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Chevron Tower For Downtown At 1600 Louisiana St.


tangledwoods

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EDITED

At the risk of being warned for feeding the trolls, all of these projects were financed before the oil slump, whether there was dirt moved or not is irrelevant.

Sure a few projects will get off the ground moving forward, but the rich tend to stay and continue getter more rich regardless of the economy. That and along with foreign investors buying and funding condos left and right.

The developments that "got off the ground" after the prices sank were already years in the pipeline.

I know about this process as much as you, but I've been paying attention to what those who do know have had to say.

If Chevron moves forward with this tower, it would likely be completed when prices are better. They could also take advantage of cheaper construction prices as more and more buildings get completed and no longer need crews.

Chevron bought the YMCA years ago. They will plan something here eventually.

Edited by Montrose1100
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You know, if this is going to sit for a while, I wonder if the downtown district couldnt convince chevron to use it as a short term park. As soon as the new residential buildings start coming on line, it would be cheap and easy to throw up some temporary volleyball nets, fencing for a dog park etc. I suppose its usefulness would depend somewhat on what (if anything) actually gets purchased for use as a permanent south downtown park

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You know, if this is going to sit for a while, I wonder if the downtown district couldnt convince chevron to use it as a short term park. As soon as the new residential buildings start coming on line, it would be cheap and easy to throw up some temporary volleyball nets, fencing for a dog park etc. I suppose its usefulness would depend somewhat on what (if anything) actually gets purchased for use as a permanent south downtown park

 

I wonder if Chevron can convince the City to "lease" the grass lawn for a symbolic $1/year to allow the city to use the land as a temporary park. One would think Chevron would reap the benefits of either reduced property tax exposure or perhaps an in-kind donation allowing use of the land would provide a tax break.

 

Perhaps someone more versed in corporate tax law would be able to lay out any tax advantages of a temporary Chevron Green Park. The benefit to the city--more succinctly the people of the city--is rather straightforward.

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I wonder if Chevron can convince the City to "lease" the grass lawn for a symbolic $1/year to allow the city to use the land as a temporary park. One would think Chevron would reap the benefits of either reduced property tax exposure or perhaps an in-kind donation allowing use of the land would provide a tax break.

 

Perhaps someone more versed in corporate tax law would be able to lay out any tax advantages of a temporary Chevron Green Park. The benefit to the city--more succinctly the people of the city--is rather straightforward.

 

The problem with turning this into a park is PR.  While it would be a nice gesture, 4 years from now the headlines would read "CHEVRON DESTROYS CITY PARK" and all of the environmental folks would jump on and turn it into a negative for Chevron.  These companies are allergic to any perceived or real environmental incidents and I would be really surprised to see them do anything that encourages the use of this land other than "FUTURE OFFICE BUILDING"

 

 

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I think they can ameliorate that by making it very clear that its temporary. Literally put up a billboard in the middle of the block showing the future tower. I feel like similar temporary use has been done before, though I can't think of where and don't have time to research it right now.

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The problem with turning this into a park is PR.  While it would be a nice gesture, 4 years from now the headlines would read "CHEVRON DESTROYS CITY PARK" and all of the environmental folks would jump on and turn it into a negative for Chevron.  These companies are allergic to any perceived or real environmental incidents and I would be really surprised to see them do anything that encourages the use of this land other than "FUTURE OFFICE BUILDING"

 

I agree, good PR now terrible PR later. Yall have to remember you can't reason with the general public, it is not smart enough. 

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The problem with turning this into a park is PR. While it would be a nice gesture, 4 years from now the headlines would read "CHEVRON DESTROYS CITY PARK" and all of the environmental folks would jump on and turn it into a negative for Chevron. These companies are allergic to any perceived or real environmental incidents and I would be really surprised to see them do anything that encourages the use of this land other than "FUTURE OFFICE BUILDING"

I was thinking the same thing. There are too many stupid people out there that would protest if they wanted to build on it. Wasn't there a lot that someone allowed people to garden on for a while that had the same issue? Once he decided to sell people gave him grief for kicking out the gardeners.

Edited by jgriff
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Okay then, if not a park or a garden, how about getting handful of cows to munch on that green grass and seeing a lower tax bill on their "agricultural land"? Are there regulations in Downtown against livestock?

 

It could be a tourist attraction for the out-of-towners who miss the Rodeo.

 

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I was thinking the same thing. There are too many stupid people out there that would protest if they wanted to build on it. Wasn't there a lot that someone allowed people to garden on for a while that had the same issue? Once he decided to sell people gave him grief for kicking out the gardeners.

 

yeah, and that land is still sitting vacant.

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Okay then, if not a park or a garden, how about getting handful of cows to munch on that green grass and seeing a lower tax bill on their "agricultural land"? Are there regulations in Downtown against livestock?

 

It could be a tourist attraction for the out-of-towners who miss the Rodeo.

 

The rollback bill would get 'em if they ever wanted to sell the land or change its use.  An effort at an ag exemption would only make sense if they intended to keep this vacant for a very long time.

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