Just a fun rumor from today's on-line chat with Steve Lackmeyer...


I heard this from a family member who is in construction. Devon is seeking bids for another tower, and Oneok doing to same, for a potential move from T-town.

Read more: http://newsok.com/unedited-transcript-of-okc-central-chat-with-steve-lackmeyer-august-17-2012/article/3701648#ixzz23pkEhZgz

^
I've heard that ONEOK was looking to establish an office here, but it was something along the lines of a satellite office, probably fewer than 50 employees. Keep in mind I heard this in 2010.

That would be awesome if they moved down here, but I won't hold my breath. ONEOK is very committed to Tulsa, and it seems to go deeper than the lip service most companies pay to their communities. If they should decide to leave, I'm sure Tulsa would throw them gobs of incentive money to stay. Plus, I could only imagine the political meltdown that would happen among the cities and in the state ("OKC is STEALING our companies!!")

The Devon thing seems far more likely. My co. works a lot with Devon. I can tell you they are filling up their tower very fast, and their plans to lease other office space in other downtown buildings when the need arises is being stymied by the high amount of leasing activity by other companies.

ONEOK is the size of Devon, and I agree that it's highly unlikely they would just up and leave Tulsa.

However, I hope they are looking at a significant OKC presence in what is emerging as a great concentration of energy companies, especially if SandRidge and Continental continue on their current projectories.

Perhaps they would partner with Devon to take part of a new tower??

If anything, ONEOK would build a new skyscraper in Tulsa, before OKC. Tulsa is due for a new skyscraper, and ONEOK could pull it off...

If anything, ONEOK would build a new skyscraper in Tulsa, before OKC. Tulsa is due for a new skyscraper, and ONEOK could pull it off...

The ONEOK building in Tulsa was designed to be much taller than it is, it was scaled back at the last minute due to a rough patch. I would imagine that if they were wanting to expand, they might just pick up where they left off and add a dozen more floors to the current building.

I could see Devon announcing a new building in 3 years or so. The tower is filling up fast. It would definitely be very close to the existing tower.

I would love to see OneOK move to OKC, but I doubt it will happen. I am sure they meant OG&E. I have heard rumors of OG&E possibly building a new tower.

I've seen Boral trucks otherwise known as Schwarz around town its an Australian company that has been expanding in the US they would help bring some balance to OKC if they were to build an American.headquarters here. They have been building a new concrete plant downtown on the same property as the Schwarz has an exiting unused plant now. I think they keep delaying the project due to I-40 realignment and crosstown. I also know there are some mandates the city has put on its appearanve.

Boral is one of the largest construction supply companies in australia. They own Schwarz and Boral Brick in Union City as well as some companies in fever those are just the ones I still remember. With OKCs continuing growth and future projects and anticipated growth I am surprised Boral has not expanded in Oklahoma more Than it already has with the Oklahoma companies still sending checks to HQ throughout the recession.

ONEOK is not leaving Tulsa.

Just a fun rumor from today's on-line chat with Steve Lackmeyer...


I think it should be clarified that it was not Steve Lackmeyer who made the quoted statement. It was some random person named Chris.

I agree with Spartan. Oneok is not leaving Tulsa.

(FWIW, Oneok already has a significant presence in OKC. It's subsidiary Oklahoma Natural Gas is headquartered in OKC, having been moved here from Tulsa a decade or so ago)

Sorry, Im an outsider here and couldnt find the info with a quick Google search, but does anybody know how many employees the current Devon Tower can hold? Im guessing it is well over 5,000 due to the square footage of the building.

^^
More like 2600-2800.

Thats still about 55 employees per floor. That's a pretty full load for most modern day office needs.

Sorry, Im an outsider here and couldnt find the info with a quick Google search, but does anybody know how many employees the current Devon Tower can hold? Im guessing it is well over 5,000 due to the square footage of the building

Part of it is planing to have room to expand, they had been distributed in six large buildings to get enough space for everyone, so they did not want to have to repeat that anytime soon

ONEOK is not leaving Tulsa.

but it would be great if they did

My dream would be to have all current building owners (Corporations of course) to sell to developers for residential needs, retaining a lease with the developers until a new building is built. This grows our skyline and makes ready buildings for condo's and other residential suites.

I like the revived OGE rumor, back before PSB died it was rumored they were going to build a 28 story tower......

^^
More like 2600-2800.

Thats still about 55 employees per floor. That's a pretty full load for most modern day office needs.


That seems like the most inefficient floor plan possible. PNC is building an 800,000 sqft tower in Pittsburgh that will host 3,000 employees. Just doesnt add up for Devon to build a tower with twice as much space to house less employees.

PNC Tower Pittsburgh:

The new headquarters will feature more than 800,000 square feet of space and house some 3,000 employees.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/business/news/city-approves-plan-for-new-pnc-tower-217007/#ixzz248KwOcCI


Duke Energy Center Charlotte:

Size: 48 floors, 1.5 million square feet

Already fully leased, the new tower, which will be Charlotte’s largest by square footage, could hold more than 6,500 employees.

http://www.charlottemagazine.com/Charlotte-Magazine/June-2008/The-New-Stuff/



The only reason I bring it up is because I find the speculation of Devon possibly building a new tower to be really far down the road, just doesnt seem like a legit rumor atm.

Have you seen the core of the Devon Tower? It is rather massive with all the elevator bays, stairwells and what not. The floor plans are not spacious like a WTC type environment.

Oh the irony - this from the people who made $500,000 homes entry-level.


Wachovia condo tower
Size: 46 floors, 326 units
Opens: 2010
Highlight: Huge balconies.

OK, so the name needs work, but when this baby fills with people, you’ll be able to notice the difference day and night on South Tryon. Wachovia’s Bob Bertges says the two-bedroom units in the tower "are not going to be entry level." Meaning, they’ll be large, with upscale finishes. The tower is still two or three years away, so not many details are available.


Of course, Wachovia bit the dust shortly after that was announced.

If anything, ONEOK would build a new skyscraper in Tulsa, before OKC. Tulsa is due for a new skyscraper, and ONEOK could pull it off...

BOK and Williams could easily build new towers in Tulsa as well. I imagine one of the three will eventually have a new tower there. Not many people had even heard of Denver-based Cimarex but they are currently building an 18 story tower downtown. BOK is back in acquisition mode and is already one of the bigger regional banks in the south-central/southwest region and the largest bank in Oklahoma.

^^
More like 2600-2800.

Thats still about 55 employees per floor. That's a pretty full load for most modern day office needs.

Everything I can find says it is designed to house 3000 employees, and roughly 2100 are moving in now. That leaves room for about a 43% growth.

BOK and Williams could easily build new towers in Tulsa as well. I imagine one of the three will eventually have a new tower there. Not many people had even heard of Denver-based Cimarex but they are currently building an 18 story tower downtown. BOK is back in acquisition mode and is already one of the bigger regional banks in the south-central/southwest region and the largest bank in Oklahoma.

Why would BOK build a new tower when they don't even fill their current one? The BOK tower might be full, but it's not all BOK employees. It's leased to other companies as well.

BOK and Williams could easily build new towers in Tulsa as well. I imagine one of the three will eventually have a new tower there. Not many people had even heard of Denver-based Cimarex but they are currently building an 18 story tower downtown. BOK is back in acquisition mode and is already one of the bigger regional banks in the south-central/southwest region and the largest bank in Oklahoma.

Cimarex has been in the Cana shale play out by Calumet for a few years now. They are also heavy into the Mississippi Lime just west of Tulsa. They are not the ones building the building in Tulsa, but they will be the primary tenant and thus the building name.

I don't think there is a mystery around if downtown OKC will get an announcement of a new office building soon, its more of what company will be building it. I was privileged to briefly talk to Beffort himself about this matter, though his answer wasn't detailed, it assured me that something is still in the works. The most recent information that I received from Beffort was that new office buildings will be announced for downtown by the end of 1st quarter '13.

Guess we'll have to wait 6 or 7 months then.

Building(S) Plural! :)

Building(S) Plural! :)

Caught that as well. :)

I don't even care if they're super tall...just so long as they make their presence visible in the skyline (10 stories+)...but would be awesome if at least one could bridge the gap between Chase and Devon.

Why would BOK build a new tower when they don't even fill their current one? The BOK tower might be full, but it's not all BOK employees. It's leased to other companies as well.

BOK has a lot of office space in the Tulsa area outside of downtown, likely more combined than in their namesake tower which also includes the HQ for both Williams/WPX and Magellan Midstream, a large regional office for Newfield Exploration and a number of other companies such as Ernst & Young. If they ever decided to pull a Devon and consolidate their office space they would likely need a new tower..

Did anyone Scooby or Shaggy at the mystery tower meeting?

2028

I work for Midland at the Grand Blvd location and we received notification today to clean our work spaces because Jeff Records would be touring our building with a 'special guest' tonight. Typically if we have auditors etc we have more notice and they arrive on a Monday, not a Thursday night. My guess is that a prospective buyer is coming in. If so, we would have to have a contingency (maybe downtown) to move people into. My hope is that this results in the new tower we all are anticipating.

I work for Midland at the Grand Blvd location and we received notification today to clean our work spaces because Jeff Records would be touring our building with a 'special guest' tonight. Typically if we have auditors etc we have more notice and they arrive on a Monday, not a Thursday night. My guess is that a prospective buyer is coming in. If so, we would have to have a contingency (maybe downtown) to move people into. My hope is that this results in the new tower we all are anticipating.

I'm hearing something very similar from my source who has been providing me with information on MidFirst

The most obvious potential buyer would be Chesapeake, either for their own use or for the pipeline company they just spun off.

That business is housed in the Central Park buildings right across I-44 and Chesapeake Land still owns those properties.

Ooooh... I can supply a webcam!

LOL! I can just see it now. The whole of OKCTalk members eagerly hovering over their laptops tonight waiting to see who the special guest is.

You might break a traffic record on the site! :)

I think Catch22 might make a special appearance tonight....

Paparazzi?

Sounds like this visit will happen tonight. We were going to get notice if jean Friday was cancelled due to the visit and that didn't happen. Anyone want to stake out the parking lot? :)

I think Catch22 might make a special appearance tonight....

Paparazzi?

How many wanna-be okctalk reporters are sitting in the parking lot to be the first to break the story on here about who the special guest is...

How many wanna-be okctalk reporters are sitting in the parking lot to be the first to break the story on here about who the special guest is...

My guess is zero.

My guess is zero.

Not a bad guess.

Update: The visit has been ongoing this morning floor by floor in the building and has been with 'out-of-towners'. Lots of pointing and directing in the tour. (supports the prospective buyer idea) Also, the word here is that Records has refused to sell to Chesapeake, which raises the question of who else would want these properties?

Thanks for the updates.

It could be CHK Board members; all the new ones are from out of town.

Chesapeake really wants those properties and traditionally pays 2 to 5 times market value, so why the heck wouldn't Records want to sell to them? I can understand holding out for as much money as possible but it doesn't make sense he would take less just to sell to someone else.

Remember, CHK owns all the parcels around the MidFirst/Midland buildings including everything between the two.

I simply do not understand Records' refusal to sell.

Perhaps the current lookers, if not Chesapeake, are folks who want to buy and flip it to Chesapeake (given that whole overpay practice they've been known for)

He also owns Nichols Hills Tower which CHK desperately wants as part of the NH Plaza renovation.

How many wanna-be okctalk reporters are sitting in the parking lot to be the first to break the story on here about who the special guest is...

Dang, I woulda done it with my binoculars had I thought about it. Someone PM me next time we have a chance to scoop a story like this.

I simply do not understand Records' refusal to sell.

Maybe he hates AM's guts.

I've heard from several different people that Records absolutely does not want to sell to Chesapeake.

Given the way CHK throws money around on far lesser properties, you have to know that they've offered Records a king's ransom, so perhaps it is indeed some sort of personal thing.

Maybe he did want to sell to CHK at one time, but with all the heat CHK has been taking lately, it would not be a good look for MidFirst to do business with them. Nonetheless, Records can't stop whoever does by the MidFirst properties from selling to CHK in the future, which will probably happen.

The rumors about Records not wanting to sell to CHK started long before all of Chesapeake's bad PR.

Maybe he hates AM's guts.

Maybe, but their both co-owners of the Thunder and roll around in the same clique.

How many employees does MidFirst have? In Steve's chat he mentioned that if everything he's tracking happens, over 1,000 new employees will be added to downtown.

How many employees does MidFirst have? In Steve's chat he mentioned that if everything he's tracking happens, over 1,000 new employees will be added to downtown.

What was interesting was the 1,000 employee count was the minimum, otherwise the high end was 'much much more'.

What was interesting was the 1,000 employee count was the minimum, otherwise the high end was 'much much more'.

Between Midland and Midfirst...they probably have quite the employee count

Total company (Midfirst and Midland including Arizona) is just over 2,000 last I heard.

Update: The visit has been ongoing this morning floor by floor in the building and has been with 'out-of-towners'. Lots of pointing and directing in the tour. (supports the prospective buyer idea) Also, the word here is that Records has refused to sell to Chesapeake, which raises the question of who else would want these properties?

Anyone ever find out who the 'visitors' were ???

I heard tell that the visitors had very tall cone-shaped heads and reportedly were "from France"...
;)

In todays online chat with Steve, he said a new tower is likely more so than before, even after AF.

In todays online chat with Steve, he said a new tower is likely more so than before, even after AF.

Encouraging to say the least

Encouraging to say the least

Fantastic, even ;)

From todays DOK land sales -

'4th Street Properties LLC from the Oklahoman Publishing Company,
property near NE 4 and N. E.K. Gaylord Blvd.,
$1,970,000.00'


Is this the site of a possible new tower ?

Saw that this morning as well and was thinking the same thing...

That's the clear triangle shaped plot, right?