I'm glad to see that Chesapeake isn't tearing this building down. It's a historic building and has been there a long time! I'm glad to see Chesapeake continue to expand. I know it's been unfortunate for Tulsa to lose energy companies, but I'm sure glad ours are growing. Chesapeake and Devon are both starting to dominate their markets (Gas and Oil respectively).

"Chesapeake buys office building
by Ted Streuli
The Journal Record
9/9/2004


Journal Record Photo
Chesapeake Energy's office complex grew by 90,698 square feet when the company acquired an office building from Simons Petroleum Chief Executive Officer Roger Simons.
According to Oklahoma County records, Chesapeake bought the Glenbrook Centre East office building at 1120 NW 63rd St. for $5.39 million. In addition to Simons Petroleum, the building houses the Varsity Sports Grill, Oklahoma Auto Dealers Inc. and several professional companies.

The property, near the corner of NW 63rd and N Walker, is just northwest of Chesapeake's corporate headquarters at 6100 N. Western Ave.

"We intend to continue growing our campus and employing more people in Oklahoma City," said Tom Price, senior vice president, investor and government relations. "The important thing in my mind is the growth of the company and how many people we employ."

Chesapeake has about 1,500 employees, 1,400 of them in Oklahoma and more than 900 in Oklahoma City.

"We have been looking for ways to accommodate additional employees," Price said.

County records showed that Simons purchased the three-story building for $2.03 million in 1997. Those records showed that the building was constructed in 1975.

Chesapeake's growth was fueled recently with the Aug. 2 issuance of 20 million shares of common stock that were offered at $14.75 per share. The cash infusion was to finance part of the acquisition of Bravo Natural Resources, certain assets from Legend Natural Gas and to repay money borrowed to finance the acquisition of certain assets from Tilford Pinson Exploration.

The energy company was founded in 1989 with 10 employees in a 6,000-square-foot office. The Chesapeake complex now includes 330,000 square feet of offices in 16 buildings on 20 acres. A new 75,000-square-foot building is scheduled for completion next month and the company's largest facility - a five-story office tower - is set to open in 2006.

For 2003, Chesapeake reported net income available to common shareholders of $291 million on revenue of $1.717 billion."