wxman Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Rumors are rampant that this project is on hold for at least 12 months.... ??? Seems pretty strange considering the fanfare and media circus that surrounded the announcement. The PR guy who was interviewed by all major outlets in Houston said that Chevron was very excited to break ground on this structure. On a side note, seems strange to me still that they put out such a cheap ass rendering. Looks like something done with water colors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Rumors are rampant that this project is on hold for at least 12 months....Hopefully a re-design. The podium can stay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxman Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 haha, i like your thinking. the only thing is im assuming the 832' was counting the 3 level podium with double height floors, whereas the podium isnt included in the "50 story" figure. which makes me wonder if the "64 stories" i heard included the podium or not. if it doesnt, this thing should break the supertall barrier.. i was assuming it did include the podium and that the podium was 4 stories (making for 10 additional floors), but the 4th story of the podium is the first floor of the tower, so i guess they possibly added 11 stories to the tower..? if all goes well ill have more details tomorrow... Sooooooo......anything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud713 Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Sooooooo......anything?Unfortunately I don't think he got any free time to check while he was at work.. he never got back to me this afternoon.. Sorry to keep you waiting, I'm antsy as all get out to find more info on the tower too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoninATX Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 This could be Houston tallest! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fernz Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Just heard a rumor that they're exploring canceling the tower, and instead building a campus just North of The Woodlands, in a large tract of land that recently changed hands. Supposedly, Chevron is still evaluating both options. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Owl Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Camp Strake... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fernz Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Camp Strake...That's the one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naviguessor Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Fernz - What's the rumor's source...without being to specific, if you can't be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Owl Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Camp Strake is waaaaay up north. That would truly be an upheaval on the employees of Chevron. ExxonMobil at least had a huge presence in Greenspoint, which isn't all that far from the new Springwoods Village location, but can you imagine all the Chevron folks who now work downtown having to commute up to Camp Strake? Now that would be a nightmare.The other issue is housing supply up there. The Woodlands is already in true supply shortage mode due to Exxon, and if you added a huge Chevron campus, wow. The only way I'd see this working is if they moved a lot more people from outside of Houston to this campus. People who don't already have homes inside the loop since they work for Chevron downtown. Perhaps the San Ramon facility is on the way... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fernz Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Fernz - What's the rumor's source...without being to specific, if you can't be?All I can say is that it's an executive based in the woodlands, with strong connections to local businesses. She did say it's the rumor on the street, no confirmed sources. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston? Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 I hope it ain't true! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxman Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Wow. My parents live in The Woodlands and home values have SKYROCKETED thanks to Exxon. Add in Chevron and holy moly, they'll be sitting on a gold mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 That's the oneIf they went that far north would they repay the city back the millions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naviguessor Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 The "Millions" Would be in tax breaks, I believe. So...if you not in the city, you don't owe the city any taxes...so there would be no breaks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arche_757 Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Just heard a rumor that they're exploring canceling the tower, and instead building a campus just North of The Woodlands, in a large tract of land that recently changed hands. Supposedly, Chevron is still evaluating both options.That's what I said months ago! Everyone and their uncle jumped all over me!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arche_757 Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 (edited) . Never mind. I'm sure plenty more will jump all over me if that does turn out true. And I am in no way hoping that happens. If it does we could see The Woodlands and Conroe jump dramatically in population over the next decade? Edited December 17, 2013 by arche_757 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt16 Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 I actually saw what looked like a truck doing soil samples at the DT site last week. Could be nothing but would be weird to acquire lots of DT real estate only to build a large XOM style campus in the woodlands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud713 Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Interesting considering Chevron has already awarded contracts for the tower.. I'm hoping that's not true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invisibletrees Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 I actually saw what looked like a truck doing soil samples at the DT site last week. Could be nothing but would be weird to acquire lots of DT real estate only to build a large XOM style campus in the woodlands. yes, the land and the parking garage at 1400 Louisiana. As fernz said its just 'a rumor on the street'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arche_757 Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Hopefully so. Personally there is very little interest in whatever happens in The Woodlands from me. While I want nice suburbs and working towns/cities surrounding the core of Houston, I don't really want those suburban areas to pull major corporations FROM downtown. I'm sure Chevron is large enough to build both a tower and suburban campus. Now, back to the so far unsubstantiated (from what I can tell) rumors of this being a 60-65 floor building? What news of that? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sky-guy Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Hopefully so. Personally there is very little interest in whatever happens in The Woodlands from me. While I want nice suburbs and working towns/cities surrounding the core of Houston, I don't really want those suburban areas to pull major corporations FROM downtown.I'm sure Chevron is large enough to build both a tower and suburban campus.Now, back to the so far unsubstantiated (from what I can tell) rumors of this being a 60-65 floor building? What news of that?Instead if Chevron building both a tower and a suburban campus, why not build a 102 floor supertall? (: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sellanious Caesar Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 (edited) Chevron will build downtown. While nothing is set in stone, Chevron had its plans made long ago about where they'll expand to. As for the rumors of this being 60 floors, it's possible but why wait until last minute to modify? We already know they have their eyes on more property in downtown where they will build another tower in the future.BTW at this point Houston metro is big enough where companies like Chevron will have multiple sights for their work. The Woodlands rumor doesn't detract from their downtown plans I'd imagine. Edited December 17, 2013 by Sellanious Caesar 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ig2ba Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Do you guys realize how improbable it is that Chevron would cancel this tower and move all of their Houston employees to Conroe? A few things to keep in mind:This tower is the culmination of a long trend of consolidation into Downtown. Not only downtown, but all on contiguous blocks. Since the ChevronTexaco became Chevron, here are some of the moves:All employees from 11111 Wilcrest were moved downtown.All employees from a building in Sugar Land (forget the address) were moved downtown.All employees from the Texaco building, a namesake of the company were moved to their current location.All employees from the Chevron building, the namesake of the company were moved to their current location.Some employees from Bellaire now work in downtown.Some functions from their Covington, LA office were reassigned to employees in downtown Houston.There have been at least two sets of moves involving San Ramon and Richmond, CA employees moving to downtown Houston. Contrast that with Exxon, which was scattered all over the city to begin with, and needed a consolidated campus. Chevron bought the YMCA property.Chevron already got the tax rebates for building.Chevron supervised the demolition of the YMCA. There are Chevron employees who told me he always felt like he was "in a fishbowl" because other Chevron employees could do "Safety Observations" at any time on the demolition work.Chevron employees have talked about the plans for supervising the construction.We all knew - all HAIFers, all Chevron employees, all architecture nuts outside Houston, etc. - that Chevron was going to build something at that site LONG before they announced it on July 3, 2013. For them to finallly announce it publicly and then cancel it a few months later, and 6 months from the start of construction ... that doesn't really make sense. Chevron and most large energy companies are very afraid of negative publicity, which a cancellation would cause. Internally even, I think this would piss off a lot of employees who recently bought a house somewhere other than Huntsville or Conroe, and for no other reason than because they could (and not out of necessity like Exxon).Chevron is not exactly the best in the industry at project execution in terms of being on time in schedule. PMI information on projects backs this up. A year-long delay is not that rare. The Escravos GTL, IIRC, was delayed more than 5 years.Most large public energy companies have requirements for capital projects to consider project alternatives which are sufficiently unique but also doable. The fact that some other location was considered at one point in time does not mean it is a serious alternative now, or that it ever really was.While not impossible for Chevron to cancel, it seems very unlikely. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud713 Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 (edited) Chevron will build downtown. While nothing is set in stone, Chevron had its plans made long ago about where they'll expand to. As for the rumors of this being 60 floors, it's possible but why wait until last minute to modify? We already know they have their eyes on more property in downtown where they will build another tower in the future.BTW at this point Houston metro is big enough where companies like Chevron will have multiple sights for their work. The Woodlands rumor doesn't detract from their downtown plans I'd imagine.Agreed.. As for the rumors. My buddies father said he remembers it being "64 floors" (I'm assuming that's counting the base, but the original 50 story figure wasn't counting the podium, so idk) when asked about the height. My friends been slacking hard on getting back to me about checking the blue prints for the official height unfortunately. As for why they would increase it, I couldn't tell you.. But tangledwoods mentioned a month ago the height was still in flux. Edited December 18, 2013 by cloud713 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bachanon Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/28300-camp-strake-development/?p=426868 interestingly enough, there have been at least three people who do not know one another with the same or similar information. i do not intend to suggest that chevron would cancel the tower. i do believe there are other chevron companies that could be behind the rumors. at minimum, a chevron company most likely placed a bid on the camp strake property and as of yet, a large portion of the plans for the property have not yet been announced by the new owner. essentially, everyone may be right, at least a little bit. i'm positive the tower is a done deal. also, based on my source (who sounds a lot like ferz source), an energy company could be in the works for the development at camp strake in conjunction with the new owners. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htownproud Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 (edited) If true, this would be news to the executives at chevron. You are also forgetting that that they purchased the parking garage next to the current tower on Louisiana in the last 24 months for future expansion. And of course that is to say nothing of the announcement to all employees about the tower. Moving north would go against absolutely every action chevron has taken in the past. That said, if some guy in Conroe said they are moving there, it is probably happening. . . . I. Edited December 18, 2013 by htownproud 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bachanon Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 If true, this would be news to the executives at chevron. You are also forgetting that that they purchased the parking garage next to the current tower on Louisiana in the last 24 months for future expansion. And of course that is to say nothing of the announcement to all employees about the tower. Moving north would go against absolutely every action chevron has taken in the past. That said, if some guy in Conroe said they are moving there, it is probably happening. . . .I. actually, i stated that the tower is a done deal and that the rumors about the property to north, if true, are regarding a chevron company separate from the tower. in addition, the rumors i heard were that more than one well known energy companies bid on the camp strake property. i will state it again to help keep the thread on the subject of the tower: the tower is a done deal. if anyone wants to discuss the camp strake property, there is a thread on that separate subject. i do feel a little giddy at the thought of chevron's tower ultimately being taller than 50 stories. is there evidence this could be the case? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud713 Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 i do feel a little giddy at the thought of chevron's tower ultimately being taller than 50 stories. is there evidence this could be the case?i should find out for sure tomorrow.. i didnt mean to get anyones hopes up of this possibly being a supertall, but if its the height my buddies father remembers it being (~64 stories) then i could see it being ~950'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Owl Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 i should find out for sure tomorrow.. i didnt mean to get anyones hopes up of this possibly being a supertall, but if its the height my buddies father remembers it being (~64 stories) then i could see it being ~950'. sorry if I missed it, but why is your buddy's father credible? is this just fanboy pumping or is this serious business Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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