Nope, I want to be here when it happens. I want to be the first on OKC Talk to criticize it. LOLThink you can beat Rover or Spartan???? lol I'm just kidding, we all love Rover aaaaannnnndddd Spartan ;)

I'm still banking on a huge deal involving Sandridge and Shell with Shell in the U.S. bringing their office to a spanking new tower in Oklahoma City.

Meets International criteria
Lots of talk it's coming from Texas
This would be a BIG deal

Okay, we're all sure it's not Kerr McGee, right?

:)

I'm still banking on a huge deal involving Sandridge and Shell with Shell in the U.S. bringing their office to a spanking new tower in Oklahoma City.

Meets International criteria
Lots of talk it's coming from Texas
This would be a BIG deal

I don't know...I feel like if Shell buys SD, then they'll build on the 4th/EKG plot.

If it's the Stage Center site, some sort of Conoco-Phillips idea makes sense.

Mentioned the idea of Shell to a senior manager at a local energy firm and he said he could definitely see it because of their holdings in KS and OK.

The answer to that question is obviously yes as towers take a lot of construction workers to build.

I think you are correct. A local company that builds a tower will create lots of new construction jobs. Weren't there about 3000 people working on the Devon tower at one point?

I agree Sid. The biggest error with Sandridge is that their tower was built in the geographic center of the block. It should have been built adjacent to the street. As for Chesapeake, that was one huge campus mistake and I don't know how you recover from that short of just doing as you suggest and saying - ooops. The shear cost to maintain the acreage alone must be staggering. The question becomes what do you do with what is there - private university maybe?

I think you are correct. A local company that builds a tower will create lots of new construction jobs. Weren't there about 3000 people working on the Devon tower at one point?

The Stage Center site is not being looked at (at least at this process) by a local company. Construction jobs are temporary.

Construction work is good work. And though you may consider them temporary, getting those skills here to the city and keeping them here is a strong economic tool. Putting local construction personnel to work on great paying jobs and luring more here would be great.

Construction work is good work. And though you may consider them temporary, getting those skills here to the city and keeping them here is a strong economic tool. Putting local construction personnel to work on great paying jobs and luring more here would be great.

Those people will be hired regardless, as long as a tower gets built. I think what people are talking about is the influx of new workers that a company moving here will bring.

I would bet a good number of construction workers have moved to OKC for various projects and then chosen to stay due to the constant flow of new development.

And there are several big things on the horizon... Not only the Mystery Tower(s) but the convention center, streetcar, fairgrounds improvements, scores of hotels and apartments and of other stuff that hasn't even been announced.

I would bet a good number of construction workers have moved to OKC for various projects and then chosen to stay due to the constant flow of new development.

And there are several big things on the horizon... Not only the Mystery Tower(s) but the convention center, streetcar, fairgrounds improvements, scores of hotels and apartments and of other stuff that hasn't even been announced.

OKC: continuous construction zone

From the OKC Central Chat on Friday:

11:41 a.m. Guest - Hmmm....could the Magic 8 ball then answer the question if there will be any announcement on Stage Center/tower by the end of March? :)
11:41 a.m. Tom - Will this supposed new tower result in more new jobs to okc?
11:41 a.m. NewsOK - no and yes

From post #3183 by hoyasooner:

Actually I think Steve was responding to two questions at once. The question before that was something else.

From post #3184 by Steve:

Hoya is correct.

can we put the 'no and yes' answer by Steve to a rest?

there were two questions asked, and Steve answered both with one response. I forget the first question (which was answered with the 'no') but the second question asked if the tower(s) would result in new jobs for OKC (which was answered 'yes').

I'm sure Steve was NOT indicating that the new jobs would be construction related, but instead they would be new office jobs in the tower(s). ... Think about it from a common sense pov, isn't that why a company would build a skyscraper (fill it with people working?).


I hope there soon is a landslide of development announcement; beginning with Shell+Sinopec and ConocoPhillips announcements then ending with Continental, OG&E, and MidFirst. Throw in Aubrey's new 5-star hotel-condo tower(s) and possibly a spec/multi-tenant office tower; along with a slew of retail filling in the existing and new storefronts.

I deleted a bunch of posts that started off in jest and then devolved into mean-spiritedness.

Let's please remember to be nice to one another, even if we may disagree.



Thanks, now back to obsessing about buildings that don't yet exist. :cool:

Honestly, I am kind of shocked with the connections some of us on the site have that we haven't discovered anything concrete about a project that is supposed to be revealed within 3 weeks. And I know we all love Steve here but he can't really get annoyed with people continually asking questions about the tower when he continues to hang bait in the form of small teased tidbits every week. All he had to say was "I know nothing concrete" and it more than likely would have been the end of it until a formal announcement. Now that doesn't mean I am opposed to these fun tidbits, I'm just saying that if you keep throwing breadcrumbs to the geese you're only going to attract many more coming for the whole loaf.

I think Steve has been very forth coming about not 'spilling the beans' until the deal is finalized. He's had a little fun with the tidbits, and I believe he's pretty confident that it'll happen very soon.

I give him credit, he's piked our interest to the point that something cool is about to happen.

I'll go out on a limb and guess we'll find something more concrete late next week, the 20th- 24th.

And I have zero knowledge of this project.

And I know we all love Steve here but he can't really get annoyed with people continually asking questions about the tower when he continues to hang bait in the form of small teased tidbits every week. All he had to say was "I know nothing concrete"

...and people would take that as a 'tidbit/bread crumb/small tease' that Cemex was the company.

I'll go out on a limb and guess we'll find something more concrete late next week, the 20th- 24th.


I very much hope you don't end up in traction. I'm also eager for an announcement.

It is amazing that we haven't been able to figure out who this Mystery Company is that is set to announce a Mystery Tower.

Perhaps they've already been named but I can't put my finger on who this may be.


In a way, it's a bit reassuring that in this day and age that some things can still remain somewhat of a secret until people want the information out.

I hope it also means there is more great stuff happening behind the scenes that we don't yet know about.

I thought that Steve said that the mystery tower company has not ever been mentioned in this "Mystery Tower" thread. That is now over 3000 posts of mystery discussion.

Honestly, I am kind of shocked with the connections some of us on the site have that we haven't discovered anything concrete about a project that is supposed to be revealed within 3 weeks. And I know we all love Steve here but he can't really get annoyed with people continually asking questions about the tower when he continues to hang bait in the form of small teased tidbits every week. All he had to say was "I know nothing concrete" and it more than likely would have been the end of it until a formal announcement. Now that doesn't mean I am opposed to these fun tidbits, I'm just saying that if you keep throwing breadcrumbs to the geese you're only going to attract many more coming for the whole loaf.

Excellent post! I completely agree with everything you said.

It is amazing that we haven't been able to figure out who this Mystery Company is that is set to announce a Mystery Tower.

Perhaps they've already been named but I can't put my finger on who this may be.


In a way, it's a bit reassuring that in this day and age that some things can still remain somewhat of a secret until people want the information out.

I hope it also means there is more great stuff happening behind the scenes that we don't yet know about.

It is pretty surprising given how fast everyone knew about Devon's tower plans (though not the enormity of them) and continental's relocation. Those were both instate deals which probably allowed more frequenters of this board to have some inside information. Maybe the fact that no one here, outside of Steve, has more insight on this lends additional credibility to the out of state relocation theory.

Besides the awesome information that gets posted here, I get tons of emails and PM's from people whispering things they know but don't want to post.

And yet with this particular company, I'm hearing very little other than who it *won't* be.


So, that's even more reinforcement of the notion it is probably not a local company. I can assure you we have tons of posters/lurkers from all the major Oklahoma entities and I haven't heard anything from them.

It is amazing that we haven't been able to figure out who this Mystery Company is that is set to announce a Mystery Tower.

Perhaps they've already been named but I can't put my finger on who this may be.


In a way, it's a bit reassuring that in this day and age that some things can still remain somewhat of a secret until people want the information out.

I hope it also means there is more great stuff happening behind the scenes that we don't yet know about.

No doubt. If it is as significant as has been hinted at, then this company has done an amazing job of keeping things quiet, especially since something of that magnitude would certainly require several external entities that are usually harder to control. One reason for this could be that it is far from finalized and only those with direct interest in keeping it quiet are at the table at this point.

The success of keeping it quiet, though, kind of hints that it is not a relocation, imo, or, if it is one, that we would get a relocation announcement before a building announcement. Anything is possible, but it would be pretty impressive if there was an announcement of a relocation came out that goes as far as to say all of "we're moving to okc, we're going to build in this location, and it should be about this tall with x number of square feet". I wouldn't expect all of that to come out at once and to have not known more details before hand. But, amazingly, everything points to that actually happening right now...

I wonder if this deal is actually close to not happening? It's being kept extremely quiet, and with the turmoil at SandRidge and CHK, I just don't see how we're going to have a new company building something new here. I guess I just have a gut feeling that this whole thing is going to fall through.

Steve seems very confident an announcement is imminent, and he never puts things out there unless he is pretty darn sure.


CHK actually seems to have stabilized and whatever happens at SandRidge it won't happen for a while. Plus, they really don't occupy that much space downtown... Just the one tower -- haven't even moved into the Braniff Building yet.

Worse case is that the SandRidge properties come on the market and even though that is highly unlikely any time soon, even if they did someone would snap them up quickly. There is strong demand for quality office space downtown and that campus would make it easy to recruit yet another larger employer to the core.

I would imagine that the SD campus being vacated has 0% chance of happening in 2013. Seeing the process with CHK, it would take time just to figure out where SD is at enough to even consider a sale. Then if the sale does happen it would likely be late this year at the earliest making the actual move sometime in 2014 at the earliest.

Perhaps a single story Burger King with a 500 foot spire? (forgive me... I had to say it.)

I wonder if this deal is actually close to not happening? It's being kept extremely quiet, and with the turmoil at SandRidge and CHK, I just don't see how we're going to have a new company building something new here. I guess I just have a gut feeling that this whole thing is going to fall through.

Some here seem to want to talk themselves out of any optimism for the sake of saving themselves a bit of potential disappointment. Somebody is buying that site and building something large on it. That is all but assured at this point. Turmoil at Sandridge could complicate other transactions, I would think, but probably not something as advanced as this one.

Some here seem to want to talk themselves out of any optimism for the sake of saving themselves a bit of potential disappointment. Somebody is buying that site and building something large on it. That is all but assured at this point. Turmoil at Sandridge could complicate other transactions, I would think, but probably not something as advanced as this one.

I highly doubt that this is "all but assured at this point". It would be awesome if you're right though.

Things always have the potential to go bad. Even the beginning of construction is no guarantee that it will be completed. But right now what little information we have is good. I'm trying not to get too invested in this until an announcement is made. Then I'll let myself be really excited for a few days and I will wildly speculate on every other possible tower that might be built in the next few years. This one will go here, that one will go there, etc. Then I'll be cautiously optimistic that things will work out as announced and that nothing will go wrong, until construction begins and then I'll just be happy.

That's the hoya plan, anyway.

I will be emotionally torn to shreds should my mystery skyscraper not come to fruition soon. I will be crushed.
I hardly know the names of my family members anymore...I spend every waking and working (quasi-working) hour checking this forum and imagining a new cityscape for my city. I really need to up the dosage of my meds to stay coherent whilst I await another quatrain from our prophet, Steve.

Sorry, my alter ego just reared its wishful head again.

Xie Xie Steve!
:)

No doubt. If it is as significant as has been hinted at, then this company has done an amazing job of keeping things quiet, especially since something of that magnitude would certainly require several external entities that are usually harder to control. One reason for this could be that it is far from finalized and only those with direct interest in keeping it quiet are at the table at this point.

The success of keeping it quiet, though, kind of hints that it is not a relocation, imo, or, if it is one, that we would get a relocation announcement before a building announcement. Anything is possible, but it would be pretty impressive if there was an announcement of a relocation came out that goes as far as to say all of "we're moving to okc, we're going to build in this location, and it should be about this tall with x number of square feet". I wouldn't expect all of that to come out at once and to have not known more details before hand. But, amazingly, everything points to that actually happening right now...

I think the fact that it has been so quiet makes it more likely to be a corporate relocation. It would cause a lot more shock and panic to a workforce to announce a big corporate relocation then someone deciding they are going to open a big office in another city. It could cause a lot of employee defections to other companies and other problems, and for no reason if it falls through. If you're going to announce something of that magnitude, you have to be sure. It's not the kind of thing you want rumors going around about or to make a premature announcement on.

Also, continental bought their building about 6 months prior to their announcement. Similarly, the sc site could be purchased by a 3rd party and we may not find out anything for awhile.

Xie Xie Steve!
:)

I'm sure if Steve spoke Mandarin, he would reply -- in a cryptic quatrain no less -- with a hearty Bu Ke Qi.

Why do I get the feeling I'm going to end up getting blamed if things fall through???

Why do I get the feeling I'm going to end up getting blamed if things fall through???

You don't mind, do you? I mean, every community needs a fall guy.
:wink:

I'm sure if Steve spoke Mandarin, he would reply -- in a cryptic quatrain no less -- with a hearty Bu Ke Qi.

Do Canadian Birds chirp Chinese? And would 40 billion Chinese Canadian birds migrate south? (or even north from the Gulf?)

riddle me that!

Hows that for quatrain! Ill give the 8 ball a rest.

Why do I get the feeling I'm going to end up getting blamed if things fall through???

We all appreciate what you've shared to date, Steve.

If this happens to come off the rails and blame gets aimed in your direction, I will summon the OKCTalk dogs of war to defend your honor! :fighting3

Honestly, I am kind of shocked with the connections some of us on the site have that we haven't discovered anything concrete about a project that is supposed to be revealed within 3 weeks.



Even Chinese hackers haven't got a clue yet. That tells you how closely guarded this is.

Who does Guy Smiley think will build our new downtown tower?

http://cdn.okcimg.com/php/load_okc_image.php/images/0x0/0x0/0/6298520736390627297.jpeg___1_500_1_500_cb94de6a_.p ng

I think this is key.

Who does Guy Smiley think will build our new downtown tower?

http://cdn.okcimg.com/php/load_okc_image.php/images/0x0/0x0/0/6298520736390627297.jpeg___1_500_1_500_cb94de6a_.p ng

I think this is key.

By the silence:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kBNnyETKMIk/TG9JcV46jjI/AAAAAAAAC6s/MLI44q8ZPMs/s1600/GaryGnu.jpg

NO GNewwws, is GOOD Gnewwws!

I think the only problem with hints and such is that people get their hopes up and are extremely disappointed if things falls through. Perhaps it's just better to say nothing until there's a done deal, because opening up your paper or Newsok.com to a big surprise is not a bad thing.

I think the only problem with hints and such is that people get their hopes up and are extremely disappointed if things falls through. Perhaps it's just better to say nothing until there's a done deal, because opening up your paper or Newsok.com to a big surprise is not a bad thing.Or people, especially those who profess more than passing interest in development, might actually endeavor to understand the process.

Predictions. The Announcement will be made March 29th and the tower will be 38 floors and it will be a new U.S headquarters for an out of country company. anyone else like to predict.

Predictions. The Announcement will be made March 29th and the tower will be 38 floors and it will be a new U.S headquarters for an out of country company. anyone else like to predict.

that sounds good

Prediction: Consolidation of Shell's North American Onshore teams to Oklahoma City. They will retain their primary corporate HQ in Houston, with all the execs, R&D, US Offshore and certain international asset teams (other international teams being based in the Netherlands, Indonesia, etc.). OKC will be home to their rapidly growing unconventional gas and other North American onshore assets. This relocation might be concurrent with the closure of their New Orleans office and and overall corporate consolidation.

Problem with this prediction: It is hard to envision the above move bringing more than 2000-4000 employees to OKC. No small change, but maybe not enough to build a gleaming new 40 story tower.

I think the only problem with hints and such is that people get their hopes up and are extremely disappointed if things falls through. Perhaps it's just better to say nothing until there's a done deal, because opening up your paper or Newsok.com to a big surprise is not a bad thing.

Yes, that would be nice. But that's not the way the world works these days. Was I supposed to withhold from everybody that Mark Beffort, the man overseeing negotiations for the sale of Stage Center, was openly forecasting a new tower for downtown? Or that others were saying the same thing? Keep in mind, most of the tower discussion over the past few months has been generated by questions thrown at me and others....
I've said this before, I'll say it again: this is not like buying or building a house. This is a complicated transaction, and there are a lot of variables being thrown into the mix.

Prediction: Consolidation of Shell's North American Onshore teams to Oklahoma City. They will retain their primary corporate HQ in Houston, with all the execs, R&D, US Offshore and certain international asset teams (other international teams being based in the Netherlands, Indonesia, etc.). OKC will be home to their rapidly growing unconventional gas and other North American onshore assets. This relocation might be concurrent with the closure of their New Orleans office and and overall corporate consolidation.

Problem with this prediction: It is hard to envision the above move bringing more than 2000-4000 employees to OKC. No small change, but maybe not enough to build a gleaming new 40 story tower.

A 40 story tower wouldn't be built for 2000-4000 employees. The Devon tower is 50 stories and they have around 2000 employees in OKC. Especially if the new tower had a smaller footprint and/or a mixed use component, I could see a company building a 40 story tower for as few as 1000 employees.

Yes, that would be nice. But that's not the way the world works these days. Was I supposed to withhold from everybody that Mark Beffort, the man overseeing negotiations for the sale of Stage Center, was openly forecasting a new tower for downtown? Or that others were saying the same thing? Keep in mind, most of the tower discussion over the past few months has been generated by questions thrown at me and others....
I've said this before, I'll say it again: this is not like buying or building a house. This is a complicated transaction, and there are a lot of variables being thrown into the mix.

Oh, I understand. I rarely look at this thread, because I know if there is a tower it will get its own thread. As a supporter of Stage Center preservation, I don't really want to think about anything going there. But the 130 pages of this thread show that there are some people pretty invested in the idea and I hate to see them disappointed if it comes to nothing. I'm going to be disappointed if it comes to something, but that's beside the point.

Steve, if it is any consolation, should things get derailed, I fully intend to blame the Not This Tower coalition.

Steve, if it is any consolation, should things get derailed, I fully intend to blame the Not This Tower coalition.

I still intend to blame I.M. Pei... he has become my scapegoat for every problem with OKC... terrible traffic on May? well it's because someone is following the Pei plan and it didn't say anything about fixing traffic on May!

I still intend to blame I.M. Pei... he has become my scapegoat for every problem with OKC... terrible traffic on May? well it's because someone is following the Pei plan and it didn't say anything about fixing traffic on May!

Well to be fair, most of the urban renewal and revitalization from MAPS onward is simply rebuilding what was lost in the Pei Plan. OKC today, even with all the improvements, is a good 15-20 years behind where it would have been without I.M Pei.

I am hoping this tower happens. What I hope doesn't happen is it get derailed due to Stage Center preservationists, and then absolutely nothing cool is done with the Stage Center.

Of all the reasons to obstruct a new tower, preserving the stage center should be the last one.

Predictions. The Announcement will be made March 29th and the tower will be 38 floors and it will be a new U.S headquarters for an out of country company. anyone else like to predict.

The Announcement will be made April 2nd - the tower will be 40 floors - it will be a local headquarters for an out of state company.

The Announcement will be made April 2nd - the tower will be 40 floors - it will be a local headquarters for an out of state company.

April 5th - 42 floors - out of state company

Why do I get the feeling I'm going to end up getting blamed if things fall through???

Wait, are you saying it fell through??? There's no more deal for a tower, you say????


NOTHING TO SEE HERE FOLKS... MOVE ALONG...






:p

The deal has weakened and he no longer feels confident in his earlier predictions. He is entering CYA mode.

Less than 3 weeks left in March.

Longest... three weeks... ever

:(

The deal has weakened and he no longer feels confident in his earlier predictions. He is entering CYA mode.

I think some of you are reading WAY too much into every little comment he makes. Damn, I actually feel sorry for Steve at this point. You all realize he is just the messenger.

I'm with others in taking a break from this thread. Its fun to speculate, not so fun to obsess and overanalyze.