Continental Resources Building

[Laramie]

Crowe Dunlevy has the top 4 floors, and a portion of the Underground level for their printing. They're pretty well established there, and I don't think they would leave unless forced out. If CD thinks that might be coming, they would be smart to move accross the street to Chase while they can still get 4 (or more) floors on the same elevator bank.

Exciting to see Continental is growing. The branding they have done to their building looks really nice.

Continental has already filed building permits for remodeling floors 16-19, the space currently occupied by Crowe Dunlevey.

Just goes to show how fast they are growing and how badly they need the space... Crowe won't have their new space ready for several months at the Braniff Building.

"Oklahoma City looks oh-so pretty... ...as I get my kicks on Route 66." --Nat King Cole.

[coov23]

So, at this rate, do you see Continental building a tower/mid-rise to grow into soon?

[Spartan]

That is the question.

[Pete]

So, at this rate, do you see Continental building a tower/mid-rise to grow into soon?

Yes.

They were very interested in the Stage Center site but backed off due to Harold Hamm's divorce.

Clearly, they will have to do something soon. The only decent blocks of space downtown (Chase Tower, First National Center) are below their standards, especially considering they are trying to recruit against Chesapeake, Devon, SandRidge, Tapstone and the like.

[Spartan]

Tapstone now gets included in the list? What about AEP?

[Pete]

Yes, Tapstone because they have ambitious growth plans and will soon have beautiful, cool offices.

Should have listed AEP and there are a bunch more as well.

[metro]

Tapstone now gets included in the list? What about AEP?

Absolutely! Everyone knows they have HUGE growth potential, and to a young professional getting in on the ground floor with lots of room for advancement is HUGE, not to mention the cool new offices they're modeling in Bricktown. Although not downtown, many people want to be around Aubrey McClendon for the same reasons; and not everybody cares to be downtown. Diversity is good.

[Urbanized]

True that. The more the merrier. Glad they're all here.

[Spartan]

Yes, Tapstone because they have ambitious growth plans and will soon have beautiful, cool offices.

Should have listed AEP and there are a bunch more as well.

Chaparral is legit and should be mentioned, they just have a less flamboyant, attention-needy corporate culture, which I like. They have a more sustainable trajectory. Basically the opposite of anything Tom Ward touches.

I don't award gratuitous PR points for ambition. That should be assumed with energy companies. They all exist to get rich quick.

[Pete]

I don't award gratuitous PR points for ambition.

They are directly involved in renovating a great old building creating an unique and substantial office setting and that sort of thing is a commitment to growth and attractive to people looking for jobs in the energy field, which was the whole point of raising their name and the others mentioned.

[PhiAlpha]

Chaparral is legit and should be mentioned, they just have a less flamboyant, attention-needy corporate culture, which I like. They have a more sustainable trajectory. Basically the opposite of anything Tom Ward touches.

I don't award gratuitous PR points for ambition. That should be assumed with energy companies. They all exist to get rich quick.

Chaparral has an awful management team, has had a ton of turn over during the last few years and to date few people I've talked to actually enjoy working there. They may look ok from the outside but have really gone downhill over the last 3 years. From what I've witnessed first hand and heard recently, the culture has continued to become more toxic. Earl Reynolds, the COO they hired in 2011 (who was previously fired by Devon) is really running them into the ground from a personnel standpoint and from a strategic one. The frequent structural changes and managements lack of good management practice has turned that place into an employment carousel. In one particular situation the COO fired a 10 plus year employee for no stated reason the day after returning from a six month leave for cancer treatment. Strategically one of the major plays they took a big gamble on out in western Oklahoma isn't working out very well and that was about the best thing going for them on the exploration side. Their enhanced oil recovery operations give them some sustainable trajectory but not the kind that, paired with many failures on the horizontal exploration side, cost over runs everywhere, and employee morale issues will ever lead to the kind of positive growth experienced by other companies here. Chaparral should definitely not be considered in that group when discussing competition for employees (heck AEP has stolen at least 20 people from their in the last 8 months). As currently constructed, Chaparral will never be on the level of those companies.


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[PhiAlpha]

Chaparral has an awful management team, has had a ton of turn over during the last few years and to date few people I've talked to actually enjoy working there. They may look ok from the outside but have really gone downhill over the last 3 years. From what I've witnessed first hand and heard recently, the culture has continued to become more toxic. Earl Reynolds, the COO they hired in 2011 (who was previously fired by Devon) is really running them into the ground from a personnel standpoint and from a strategic one. The frequent structural changes and managements lack of good management practice has turned that place into an employment carousel. In one particular situation the COO fired a 10 plus year employee for no stated reason the day after returning from a six month leave for cancer treatment. Strategically one of the major plays they took a big gamble on out in western Oklahoma isn't working out very well and that was about the best thing going for them on the exploration side. Their enhanced oil recovery operations give them some sustainable trajectory but not the kind that, paired with many failures on the horizontal exploration side, cost over runs everywhere, and employee morale issues will ever lead to the kind of positive growth experienced by other companies here. Chaparral should definitely not be considered in that group when discussing competition for employees (heck AEP has stolen at least 20 people from their in the last 8 months). As currently constructed, Chaparral will never be on the level of those companies.


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Further they have a Capitol investor that owns 30% of the company that has been trying to get out for 3 years along with a mystery company that bought CHK's 20% share, and a mark Fischer (the president) who is in his 60s and has shown less and less interest in the day to day operations of the company (or operations in general) and his co-founder brother that has already made his exit to a resort in st. Croix that own the remaining 50%. They've already attempted to sell out once to SK Energy which probably wouldn't have been too bad of deal for chaparral's future, but that fell through. No telling what they look like going forward. They planned to make a 4th attempt at going public in January but not surprisingly, that didn't happen. Their future is a shaky or shakier than any other decent sized company in OKC.


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[BillyOcean]

Further they have a Capitol investor that owns 30% of the company that has been trying to get out for 3 years along with a mystery company that bought CHK's 20% share, and a mark Fischer (the president) who is in his 60s and has shown less and less interest in the day to day operations of the company (or operations in general) and his co-founder brother that has already made his exit to a resort in st. Croix that own the remaining 50%. They've already attempted to sell out once to SK Energy which probably wouldn't have been too bad of deal for chaparral's future, but that fell through. No telling what they look like going forward. They planned to make a 4th attempt at going public in January but not surprisingly, that didn't happen. Their future is a shaky or shakier than any other decent sized company in OKC.

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i believe the entity that bought CHK's 20% was a Canadian pension fund of some sort if I recall correctly. Chaparral will not be around in 3 years as they will sell, merge, etc.

[PhiAlpha]

i believe the entity that bought CHK's 20% was a Canadian pension fund of some sort if I recall correctly. Chaparral will not be around in 3 years as they will sell, merge, etc.

My feelings as well.


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[jn1780]

Yes, Tapstone because they have ambitious growth plans and will soon have beautiful, cool offices.

Should have listed AEP and there are a bunch more as well.

Well, we pretty much know where Aubrey McClendon will build his new corporate campus. Out there on Wilshire.

[bombermwc]

The downside to Continental building a new building would be the empty space this would create though. We're already seeing an issue where we can't get anything built to simply be class A space for various tenants. All we're getting is something built when a company wants a new tower. I think too many developers are cautious about flooding the market here given the amount of space that can open up overnight with big moves like this. Even OG&E's building will soon be empty. I wouldn't classify it as Class A and Lord knows we've got B and C sitting empty....and a LOT of bad space with FNC.

I sort of hope they stay where they are for a while and force developers to reinvest in the B and C space to bring it up a level. Just for me, I'd rather see the B and C brought out of the dungeon and have lots of good quality space right now.

[hoya]

The downside to Continental building a new building would be the empty space this would create though. We're already seeing an issue where we can't get anything built to simply be class A space for various tenants. All we're getting is something built when a company wants a new tower. I think too many developers are cautious about flooding the market here given the amount of space that can open up overnight with big moves like this. Even OG&E's building will soon be empty. I wouldn't classify it as Class A and Lord knows we've got B and C sitting empty....and a LOT of bad space with FNC.

I sort of hope they stay where they are for a while and force developers to reinvest in the B and C space to bring it up a level. Just for me, I'd rather see the B and C brought out of the dungeon and have lots of good quality space right now.

I disagree entirely. We have a huge lack of class A space, and according to some of the things I've heard here, we have companies who would like to move downtown who can't because there's not enough space. If Continental builds a new tower, their old building would be full almost immediately.

The people who own the empty class B and C space have already proven that they aren't going to fix it up. They'd rather sit on the property and hope someone comes along and buys it off of them than invest in it. Eff those guys.

[Bellaboo]

The downside to Continental building a new building would be the empty space this would create though. We're already seeing an issue where we can't get anything built to simply be class A space for various tenants. All we're getting is something built when a company wants a new tower. I think too many developers are cautious about flooding the market here given the amount of space that can open up overnight with big moves like this. Even OG&E's building will soon be empty. I wouldn't classify it as Class A and Lord knows we've got B and C sitting empty....and a LOT of bad space with FNC.

I sort of hope they stay where they are for a while and force developers to reinvest in the B and C space to bring it up a level. Just for me, I'd rather see the B and C brought out of the dungeon and have lots of good quality space right now.

This is the exact words expressed by many when Devon announced their tower plans...and look now how space has gotten tighter.

[jn1780]

Some of these buildings will never be able to be upgraded to Class A space. Just not worth the cost or the building wasn't structurally designed to Class A standards.

[PhiAlpha]

The downside to Continental building a new building would be the empty space this would create though. We're already seeing an issue where we can't get anything built to simply be class A space for various tenants. All we're getting is something built when a company wants a new tower. I think too many developers are cautious about flooding the market here given the amount of space that can open up overnight with big moves like this. Even OG&E's building will soon be empty. I wouldn't classify it as Class A and Lord knows we've got B and C sitting empty....and a LOT of bad space with FNC.

I sort of hope they stay where they are for a while and force developers to reinvest in the B and C space to bring it up a level. Just for me, I'd rather see the B and C brought out of the dungeon and have lots of good quality space right now.

Did you pull that post from 2008 when the Devon Tower was announced? Lol One on my friends is a commercial realtor downtown and he said it is a constant struggle to find Class A space for his clients. Other than the Dowell center, it would be hard for me to see much of our lower class space being upgraded unless it was repurposed (obligatory comment begging someone to convert FNC to a hotel+ housing).


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[adaniel]

Just FWIW, Class A space is very tight in this entire city.

Source: Lot Lines: Good start for office market | The Journal Record

Class A space experienced 8,242 square feet of absorption. Class B space saw vacancy increase by 22,311 square feet, according to the report. With Class A space having an incredibly tight vacancy of 4.4 percent, tenants are turning their attention more to Class B and Class C spaces.

Leasing activity was positive downtown as the central business district saw 4,558 square feet of absorption during the quarter resulting in a 17.1-percent vacancy. The northwest submarket experienced the largest leasing activity with 43,230 square feet of absorption, followed by the Memorial Road submarket with 21,545 square feet. The largest increase in vacancy came in the north submarket with 53,684 square feet of negative absorption.

[Pete]

[metro]

What's up with the construction elevator?

[Snowman]

What's up with the construction elevator?

I think they are renovating a few of the top floors that had been used by a different tenant till recently