[cloud713]

I wonder who's in line to be the next CEO?  I would imagine that is not determined yet, but the personal preferences of people at that level have a lot to do with HQ relocations.

i was wondering the same thing.. hopefully the new CEO is more inclined to relocate.. heh

[Houston19514]

I cannot believe this building is on hold.  Chevron got money from the state and the city, then they put it on hold.  They should be sued from the state and city because they already received the money.

 

Sorry to muddy up a good rant with facts, but the incentives (both state and city) were based on job creation (not necessarily relocation).  The incentives were not based on the construction of a new building. 

 

Further, the city's incentive is a tax abatement on a portion of the increased value of the property arising out of the construction of the new building.  No new building -- no abatement.

[nativehoustonion]

Thanks for the info.  It still sucks it's on hold.

[Urbannizer]

http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/2014/06/chevron-makes-major-land-buy-in-katy/

 

As it continues to boost its Houston-area presence, Chevron Corp. has signed an agreement to buy 103 acres off the Grand Parkway and Clay Road in Katy.

 

The land  gives the company “future research and development facilities flexibility,” spokesman Justin Higgs said. “No specific use or employee decisions have been made,”  he added.

 

The deal cements Chevron’s commitment to Houston.

 

While the San Ramon, Calif.-based oil giant recently shelved plans to build a 50-story tower downtown, Higgs said the company is still committed to building the office project.

 

[houstontexasjack]

http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/2014/06/chevron-makes-major-land-buy-in-katy/

 

"Shelved" is a strong word to use here. "Delayed" seems to more accurately match what the Chevron execs are saying with respect to their tower. The delay could end up being a blessing--particularly if the current CEO leaves and future execs wish to move the HQ from San Ramon to Houston.

[Houston19514]

But... wait...  weren't we told they were going to build a campus in Conroe?   ;-)

[Timoric]

-

Edited July 8, 2019 by Timoric

[Naviguessor]

103 acres?  How Big is that, really?  ExxonMobile is somewhere close to 400 acres, right?   "Research and Development Facilities" are not likely to be located in High-rise buildings downtown, anyway."  I don't think that this land purchase has anything to do with the downtown campus or tower.  If "Shelved" is different than "Delayed" then its a separate issue, IMO.

[Triton]

But... wait...  weren't we told they were going to build a campus in Conroe?   ;-)

 

That was Shell.

[houstontexasjack]

Naviguessor--I tend to nitpick the verbiage used in articles. I agree with you that it is unlikely an R&D facility would have been located Downtown. My understanding was that the new tower would mainly house corporate employees. 

[Houston19514]

That was Shell.

 

We were also told the same thing about Chevron.   You remember. . .  a very wealthy father of a friend of a friend ...  Chevron woke up one day and noticed that Exxon had recently invented the suburban campus, which was already wildly successful months before the first people moved in...  In a panic, Chevron shopped their downtown buildings and started plans to move to Conroe.  LOL  

Naviguessor--I tend to nitpick the verbiage used in articles. I agree with you that it is unlikely an R&D facility would have been located Downtown. My understanding was that the new tower would mainly house corporate employees. 

 

There is nothing to be gained by presuming that a Houston journalist has chosen his/her words carefully.  ;-)

 

Edited June 9, 2014 by Houston19514

[Houston19514]

It seems unlikely to me this will get built.

1. Most people and businesses follow a Herd mentality - others (Energy companies around Houston) are building campus settings near where people live so we should too, says the team we have looking at the options.

2. Since these companies all compete for talent, that would be another incentive not to build downtown so we can chase the same limited pool of labor the others are going for.

3. Pendulum swing? as downtown gains residential that could change, but not for 20 years, I suspect. Houston needs to look at ways of waging a PR battle to get these companies to look downtown again I think. The biggest game-changer to me would be reliable transport from distant points to downtown which takes decades and a visionary leader to accomplish, I haven't seen that except for the glimmer in the Downtown Living Initiative.

4. I am sure the campus makes a lot of sense for the folks they want to attract. I would like to compare the average employee demographics at an energy firm in Houston to a technology company in San Francisco. Say compare Andarko to Pinterest. I would suspect there is a one to two decade difference in ages, and that the energy company staff is looking to set up a house in the suburbs near good schools not be a hipster in an urban setting.

5. I wish it weren't so, do we really need to recreate Los Angeles and be spread out so much?

6. Was the height of the 1980's in Houston an aberration based on ego, optimism, and trophy tower building and now we are returning to what actually fits all the land we have around us, more moderate height buildings? I actually prefer the tall stuff but am not seeing much of it these days.

 

In spite of all that, there is almost zero reason to think this will not be built.  Remember, Chevron also recently bought an additional block of downtown land.

 

[arche_757]

We were also told the same thing about Chevron.   You remember. . .  a very wealthy father of a friend of a friend ...  Chevron woke up one day and noticed that Exxon had recently invented the suburban campus, which was already wildly successful months before the first people moved in...  In a panic, Chevron shopped their downtown buildings and started plans to move to Conroe.  LOL  

 

There is nothing to be gained by presuming that a Houston journalist has chosen his/her words carefully.  ;-)

 

You may have been refering to some one else's past post..?  I posted (and much fuss was raised over this) that an architect working on a "large" project up in the north part of town reported that he heard directly from his boss about a "large energy company" project also up in the north part of town that would commence when the other "large" project ended.  Supposing that was about Chevron/Phillips?  Could have been Shell?  Could have been Anadarko?  I don't know, and my friend did not elaborate further because he was not 100% sure?  I then surmised that "perhaps Chevron would scrap the plans for the tower downtown?", to which I added - "I did not know what they planned on doing!"  Assuming that maybe they were the "large energy company?"

 

I haven't a clue what Chevron will do, but I think it would be silly to have such big plans announced and then cancel them.

 

[mollusk]

IIRC, there was another thread out there concerning another of the majors doing some R & D rearranging of facilities.  Some commenters described why the physical needs of an R & D facility are not particularly conducive to being crammed into a regular downtown office highrise - which sounded sensible to me.

 

Which is a roundabout way of saying that having an R & D campus out in the burbs and a corporate office building or three downtown are not inherently mutually exclusive.

[ArchFan]

Well, I can relate some personal experience, albeit not very recent.  I used to work in R&D at Chevron, about the time they were moving people downtown.  

 

I think most of the R&D work they do could be done downtown.  The most likely exception would be work that requires laboratory equipment, but frankly, most of the work I was close to involved software development and/or field work that involved actually being out where the oil is.

 

Chevron still has a very nice campus in San Ramon, CA.  A very nice work environment.  But, they have moved most of the upstream R&D people there to downtown Houston (well, at least the ones who didn't quit or retire because they didn't want to come to Houston).  

 

I don't have any special insider knowledge, but it seems to me that Chevron would be likely to continue downtown and not build a big suburban campus.  If they did, it would be a major course change from the direction they've been going in the last 10 or so years.

Edited June 10, 2014 by ArchFan

[Urbannizer]

[HoustonIsHome]

Shut up!!

I like it.

So wish it was going up now