Devon Energy highrise???

[okcpulse]

First, I do stand by what I say about OKC's historic inability to keep corporate HQ's other than in Oil & Gas. I am not going all the way back to Braniff but lets talk about First Data (which was originally part of First National Bank), lets talk about - what was it US Waste (I dont think it was Waste Management) but it was bought out by US Steel or Union Carbide or someone and moved out of OKC. Think about TG&Y and the fact that had it stayed here and stayed independent, it could be Wal Mart right now. TG&Y far preceeded Wal Mart and was moving to the superstore concept. Yes, lets talk about FLeming and that their poor management ran it into the ground after they left OKC. Lets talk about Hertz and that they have eliminated hundreds of jobs and shifted them to India. Their private equity owners are sucking everything they can out of Hertz before it goes belly up. Lets talk about the fact every major plant in OKC has closed or is greatly downsized - GM, AT&T, Xerox, Dayton Tire, Fleming distribution centers, etc.

It is a fact of life that some cities, such as Dallas and Atlanta, simply have a synergy that will naturally attract new corporations or venture capital more easily than others. I am encouraged by what I see in OKC with the oil companies and the Thunder and we have the seeds of synergy starting here. However, the city and state need to do more to promote our image not just nationwide, but worldwide. We work at a great disadvantage to Texas. Our misfortune is that Texas sucks a lot of business from OKC that we might have gotten if we werent in such close proximity to Dallas. I understand that our airport isn't an International Airport, I am saying this is a disadvantage we have to overcome to attract businesses. Eliminating the corporate income tax will turn some corporate heads our way. But one way or the other, we have to diversify our economy or we will be in for another economic collapse when O & G goes out of style again.

The past is the past. All of the companies you mentioned existed in OKC during a time when OKC just didn't have synergy or quality of life. Atlanta and Dallas both have an established reputation for being corporate meccas than dates back 50 to 60 years.

I agree the city and state need to do more to promote our image worldwide. However, as far as O & G is concerned, don't you think these companies know very well that the product they push is volatile and finite? Energy companies exist to provide resources for energy, and if I owned an energy company knowing full well the roller coaster, I would prepare my company to produce and sell an alternate resource.

We dwell too much on our past mistakes. It does nothing but lower morale. Why is it that for every hurdle OKC passes, we have to review our failures?

[bluedogok]

OKC Pulse - The tone of your reply makes me think you might not have understood what I was saying because you were arguing the same side of the arguement I was. I simply made an observation that the Devon Tower is going to absolutely dominate, not just downtown but our landscape. It is more than 2x the height of any other downtown building. Aesthetically speaking, it might stand out just a tad. I am overjoyed that Devon is making such a commitment here so don't get me wrong.

After awhile you wouldn't be able to imagine the skyline without it, people had the same concerns about the Frost Bank Tower here in Austin and now The Austonian is passing it but no one says anything about Frost being "so tall" anymore.

First, I do stand by what I say about OKC's historic inability to keep corporate HQ's other than in Oil & Gas. I am not going all the way back to Braniff but lets talk about First Data (which was originally part of First National Bank), lets talk about - what was it US Waste (I dont think it was Waste Management) but it was bought out by US Steel or Union Carbide or someone and moved out of OKC. Think about TG&Y and the fact that had it stayed here and stayed independent, it could be Wal Mart right now. TG&Y far preceeded Wal Mart and was moving to the superstore concept. Yes, lets talk about FLeming and that their poor management ran it into the ground after they left OKC. Lets talk about Hertz and that they have eliminated hundreds of jobs and shifted them to India. Their private equity owners are sucking everything they can out of Hertz before it goes belly up. Lets talk about the fact every major plant in OKC has closed or is greatly downsized - GM, AT&T, Xerox, Dayton Tire, Fleming distribution centers, etc.

The majority of those examples went downhill and/or relocated due to the original ownership selling to out-of-state interests, not due to the local owners. TG&Y went downhill after selling out, Anthony's slide started when the original brothers went into retirement and the son had more interest in politics than running a family company. Fleming relocated after hiring a CEO who was already in the DFW market and pretty much made it known that he was going to move the company after attaining power whether it bankrupted the company or not. Most corporations tend to have a downhill slide after the original ownership sells out to those whose interests are strictly bottom line or related to stock price. I hear the same lamentations about Austin startups that have been bought out and moved. The owners had their payday and left the employees to live with the results. Richard Garriott is both revered and reviled by many in the software gaming community here for what has happened to his former companies and employees. For every company that move here from Silicon Valley every year there are just as many moving out of closing up. The business world is a vicious one.

The Western Electric/AT&T/Lucent situation is a bad one and the Avaya spinoff was nothing more than a stock swindle by management. The "new" company took all the profitable pieces of Lucent and left the "old" company with all the baggage. At one time Lucent was the most widely held stock in the world, what they did was devalue the company to the point that they did not have to honor those share holders. It wasn't the only case of that in the "spin-off" craze of the 90's but it was the most glaring example.

It is a fact of life that some cities, such as Dallas and Atlanta, simply have a synergy that will naturally attract new corporations or venture capital more easily than others. I am encouraged by what I see in OKC with the oil companies and the Thunder and we have the seeds of synergy starting here. However, the city and state need to do more to promote our image not just nationwide, but worldwide. We work at a great disadvantage to Texas. Our misfortune is that Texas sucks a lot of business from OKC that we might have gotten if we werent in such close proximity to Dallas. I understand that our airport isn't an International Airport, I am saying this is a disadvantage we have to overcome to attract businesses. Eliminating the corporate income tax will turn some corporate heads our way. But one way or the other, we have to diversify our economy or we will be in for another economic collapse when O & G goes out of style again.

DFW, where Oklahoma companies go to die...there are many companies who have relocated to the area from places outside Oklahoma whose final "home" was Texas and not just DFW. Most companies who move HQ are doing so because of issues in their businesses and their home markets. Just as many that move every year are also dying in their new markets after a few years. Getting into the corporate relocation game is more than a crap shoot. I would much rather work at retaining home grown companies than go after corporate whores who are willing to become corporate gypsies. The days of large scale corporate relocations being a good thing is over.

Agree. The state of Texas is winning alot of California's business because Texas has no corporate and state income tax and Texas has the most Fortune 500 companies (54) than any other state. Why is it that Oklahoma is not able to attract some of these big companies to the state? Is it do to business laws that are outdated and lack of competitiveness? Is it due to Texas being so close to Oklahoma that they lose out? I would think not, because Oklahoma is almost geographically smack in the middle of the country and it has 3 major Interstates running thru the city and state. This would seem a logistical dream for many companies.

This is another falsehood, all corporations have a tax in Texas, it is called the Texas Franchise Tax and it has been expanded to many different business types now fall under the tax.

Franchise Tax - Frequently Asked Questions
Taxable Entities

Rule 3.581

1. Besides corporations and limited liability companies (LLCs), what other entities are now subject to the revised franchise tax?
The revised franchise tax applies to partnerships (general, limited and limited liability), corporations, LLCs, business trusts, professional associations, business associations, joint ventures and other legal entities. TTC 171.0002.

2. What entities are not subject to the revised franchise tax?
The revised franchise tax does not apply to:
* sole proprietorships (except the tax does apply to single member LLCs filing as a sole proprietor for federal income tax purposes);
* general partnerships directly and solely owned by natural persons (except the tax does apply to all limited liability partnerships);
* entities exempt under Subchapter B of Chapter 171; and
* passive entities (as defined under TTC 171.0003).

Click on the link above for the rest of the FAQ

[jbrown84]

I would much rather work at retaining home grown companies than go after corporate whores who are willing to become corporate gypsies.

Exactly.

[mugofbeer]

I dont know how far you want to take this off subject - but the comments above then beg the question - what businesses do we have that have that sort of potential or desire to grow to major national corporations? Where are they going to get the capital to fund the expansion? How can we then be assured that they will stay here once they get to "the point" where other states start wooing them? I still say the way to keep them and attract new ones is the same, eliminate the state corporate income tax and get aggressive at property tax exemptions for those wanting to build some sort of facility.

[evh5150]

The Devon Tower will be so tall, that if they positioned it equidistant between 4 other shorter buildings of equivalent height, our skyline would look like a fist with a large middle finger extended. A great postcard to send to anyone in Texas.

[lasomeday]

or Seattle!

[Oil Capital]

??? WHat gave you that impression?

Devon Tower - 925 ft
Chase Tower - 500 ft
First National Tower - 493 ft
City Place - 443 ft
Oklahoma Tower - 425 ft

It is less than twice the height of our current tallest building, and a little more than twice the height of the rest. Now, if Devon Tower were more than 1,000 ft tall, I can certainly agree with you.

Actually, if your numbers are correct, it's also less than twice the height of the current second tallest building.

[mugofbeer]

I could have sworn I read when it came out that the Devon tower was going to be over 1000 feet tall - like 7 feet taller than any building in Dallas. Now its only to be 925?

[fromdust]

I could have sworn I read when it came out that the Devon tower was going to be over 1000 feet tall - like 7 feet taller than any building in Dallas. Now its only to be 925?

nah, when devon made it official it was and still is 925ft.

[mugofbeer]

OK - "......
slightly less than twice as high as the Chase Building......"

[jbrown84]

I could have sworn I read when it came out that the Devon tower was going to be over 1000 feet tall - like 7 feet taller than any building in Dallas. Now its only to be 925?

Yes it was always 925'. Dallas' tallest is 921'.

[okcpulse]

I could have sworn I read when it came out that the Devon tower was going to be over 1000 feet tall - like 7 feet taller than any building in Dallas. Now its only to be 925?

Nope, as before mentioned, it has always been 925 ft.