Binkyman's Market Report: Irving and more specifically Las Colinas to remain world headquarters for ExxonMobile

[binkyman]

Originally Posted by Johnhw2

Real Estate is a rounding error for Exxon. The decision to be in Irving is well documented correctly as a strategic move for the nature of the HQ role here vs operating role of the XOM businesses in Houston.

Xom is run by a bunch of engineers, who may have worn slide rules on their belts and white socks with a suit to an interview, who by nature do not think like most people.... prestige etc do not register on them. XOM's HQ is not a big deal to Houston, they are an engineering city, HQ is 400 jobs a rounding error in the Houston oil and gas job market.

The annual shareholder meeting is held in Dallas, which works well for them. The statement that they will move to Houston soon is just silly CD post fodder. A decade to ExxonMobil is a blip on the screen, that is what many a mineral lease turning to oil and gas production can take.

I believe they are here to stay a long time, they really haven't been here that long, around 25 years I believe. They added to their land holdings near HQ when Jerry Jones was shopping around for a new stadium location, to block the possibility it might end up near their HQ.

The possibility of it relocating to Houston is always brought up by ExxonMobil themselves as they often do an evaluation of their office needs.

[JimBaker488]

Congrats to you guys in the Dallas-area for retention of XOM headquarters for what looks to be for, well if not forever, then for an indeterminable period of time well out into the future. And what exactly did you tell Tillerson to convince him to make this call, and when was it, when you were playing golf with him, or afterwards over a couple beers at the 19th hole ?
Seriously, I don't think there's any "strategic" decision here, nothing that complicated. I think Tillerson is a North Texas guy (Wichita Falls, same thing right ?), and The Woodlands isn't far enough off of the Gulf to avoid all of that heat and humidity down there, plus he's probably got kids, grandkids, and all in the N.Texas area where he grew up. That simple. If he was a Houston native, XOM has already announced that it's moving headquarters to their new campus north of Houston.
Another thing about XOM, it's not the investment it use to be, I like my Chevron stock much better in terms of ROI & Div Yield. And XOM really overpaid for their XTO subsidiary over in Fort Worth, their timing was way out of synch on the whole renaissance in Shale Gas. But if you are Exxon, you can make a lot of really stupid investments for a long, long time and it's still not even like somebody was saying, a rounding error.

[binkyman]

Originally Posted by JimBaker488

Congrats to you guys in the Dallas-area for retention of XOM headquarters for what looks to be for, well if not forever, then for an indeterminable period of time well out into the future. And what exactly did you tell Tillerson to convince him to make this call, and when was it, when you were playing golf with him, or afterwards over a couple beers at the 19th hole ?
Seriously, I don't think there's any "strategic" decision here, nothing that complicated. I think Tillerson is a North Texas guy (Wichita Falls, same thing right ?), and The Woodlands isn't far enough off of the Gulf to avoid all of that heat and humidity down there, plus he's probably got kids, grandkids, and all in the N.Texas area where he grew up. That simple. If he was a Houston native, XOM has already announced that it's moving headquarters to their new campus north of Houston.
Another thing about XOM, it's not the investment it use to be, I like my Chevron stock much better in terms of ROI & Div Yield. And XOM really overpaid for their XTO subsidiary over in Fort Worth, their timing was way out of synch on the whole renaissance in Shale Gas. But if you are Exxon, you can make a lot of really stupid investments for a long, long time and it's still not even like somebody was saying, a rounding error.

Indeed, efficiently speaking profit wise, when you are a late arriving lumbering elephant, there doesn't have to be enough water in the pond, when everything in the pond has to get out to make way.

Then again, sometimes majors get eaten alive by independents:

[Johnhw2]

Originally Posted by binkyman

The possibility of it relocating to Houston is always brought up by ExxonMobil themselves as they often do an evaluation of their office needs.

I call assure you it is not often analyzed. What is your source of this blather?

[Leopard3]

As someone with an immediate family member working at the not-Dallas but actually Irving location of ExxonMobil I find this conversation mildly amusing and complete speculation. On so many levels.

[ETex2]

Originally Posted by binkyman

Well, the present world headquarters of Exxon is sitting atop some incredibly prime real estate. Surely, when Exxon decides to go, which it surely will do so in the future, the building they are in will surely be demolished as it resides directly northeast of the booming urban district of Las Colinas, surely speaking.

So, Exxon seems to like Las Colinas enough, at least for now, to stay put. Figure in the future that land beneath them will rise in price enough to force them to move to Houston. It is going to happen sooner or later. Greasy oil and gas just likes being around other greasy oil and gas. That is just the way of the wind.

Believe me, the underlying land value of that site will not exceed the value of the land and buildings together in the lifetime of anyone posting on this board. No one here will live to see those buildings demolished.

[jason87x]

Since they went to the trouble and expense of building what looks like an elaborate Japanese castle (ekusanjo) in the middle of the forest, why would they leave there?