Houston | Exxon Campus + Springswoods Village

[Trae]

New Exxon campus going up at the Harris/Montgomery County line in the Spring, Texas area.

ExxonMobil is considering the possibility of consolidating multiple offices to a new corporate campus location in North Harris County, just south of The Woodlands.

ExxonMobil is the world's largest publicly traded international oil and gas company. The company is presently evaluating a financial analysis on office consolidation and relocation before making a final decision.

One of the areas of consideration is a tract of land located in North Harris County west of I-45 and the Hardy Toll Road, said ExxonMobil media spokesperson Alan Jeffers. Incidentally, ExxonMobil already owns the land.

"Basically, all options are on the table," Jeffers said. "The site has potential for new office buildings. Depending on the conclusions of the study later this year, we'll know more."

Jeffers said the options range from consolidating several of the company's offices to a central main-campus facility, including the possibility of a worldwide headquarters. Then, there is still the possibility that no action will be taken at all.

Jeffers said there have been crews onsite doing some basic work as part of the evaluation process.

If ExxonMobil does choose to develop a site in this location, like the gravitational pull of the sun, others will orbit.

Incidentally, next door to the site ExxonMobil is evaluating, CDC Houston Inc. announced last October plans for a residential and commercial development project, Springwoods Village.

Media spokesperson for CDC Houston Molly Smith said she was unable to comment on any connection to ExxonMobil.

Smith described the project as a master-planned community not unlike The Woodlands.

http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/cypre...cc4c002e0.html

I know there was an article a few months back about Exxon saying a worldwide HQ move was not going to happen, but maybe the Exxon board is realizing that consolidating the company and its HQ into one location is a better idea. Doubt it happens, but the North American HQ (former Mobil HQ in Virgina) will be moving to Houston, as well as some Denver offices. All in all, the campus should have about 15,000-17,000 employees.

The plans, prepared by environmental consultants for the project, show the outlines of more than 2 dozen Z-shaped buildings and 4 giant parking garages arrayed in four quadrants within the outline of a large ring road. The plans were submitted to the Corps as part of a request for approval to fill 4,888 linear feet of waterways on the site that currently drain into Spring Creek and mitigate impacts on less than acre of wetlands. (According to the public notice posted by the Corps in January, the organization’s “preliminary review” indicates that no environmental impact statement will be necessary for the project.)

More: http://swamplot.com/a-first-look-at-...17/#more-26845



Springwoods Village
http://www.springwoodsvillage.com/

Springswoods Village will be the master-planned community next to the Exxon campus:

A New York land development firm called Coventry Development has just announced grand plans to establish a giant eco-friendly, mixed-use development modeled heavily on the ecological principles first demonstrated decades ago by The Woodlands — on an 1,800-acre site just south of that community. It’s now a pine forest near the intersections of I-45 North, the Hardy Toll Road, and the projected path of the Grand Parkway, about 30 miles north of Downtown Houston. Some portions of that forest will remain: Plans call for a 150-acre nature preserve along one section of the community’s northern reaches, which stretch to Spring Creek. South of that, and along the northern border of the Grand Parkway, the developers are planning a town center with the hallmarks of major mixed-use employment centers: office space and retail, a medical district, townhouses and apartments, and single-family homes. But they’ve gone ahead and given the place a formula-tested suburban-housing name: Springwoods Village.

Springwoods Realty Company has owned most of this land since the 1960s. Why develop it now? Because it’s now pretty clear that the Grand Parkway will actually be built right at the property’s southern border, the developers say. Plus, there’s development on all sides now.

http://swamplot.com/spawn-of-the-gra...05/#more-22227

[Trae]

Aerial views taken a month ago:

What’s been going on deep in this pine forest north of Houston, behind the fencing and security guards, where all those trucks have been driving in and out for months? A whole lot of logging at least, it looks like. While ExxonMobil continues to tell its employees that no decisions have yet been made about whether to consolidate approximately 17,000 of them from Houston and Virginia into a new 3 million sq. ft. office campus just south of The Woodlands, contractors working for the company have been stripping what looks like thousands of trees from its 359-acre property and preparing the site for construction of as many as 2 dozen office buildings, 4 enormous parking garages, and several other structures. These aerial photos of the site sent to Swamplot are dated March 12th.

http://swamplot.com/aerial-views-of-...15/#more-27794

[homeworld1031tx]

sweet jesus that is a large development. have they said anything about how long they think it'll be before everything is built out as it is in the overheard view site plan?

[Trae]

sweet jesus that is a large development. have they said anything about how long they think it'll be before everything is built out as it is in the overheard view site plan?

So far, the first three million square feet of office space will be built at once, it seems. They'll consolidate 15,000-17,000 employees immediately. They have so much land on the campus though that some smaller expansions won't be a problem later on.

[homeworld1031tx]

Oh no, I was referring to the Springwood's Development - its seperate from Exxons, right? Isn't Exxon privately managing their own construction of their buildings? I figured this Springwood tract is an auxiliary thing that these Coventry guys decided to move on with the new campus getting the green light.

[Mr Carter]

Exxon Mobil will vacate several area buildings, including a 44-story tower downtown and several buildings in the Greenspoint area. Employees who work in two additional buildings — one on Buffalo Speedway and another along the Katy Freeway — will also move to the new campus.

http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/...tate-shake-up/

Great news for real estate interests in Houston's northern suburbs; the moves out of downtown and Greenspoint are different stories.

[Mr Carter]

Exxon confirms Houston-area campus to employees

Exxon Mobil Corp. confirmed Tuesday it will construct a large office campus near The Woodlands for employees currently working across the Houston area.

Bryan Milton, president of Exxon Mobil Global Services Co., sent an internal memo to all U.S. based employees saying the new campus will be built on 385 acres near the intersection of Interstate 45 and the Hardy Toll Road.

Spring and The Woodlands are becomimg Houston's versions of Plano.

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/n...campus-to.html

[Trae]

Exxon's press release:

ExxonMobil to Consolidate Houston Offices at New Campus

Energy-efficient campus to be located on 385-acre wooded site in north Houston
Complex will have multiple low-rise office buildings, laboratory, conference and training centers and employee amenities
Construction and ongoing operations to provide significant economic benefits for local economy

HOUSTON, Jun 07, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) –

ExxonMobil announced today the development of a new office campus in north Houston for employees currently working in a variety of locations in the Houston area.

The complex will be located on a 385-acre wooded site on company-owned land near the intersection of I-45 and the Hardy Toll Road. It will contain multiple low-rise office buildings, a laboratory, conference and training centers and facilities such as child care, a wellness center and other employee amenities.

“This new campus provides an opportunity to consolidate many of our Houston offices in one location, which will provide a high-quality working environment as our employees continue to support ExxonMobil’s mission of delivering energy to meet growing global needs,” said Bryan Milton, president of ExxonMobil Global Services Company.

“The complex will be constructed to high standards of energy efficiency and environmental stewardship, and will promote new opportunities for employee collaboration in their daily work.”

It is expected that most employees working in the corporation’s Houston Upstream head office activities, along with ExxonMobil Chemical Company and various staff support services, will be based at the campus.

Employees will move in phases as the buildings are constructed, beginning early 2014. Full occupancy for Houston-based employees is expected by 2015.

Construction and ongoing operations will create thousands of jobs, substantial state and local taxes and significant benefits to the Texas and Houston-area economy.

The decision to proceed with the campus resulted from a study of the corporation’s office requirements in the United States. Further study will determine whether any other U.S. office locations will be located at the campus in the future.

http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/...ouston-campus/

http://swamplot.com/welcome-to-the-l...07/#more-29569

[Trae]

Spring and The Woodlands are becomimg Houston's versions of Plano.

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/n...campus-to.html

The City of Houston will probably annex the Exxon campus though. It's in their ETJ. The Woodlands, since it's becoming it's own city around the time the Exxon campus is built, should see some benefits and keep it for itself.

[AeroD]

The City of Houston will probably annex the Exxon campus though. It's in their ETJ. The Woodlands, since it's becoming it's own city around the time the Exxon campus is built, should see some benefits and keep it for itself.

So which one is it? Houston takes it or The Woodlands keep it?

[Trae]

So which one is it? Houston takes it or The Woodlands keep it?

Houston will annex it (Exxon campus), but growth is going to spill over into The Woodlands, which they get to keep since they aren't in Houston's ETJ anymore.

[dmorg12345]

Seems strange that they would build a corporate campus right now, I read an article about a ton of Company's in the Chicago area trying to move out of their campus office space as they have been unable to attract quality talent and are missing innovation. This isn't the article I was thinking of...but it still gets the point across.

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/kb...an_corpor.html

[AeroD]

Houston will annex it (Exxon campus), but growth is going to spill over into The Woodlands, which they get to keep since they aren't in Houston's ETJ anymore.

You know this for sure Houston will annex it or that Exxon wants that? There is a reason why there has been tremendous growth in unincorporated Harris.

[mjblazin]

Seems strange that they would build a corporate campus right now, I read an article about a ton of Company's in the Chicago area trying to move out of their campus office space as they have been unable to attract quality talent and are missing innovation. This isn't the article I was thinking of...but it still gets the point across.

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/kb...an_corpor.html

People are seeing a trend for decreasing need for the campuses and reading into it their own agendas. Corporations are simply cutting back on space in all forms and keeping maximum flexibility on the space they keep. The idea of owning a huge complex whether it be in the burbs or downtown is what is losing steam. A suburban campus does have an additional issue in that it's more difficult to sublet the space as the owning corporation cuts back. You'll find moving an HQ downtown is not the same as moving the campus since the HQ people get fewer and fewer as execs stay but support gets pruned again and again.

The one exception is that Deloitte campus near Grapevine, but it is truly a campus combining training spaces from around the world. Probably lots of smaller campuses will disappear to make room for that one.

The idea that Exxon or any large corporation can't find people to work for it in campus locations, given 9+ per cent unemployment is ludicrous.

[Trae]

You know this for sure Houston will annex it or that Exxon wants that? There is a reason why there has been tremendous growth in unincorporated Harris.

There has been tremendous growth in unincorporated Harris County because the Houston area, like all of Texas, is a hotspot for growth. There has been a lot of new development that you'd typically see in the suburbs, in Houston city limits this past decade (it did grow by 150K this past decade). The Houston city limits ends at the feeder road, right next to the campus. If Houston leaders want the Exxon campus in the city, it will be in the city. It would be a pretty easy annexation, since they won't be annexing any residential areas. Look at this map: http://www.houstontx.gov/planning/De...MTFP_Map10.pdf . The dark orange areas are mostly all big commercial spots, that would increase tax revenue. The Exxon campus will be at the NW corner of the Grand Parkway/I-45 interchange. When the city does an update on the map, don't be surprised to see it also in dark orange, as a future annex. Why wouldn't the city want the Exxon campus? And what's Exxon going to do, not build the campus?

[hamiltonpl]

I still wish they would have built a massive office tower in downtown Houston. That thing would have been 100+ stories.

[AeroD]

I still wish they would have built a massive office tower in downtown Houston. That thing would have been 100+ stories.

With the money ExxonMobil pulls in they could have done one better and built an underwater office in the Gulf.

[Trae]

Still don't understand why we give these oil giants subsidies, but I digress...

[Mr Carter]

And what's Exxon going to do, not build the campus?

I think whatever Exxon wants, Houston leaders had better adhere to.

[Sam Watkins]

I still wish they would have built a massive office tower in downtown Houston. That thing would have been 100+ stories.

Rightfully or not, the perception among many large corporate owners is that downtown locations are less secure, both from human and natural threats. The human threat is probably overblown by most companies. In the case of Exxon, it might be more reasonable.

United did move a lot of their executives from the suburbs to downtown to attract more 'talent'. They still kept the campus, though. Unlike recent Harvard MBAs, the worker bees there can be trusted not to complain about cross-metro commutes.

[Tucy]

Rightfully or not, the perception among many large corporate owners is that downtown locations are less secure, both from human and natural threats. The human threat is probably overblown by most companies. In the case of Exxon, it might be more reasonable.

United did move a lot of their executives from the suburbs to downtown to attract more 'talent'. They still kept the campus, though. Unlike recent Harvard MBAs, the worker bees there can be trusted not to complain about cross-metro commutes.

United's former headquarters campus is for sale. They do not plan to keep it or keep offices in it.

[slfunk]

Rightfully or not, the perception among many large corporate owners is that downtown locations are less secure, both from human and natural threats. The human threat is probably overblown by most companies. In the case of Exxon, it might be more reasonable.

United did move a lot of their executives from the suburbs to downtown to attract more 'talent'. They still kept the campus, though. Unlike recent Harvard MBAs, the worker bees there can be trusted not to complain about cross-metro commutes.

Depends who you talk too. If that were truly the case we would not be seeing an influx of companies moving back to the downtown area here in Dallas. Here is an article from the NY Times about UBS moving back to Manhattan after building a corporate campus in suburbia Conneticut. They are having a hard attracting talent and loosing, and the campus is only 15 years old.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/09/ny...d.html?_r=1&hp

[Mballar]

Seems strange that they would build a corporate campus right now, I read an article about a ton of Company's in the Chicago area trying to move out of their campus office space as they have been unable to attract quality talent and are missing innovation. This isn't the article I was thinking of...but it still gets the point across.

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/kb...an_corpor.html

Here's another article from today's New York Times that further underscores that point. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/09/ny...-stamford.html
Apparently, UBS is having trouble recruiting talented young-ins join their team. According to the article:

It turns out that a suburban location has become a liability in recruiting the best and brightest young bankers, who want to live in Manhattan or Brooklyn, not in Stamford, Conn., which is about 35 miles northeast of Midtown. The firm has also discovered that it would be better to be closer to major clients in New York City. . .

. . .They just can’t hire the bankers and traders they need

[Mballar]

I guess the most relevant part about this new consolidation for Dallas is that the Headquarters will not be moving from Irving.

Spokesman Alan Jeffers said the announcement just affected local employees, but he didn’t rule out transfers from other cities later, explaining that a study of the company’s office space would be ongoing. The large campus also has room for expansion.

Exxon Mobil’s Irving headquarters will not move, nor will the Fort Worth offices of recently acquired XTO Energy. The company’s Fairfax, Va. offices, however, are part of the study. Some 2,500 employees work in that location.

Source: http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/...tate-shake-up/

ALSO

Houston may be important to Exxon Mobil. But Houston is not going to be the new corporate headquarters of the world’s largest energy company, [Alan] Jeffers says ("a spokesman in the company headquarters in the sprawling Irving community in north Texas").

The rumor has been persistent for months. Exxon Mobil’s undisclosed plan for the new corporate campus includes a truly noteworthy building — an impressive “crown jewel” that is obviously meant to house Exxon Mobil’s top brass, or so the story goes.

Jeffers says it’s just not true. He says Exxon Mobil is not considering moving its headquarters from Irving to Houston.

So, Alan, once again, just to make sure -- there is no plan to move the corporate headquarters?

“No. What we are doing is just evaluating and looking at our U.S. office needs in a real estate study. One of the things that was never included in that study was the headquarters,” Jeffers says.

Source: http://houston.culturemap.com/newsde...ls-new-campus/

[ksig121]

Riiiight... just like politicians are NEVER considering running for higher office... (until they do.)

[Mballar]

Riiiight... just like politicians are NEVER considering running for higher office... (until they do.)

Well the spokesman didn't say "NEVER!" I suspect that the Irving Headquarters will remain for at least another 15 - 20 years, or unless/until the corporate brass develop an affinity for Houston. As it stands now, Exxon's top dogs are wedded to Dallas due to their long-term personal, social, and economic investments.

[mjblazin]

It makes sense to the stockholders to consolidate people spread around Houston though I don't know why Exxon needs to own it. Maybe something about oil business that all those people need to be together from now till 30 years hence. It would make no sense to stockholders to build some massive HQ building.

That HQ stuff only makes sense when you sub taxpayer for stockholder and Mayor/Governor/Councilperson for executive. For them Bigger is always Better and Supersizing it makes the most sense.

[psukhu]

...though I don't know why Exxon needs to own it.

They may do this for security reasons. As the owner of the building, they can implement strict controls and ensure there are no other tenants. I think this is one of the reasons Hunt Oil moved from Fountain Place to their own tower.

[Trae]

I guess the most relevant part about this new consolidation for Dallas is that the Headquarters will not be moving from Irving.

Spokesman Alan Jeffers said the announcement just affected local employees, but he didn’t rule out transfers from other cities later, explaining that a study of the company’s office space would be ongoing. The large campus also has room for expansion.

Exxon Mobil’s Irving headquarters will not move, nor will the Fort Worth offices of recently acquired XTO Energy. The company’s Fairfax, Va. offices, however, are part of the study. Some 2,500 employees work in that location.

Source: http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/...tate-shake-up/

ALSO

Houston may be important to Exxon Mobil. But Houston is not going to be the new corporate headquarters of the world’s largest energy company, [Alan] Jeffers says ("a spokesman in the company headquarters in the sprawling Irving community in north Texas").

The rumor has been persistent for months. Exxon Mobil’s undisclosed plan for the new corporate campus includes a truly noteworthy building — an impressive “crown jewel” that is obviously meant to house Exxon Mobil’s top brass, or so the story goes.

Jeffers says it’s just not true. He says Exxon Mobil is not considering moving its headquarters from Irving to Houston.

So, Alan, once again, just to make sure -- there is no plan to move the corporate headquarters?

“No. What we are doing is just evaluating and looking at our U.S. office needs in a real estate study. One of the things that was never included in that study was the headquarters,” Jeffers says.

Source: http://houston.culturemap.com/newsde...ls-new-campus/

Riiiight... just like politicians are NEVER considering running for higher office... (until they do.)

They sure are building a pretty elaborate campus for it not to be the corporate HQ. Plus the Springwoods development next to Exxon. For now though, the corporate HQ is not moving.

[tamtagon]

I don't know why, but I've had the impression this is where Exxon scientists will do their thing....

[Trae]

I think whatever Exxon wants, Houston leaders had better adhere to.

I'm pretty sure (100% positive) that Exxon knows Houston has the ability to annex them in the future (wouldn't be surprised if it was planned that way). All of the drains at the campus will read "City of Houston" on them, since it is still in the Houston ETJ. A simple couple hundred acre land grab of commercial space won't be hard in the future. If they were worried about being annexed, they would have moved into another area like Sugar Land or something. There is a pretty long relationship between the City of Houston and Exxon. The majority of their offices are already in the city in the first place.

Depends who you talk too. If that were truly the case we would not be seeing an influx of companies moving back to the downtown area here in Dallas. Here is an article from the NY Times about UBS moving back to Manhattan after building a corporate campus in suburbia Conneticut. They are having a hard attracting talent and loosing, and the campus is only 15 years old.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/09/ny...d.html?_r=1&hp

What makes Exxon different, IMO, is they have offices scattered all throughout the City of Houston. People are already living in suburban areas. The vacating of the Downtown offices is the only head-scratcher. Employees who live in the loop will have an easy reverse commute to the campus.

Well the spokesman didn't say "NEVER!" I suspect that the Irving Headquarters will remain for at least another 15 - 20 years, or unless/until the corporate brass develop an affinity for Houston. As it stands now, Exxon's top dogs are wedded to Dallas due to their long-term personal, social, and economic investments.

Doubt it. Corporations move all the time. Doesn't mean that they still won't keep the commitments they made in another city. We'll probably find out about the corporate HQ for sure next year, when the other US offices that also may move are announced. The campus is so elaborate, and then there is the Springwoods Village development being built right next to it that was probably released to try and lure the HQ in the first place.

[Mr Carter]

Doubt it. Corporations move all the time. Doesn't mean that they still won't keep the commitments they made in another city. We'll probably find out about the corporate HQ for sure next year, when the other US offices that also may move are announced. The campus is so elaborate, and then there is the Springwoods Village development being built right next to it that was probably released to try and lure the HQ in the first place.

Exxon moving corporate headquarters to Dallas

Houston was not considered for Exxon's new corporate headquarters because executives decided it should not be in the same location as one of the company's major operating divisions, said John Walsh, president of Friendswood Development Co., the Exxon subsidiary in Houston that handled the site search.

Exxon officials believed the presence of the corporate headquarters could erode the autonomy and independence of the division headquarters if it were located right next door, Walsh said.

"They made the decision early on they did not want to locate near one of their operating groups," he said.
http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/ar...id=1989_659330

True, corporations do move all of the time. Corprate philosophies tend to stay the same though.

[mjblazin]

The UBS comparison is about a very special case. Traders in NYC are a very different breed. While I would not identify them as very creative, they are highly skilled, highly compensated people that work better together and in proximity to their clients, the other banks and investment funds in Manhattan. They can afford to live well in Manhattan and choose to do it. Since UBS was likely only a stopping place for them as is typical, it was a hassle since main long term career focus remained Manhattan.

UBS should have kept them in Manhattan and moved all the back office/support/technology to CT. Maybe the networks could not support that separation before. It now does.

In any case, analogy does not work for someone doing an ad campaign in Dallas or working on natural gas fracking in Houston.

[Mballar]

http://online.wsj.com/video/exxon-mo...37F91EDD6.html

[Trae]

Here is a crane skyline shot taken a few months ago:









Other than that, I can hardly find any new pictures on the development. There was a guy at HAIF who posted photos showing the underground tunnel system that Exxon is building in the campus (large enough tunnels to drive two F-150s through, probably used for garbage and things), but they were deleted.

[homeworld1031tx]

Mother of god, it looks like the middle east