Judging Steve's responses this morning so far, the CemterPoint & OG&E deal will be good for OKC.

This company is smaller compared to the big dogs we are speaking of currently. But this company has said they are beginning a move to OKC from Canada.


Equal Energy Announces its Results for the Fourth Quarter and Year Ended December 31, 2012 - Yahoo! Finance (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/equal-energy-announces-results-fourth-221100011.html)


The culmination of the strategic review process also resulted in the complete exit of Equal from its Canadian operations. We are in the process of relocating our head office and transitioning management to Oklahoma City. The combined interest and general and administrative cost savings total over $7 million as a result of the debt reduction and focus of our operations in Oklahoma.

This company is smaller compared to the big dogs we are speaking of currently. But this company has said they are beginning a move to OKC from Canada.


Equal Energy Announces its Results for the Fourth Quarter and Year Ended December 31, 2012 - Yahoo! Finance (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/equal-energy-announces-results-fourth-221100011.html)

Always nice gaining a company.

Not to be a downer, but this new company can end up in Houston, they are building spec class A office space left & right, and CenterPoint Energy is headquartered there. I guess I am trying not to get my hopes up, until official announcement is made. I hope I am wrong...

Where? I work in downtown Houston and at this time there are not any major projects underway. They finished a class A tower two years back, and Hess recently completed their new tower, but outside of that, towers are not going up left and right.

I'm very sure this newly-formed company will be in OKC, not Houston.

Phi, my apologies for being snarky earlier in the thread. I'm not optimistic about the chances of this MLP locating in OKC, but you've made very sound arguments. Thanks for the insight and I hope you're right.

No worries, I was typing from a cell phone so I didn't want to add all the back up until I got home. Typing large amounts of text on this board from an iPhone can get incredibly frustraiting.

I'm very sure this newly-formed company will be in OKC, not Houston.

So is Steve. He's had several questions about the chances of Houston gaining a company & OKC losing one & every time he says "I'm not worried".

Pete: Please explain why you're so sure?

Pete: Please explain why you're so sure?

Let's just say that people who know are sure that this will be an OKC-based company.

It also makes total logical sense for a number of reasons.

No worries, I was typing from a cell phone so I didn't want to add all the back up until I got home. Typing large amounts of text on this board from an iPhone can get incredibly frustraiting.

You're not kidding. And that's if I can get the reply function to even work on my iPhone.

So, does OG&E still want to build new digs as well or was the rumor about OG&E scouting space related to this MLP? If Continental expands and SandRidge stays put, we're going to see some pretty incredible growth downtown here in the not too distant future.

Remember, OG&E and Enogex are already in completely different buildings and are separate in pretty much every way.

I would see a new HQ for the new Enogex MLP and another for OG&E HQ.

But it's also possible they may be looking to combine. If so, I don't think it would be on the Stage Center site, as that's too high profile and controversial for OG&E.

Mayor of Liberal, Kansas - Tim Long - may move to OKC:

Mayor Long may be moving to OKC (http://www.leaderandtimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11136:mayor-long-may-be-moving-to-okc&catid=12:local-news&Itemid=40)

In his letter to the community:



we are prepared to announce the possibility of bringing in a new majority partner for our family-owned business,
Panhandle Oilfield Services, which could result in a relocation for us in the Oklahoma City area.


Not sure of the significance of this, but it's interesting. Panhandle Oilfield Services is already in OKC, but I don't know who the new majority partner is.

Is anyone else listening in on this conference call?

Anything good?

Anything good?

Probably so laden with corporate-ese speak that it's difficult to say.
:wink:

Anything good?

Most of the questions are from investors or financial consultants, so the focus has been on tax issues, earnings potential, EBITDA, etc.

I didn't see any cryptic messages from steve's chat today in regards to the "mystery".

Next question is ..... what factual media outlet will break this story first?

And will the Houston media beat Okc with the scoop?

Today was my first time to log in to the chat. I didn't ask any questions but only as an observer. I'm sure the chat was a good idea when it first started but, I don't see anything that would make me return for another visit.

Just a small note. I love the chat Steve does, but if every asks the same question about the mystery tower, so that he gets 10 questions about it each week, it doesn't reflect well (in my humble opinion) on our ability to show some self-control. A lot of the questions are answered and then asked again. Scroll up and read through answered questions.

Frankly, I enjoy the chats but a few people are pretty much asking 'questions' that go like this... "This is my opinion on x (with a tone). What do you think about that Steve?"

I hope we don't run people off or make these less valuable because of that. I think Steve should strictly stick with one hour and if you don't have a useful question, it gets skipped. Just my .02. I can completely understand why these chats are starting to get old for Steve.

/rant


Sid, you may be right, but what I think happens sometimes is that someone types a question which is similar to a previous question because at the time they type it the previous question hasn't shown up yet in the chat window. Or else they could just be inconsiderate jerks who don't read all of the previous questions first. LOL

Today was my first time to log in to the chat. I didn't ask any questions but only as an observer. I'm sure the chat was a good idea when it first started but, I don't see anything that would make me return for another visit.

I will agree the chat quality has deteriorated. Too many of the questions are whiny (Tulsa bars are better than OKC's blah blah blah), stupid (Are you glad that fist pumps are dying out?), or offensive (What does your daddy do-mind you Mr. Lackmeyer's father recently passed). And yes, the mystery tower questions are absolutely played out at this point.

It might be best in the future for people to submit questions and have Steve select them. Let me say that the chats are the highlight of my Friday and I am so glad that Mr. Lackmeyer volunteers his time for these. It just might need some tweeking to prevent the increased "trolling" I've seen lately.

The moderator gets to/can chose which ? Are posted in the chat

The moderator gets to/can chose which ? Are posted in the chat

No. You could probably type anything and it will show up. Steve does respond to most questions/comments but he does let some go by without comment. While the chats are informative to a degree, the real value to Steve (and to us ultimately) is that he gets a sense of what us, the customers, are interested in so he can provide us with the news and stories we care most about.

I would guess there is a short delay and that the moderator can delete rude, slanderous, obscene, or otherwise offensive posts to the chat, just as there is a delay on most "live" radio. There are always verbal terrorists out there.

No. You could probably type anything and it will show up. Steve does respond to most questions/comments but he does let some go by without comment. While the chats are informative to a degree, the real value to Steve (and to us ultimately) is that he gets a sense of what us, the customers, are interested in so he can provide us with the news and stories we care most about.

No what I posted is 100%true. Now what they chose to delete is their choice

There is a long delay. The moderator posts one question at a time. If not, the posts would keep coming faster than Steve could respond.

I would guess there is a short delay and that the moderator can delete rude, slanderous, obscene, or otherwise offensive posts to the chat, just as there is a delay on most "live" radio. There are always verbal terrorists out there.

There is a 30 minute delay which is why 10 people ask the same question. At one point today it was closer to a 40 minute delay.

Sorry if this has been asked before:

If/when this Stage Center deal goes down, is California Ave going to be restored to run along the south side of the Stage Center block?

The moderator gets to/can chose which ? Are posted in the chat

Just today, Steve said that he was "the only guy in the kitchen." He chose what was displayed today. It's his choice, but maybe he's had a moderator or someone editing things in the past. But it appears to be Steve's discretion that rules the roost in these chats.

Sorry if this has been asked before:

If/when this Stage Center deal goes down, is California Ave going to be restored to run along the south side of the Stage Center block?

that all depends upon the deal... so no one knows at this point.

Sorry if this has been asked before:

If/when this Stage Center deal goes down, is California Ave going to be restored to run along the south side of the Stage Center block?

I sure hope so. A terminal view of the MBG tube (both day and night) is far better than a terminal view of the back of a building.

I really hope it doesn't obscure the view of the Myriad Gardens from California Ave, re opening that grid would be fanfreakingtastic

that all depends upon the deal... so no one knows at this point.

Right, I didn't know if Steve had ever mentioned anything about this since he knows of a potential deal and if that deal included the entire block as it is or if they were going to split it up.

I will agree the chat quality has deteriorated. Too many of the questions are whiny (Tulsa bars are better than OKC's blah blah blah), stupid (Are you glad that fist pumps are dying out?), or offensive (What does your daddy do-mind you Mr. Lackmeyer's father recently passed). And yes, the mystery tower questions are absolutely played out at this point.

It might be best in the future for people to submit questions and have Steve select them. Let me say that the chats are the highlight of my Friday and I am so glad that Mr. Lackmeyer volunteers his time for these. It just might need some tweeking to prevent the increased "trolling" I've seen lately.

I think you guys are being a little picky. The bar district issue was a legitimate topic and certainly as worthy of discussion as a 50th mystery tower question. The "daddy" question was a line from a famous movie and not intended as mean, just silly (not that that makes it a good question). 2 hours is just too long of a chat time, especially when Steve is limited in answering a lot of questions.

I think you guys are being a little picky. The bar district issue was a legitimate topic and certainly as worthy of discussion as a 50th mystery tower question. The "daddy" question was a line from a famous movie and not intended as mean, just silly (not that that makes it a good question). 2 hours is just too long of a chat time, especially when Steve is limited in answering a lot of questions.

I agree. This is something that is necessary for OKC to improve on because its a quality of life issue and necessary for retaining and attracting young professionals. I know a few young professionals in OKC who take weekend trips to Tulsa for its bar/pub scene which they claim is more sophisticated. This is a sensitive issue for a lot of people, but OKC is a good deal larger than Tulsa so there is no reason it shouldn't have equal or superior bar/pub districts for a variety of nightlife preferences.

I think you guys are being a little picky. The bar district issue was a legitimate topic and certainly as worthy of discussion as a 50th mystery tower question. The "daddy" question was a line from a famous movie and not intended as mean, just silly (not that that makes it a good question). 2 hours is just too long of a chat time, especially when Steve is limited in answering a lot of questions.

+1

I think you guys are being a little picky. The bar district issue was a legitimate topic and certainly as worthy of discussion as a 50th mystery tower question. The "daddy" question was a line from a famous movie and not intended as mean, just silly (not that that makes it a good question). 2 hours is just too long of a chat time, especially when Steve is limited in answering a lot of questions.

I don't think it has anything to do with being picky. The chat has gotten out of hand with all of the stupid questions that get asked. Who cares if the daddy question is from a movie and was just being silly, no one reads those chats to see people ask totally unneccesary questions. We read them to get information about what's going on downtown.

adaniel, I agree. I really enjoy the chats as well and also wish he would just hand select the questions.

I think you guys are being a little picky. The bar district issue was a legitimate topic and certainly as worthy of discussion as a 50th mystery tower question.

I think the problem is that in the US for the most part people think of a bar as place you get so drunk you can't walk. They need to think more of a European pub, where yes - you can get drunk, but it is more a social hangout without social status playing any part. Just people coming together to enjoy each others company.

Third Place

Third place - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_place)



The third place (also known as third space) is a term used in the concept of community building to refer to social surroundings separate from the two usual social environments of home and the workplace. In his influential book The Great Good Place, Ray Oldenburg (1989, 1991) argues that third places are important for civil society, democracy, civic engagement, and establishing feelings of a sense of place.

Oldenburg calls one's "first place" the home and those that one lives with. The "second place" is the workplace — where people may actually spend most of their time. Third places, then, are "anchors" of community life and facilitate and foster broader, more creative interaction. All societies already have informal meeting places; what is new in modern times is the intentionality of seeking them out as vital to current societal needs. Oldenburg suggests the following hallmarks of a true "third place":

Free or inexpensive
Food and drink, while not essential, are important
Highly accessible: proximate for many (walking distance)
Involve regulars – those who habitually congregate there
Welcoming and comfortable
Both new friends and old should be found there.

Robert Putnam addressed issues related to third place in Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital (1995, 2000).



ROsD8lGzvjw

I don't think it has anything to do with being picky. The chat has gotten out of hand with all of the stupid questions that get asked. Who cares if the daddy question is from a movie and was just being silly, no one reads those chats to see people ask totally unneccesary questions. We read them to get information about what's going on downtown.

adaniel, I agree. I really enjoy the chats as well and also wish he would just hand select the questions.

Thankfully, Steve is not unnecessarily censoring the transcripts. The questions may only be unnecessary to you. I hope the chats continue as they are.

I didn't want to derail the thread. But since most of the questions were about the tower I thought I'd just drop it here.

Came here he to get info on the new tower and now I just want to go have a drink. Think I'll just stay here and drank.

So, it will take a year to get the OGE/Centerpoint off the ground and running. That timeline plays well in building a new tower for the company or them committing to lease in a new tower. They may just use OGE or Centerpoint's office space until they get their own place.

Also did you see Phillips 66 is also doing an MLP IPO. I wonder if we could get that too. Then if Devon does an MLP, we could be the new MLP place to be for midstream companies already having Chesapeake's spinoff MLP.

would this new company be made up of staff from OGE & Centerpoint? how would that all work out? I don't really have an idea about the characteristics of an mlp

It would be made up of enogex and centerpoint's midstream group.

OGE Energy, CenterPoint Energy shares rise on pipeline partnership deal | News OK (http://newsok.com/oge-energy-centerpoint-energy-shares-rise-on-pipeline-partnership-deal/article/3766376)

According to the article...the new MLP name and location of headquarters will be revealed before the transaction is done, so we should have more details soon. However, the tone of Alford's comments suggests that there will be little change in operations here in Oklahoma City, which leads me to think this might not be as grand as we want it to be, and no new tower.

OGE Energy, CenterPoint Energy shares rise on pipeline partnership deal | News OK (http://newsok.com/oge-energy-centerpoint-energy-shares-rise-on-pipeline-partnership-deal/article/3766376)

According to the article...the new MLP name and location of headquarters will be revealed before the transaction is done, so we should have more details soon. However, the tone of Alford's comments suggests that there will be little change in operations here in Oklahoma City, which leads me to think this might not be as grand as we want it to be, and no new tower.

I took it as the exact opposite. As they said very little job overlap between the two entities, and that Enogex will not lose employees. If it was going to Houston, there would have been a loss. I felt like when they combine, the midstream employees would go to the new HQ, and from Steve's chat yesterday, it would be here. Remember, 3 or 4 times, he said he was not worried about it locating to Houston.

Sorry if this has been asked before:

If/when this Stage Center deal goes down, is California Ave going to be restored to run along the south side of the Stage Center block?

As much as I would like this, there's public art that I'm not sure can be move there at California and Walker...

Remember, OG&E and Enogex are in two different, not ideal locations. There is synergy within OG&E and it's subsidiary, to relocate. Unless the MLP is going to locate on 50th & Lincoln, if it is OKC, they are going to have to build something in my opinion.

Sid oge/enogex do not have any offices on 50th and Lincoln. They moved that office/people to leadership square about a year ago....... So all of the office functions for enogex and oge are downtown.

So moving to a new tower would be cake!

So moving to a new tower would be cake!

So does this company replace enogex or is it just a branch of enogex that will basically expand??

Remember Beffort and company are still marketing and trying to sell Oklahoma Tower...

Ah, my mistake. I thought OGE staff moved to Leadership Square and Enogex took over the 50th building.

OGE has some space at Leadership Square, but still resides mainly in the OGE building downtown. Enogex moved all of its staff from Central Park to Leadership Square about this time last year. The Central Park buildings at 50th and Lincoln were sold to Chesapeake, and are now occupied by Access Midstream, the former Chesapeake MLP.

So does this company replace enogex or is it just a branch of enogex that will basically expand??

According to the investor presentation yesterday, the new MLP will combine all of CenterPoint's midstream assets with Enogex's assets in a new, single entity.

I think it's going to go kinda like this.

Enogex disappears (as in new name as the MLP) and CenterPoint's midstream employees are sent/recruited to OKC as the new name of the MLP with Enogex's existing employees.

End result is massive amounts of employees for one new entity and thus they will need a new building for consolidation. This means Stage Center.

I just wanted to drop in and say hi. I figured I owed it to you all after 139 pages on a thread I started. Good read. Interesting scenarios. Keep it up. I read it everyday.

Pic of Frankfurt skyline:

http://visualogs.com/images/2013/02/Frankfurt_1920x1080-wallpaper.jpg

The tower in the center of the photo -- how about something like that for ours? Would work well with Devon Tower, methinks.

I just wanted to drop in and say hi. I figured I owed it to you all after 139 pages on a thread I started. Good read. Interesting scenarios. Keep it up. I read it everyday.

Hey! Glad you said hi. I suspect, and Pete probably has stats on this, that there are a lot of lurkers who don't post, but read regularly. Welcome.

Pic of Frankfurt skyline:

http://visualogs.com/images/2013/02/Frankfurt_1920x1080-wallpaper.jpg

The tower in the center of the photo -- how about something like that for ours? Would work well with Devon Tower, methinks.

http://belugerinstudios.com/games/picture/PC1336410002.jpg

This one?

Trianon (Frankfurt am Main) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trianon_(Frankfurt_am_Main))

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Trianon_DEKA.JPG

...or this one?

Messeturm - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messeturm)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Frankfurter_Messeturm.jpg

Frankfurt does have a nice skyline.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8183/8144246484_aa105ef713_h.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/frawolf77/8144246484/

Something like the BOA Center tower in Charlotte would be awesome! It's my second favorite skyscraper right behind Devon!

http://www.cbbld.com/projects/bofa/slide1-sm.jpg