Exxon's Progress

At Tuesday’s Bisnow Future of The Woodlands event, Exxon removed the veil with a construction update on its Springwoods Village campus. ExxonMobil Houston campus project communications manager Dr. Leslie Hushka (whom we snapped with Martin Fein Interests’ Martin Fein and Rebecca Luks) says all of the office buildings have topped out, and a few employees have actually taken up occupancy on the property. (They're kinda lonely at the moment.)

Here’s the Energy Center, which will be one of the first buildings to complete. That cube hovers 85 feet above the plaza. Dr. Hushka says the building will include a massive meeting space, which Exxon has been sorely lacking—until now, it couldn’t accommodate more than 200 employees in one room. (We've been to bigger parties at frat houses.) The campus will feature four districts, and an impressive 26 dining facilities.

PDR principal Drew Patton has been working with Exxon since 1992. (He was part of its anonymous site tours and cheekily says he misses being just Drew.) Now he’s in great company—30 architecture and engineering firms are involved in the campus.

Halberdier Real Estate founder/prez Trey Halberdier (here with co-panelist Caldwell Cos EVP Ron Roberson) is developing 89k SF near Exxon’s campus, with an emphasis on being more affordable than other new projects. He’s been surprised by multifamily activity, and some sites he planned to develop office or industrial will end up as apartments.

Marcus & Millichap’s Nate Newman is tracking amazing pricing, starting with land (even moderate quality sites are earning about $20/SF) and through the process to property sales. Here’s our full commercial real estate outlook panel (notice, no two guys have the same color tie, that's how you know they're pros): Trey, Ron, Howard Hughes EVP Paul Layne, Coventry Development EVP Keith Simon, J Beard VP Josh Feinberg, Drew, Nate, and Colliers co-chairman Bob Parsley.

Our sponsor Foldetta Commercial’s Dan Vertrees, Ross Foldetta, Hannah Ouazanni, and Corey King are gearing up development of Northgate II. Northgate I is 100% occupied, and site prep is done for its neighbor. Now all the team needs is a full floor tenant (it’s in serious discussions with one) to break ground on this 164k SF Class-A office building. The location is to die for, one minute from Exxon’s campus and 15 minutes to IAH.

Continue reading this story with a free account

Log in or register
Sign up for more articles like this
Subscribe to Bisnow's Houston Newsletters
Related Stories

Power Availability Becomes New Requirement For Shifting Bay Area Industrial Base

After Departing Trump Admin, HUD's Former Philly Head Joins Local Planning Commission

Cross Ocean Partners, Fuller Realty Acquire 829K SF Houston Office Campus

Trammell Crow Starts Phase Of 2M SF Industrial Park: The Houston Deal Sheet

Investors Anchor Big Capital Into Marinas, Betting On Shallow Supply

Developers Eyeing Dallas' 50-Mile Trails Loop For Uptown-Like Opportunities

Developers Line Up To Convert Boston Offices To Housing, But Most Still Stuck At Starting Gate

Oncology Company Expands Footprint At Hines' Life Sciences Campus

NYC Office Investor Warns It Could Go Under As Defaults Pile Up

Deutsche Bank Takes 5 Floors At Oaktree And Quadrant's Canary Wharf Scheme

Large Commercial Real Estate Sales Up 30% Despite Economic Headwinds

Coconut Grove Office Flipped For $15M Gain After One Year