Houston's economic diversity Thread .. (Dallas, San Antonio: retirement, location, counties)

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by Texas100

Tesla has leased out over 1 million square feet of space in Brookshire. Does anyone have any idea what this is for? That is a very large amount of space.

Preliminary reports show the location will be used for battery cells.

[Texas100]

Possibly a Battery Plant?

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

Preliminary reports show the location will be used for battery cells.

[Jack Lance]

From high tech spacesuits to low tech toilet paper, economic diversity in the Greater Houston economy takes on many shapes and forms.

Houston Spaceport companies land NASA contracts for upcoming Artemis mission

Ahead of NASA’s return to the moon, two space companies with a Houston presence landed contracts from the space agency.

Houston-based Axiom Space secured an initial $5 million commitment that could grow to $142 million over four years to modify its Artemis III lunar spacesuit design for spacewalking from the International Space Station.

Meanwhile, Charlotte, North Carolina-based Collins Aerospace, a division of Virginia-based Raytheon Technologies Corp. (NYSE: RTX), landed a $5 million contract to modify its own spacesuit design for operating on the moon.

For Axiom, the task order follows its $228.5 million contract to produce the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit, or AxEMU, suit for the Artemis III mission. Axiom revealed the design, which can be used on the lunar surface, in March 2023.

Both Collins and Axiom were previously selected for other xEVAS task awards, and the terms of the contract allow both companies to own the technology they develop and use it for non-NASA applications, according to an agency press release from 2022.

Meanwhile, Collins opened its 120,000-square-foot Houston Spaceport facility in late 2022. In addition to spacesuit-testing services, the building also includes a 10,000-square-foot incubator space that the company said would mainly be controlled by the city of Houston for collaboration opportunities between universities and tech startups.

Like Collins, Axiom is another anchor tenant at the Spaceport and is working on its new 22-acre headquarters after breaking ground in 2022. In the new building, the company will train astronauts and develop its planned commercial space station, the Axiom Station. While the headquarters are under construction, Axiom leased a 146,000-square-foot facility at a former Fry’s Electronics building in Webster.

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...contracts.html

Mexican toilet paper manufacturer to build $400M facility in east Montgomery County

A Mexican toilet paper manufacturer is in the process purchasing roughly 32 acres in the East Montgomery Industrial Park in New Caney for a new manufacturing and conversion facility.

Grupo Corporativo Papelera, which is headquartered in Tepetlaoxtoc outside of Mexico City, launched its U.S. arm, GCP Paper USA, in 2021. Since then, it has been renting a 235,845-square-foot building in the Interwood Distribution Center at 14720 John F. Kennedy Blvd. near George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

The new facility in Montgomery County will add a manufacturing component to the company’s U.S. operations. The current facility is used for converting paper into finished products, while the new facility will be able to do the entire process, starting with manufacturing paper, according to Angel Jimenez, COO of GCP Paper USA.

The company anticipates spending $400 million for its development in Montgomery County, which will include one or more buildings separated into manufacturing, conversion and warehousing.

The facility is currently in the design phase. Construction will have to begin within 18 months of the land purchase, which Frank McCrady, president and CEO of the East Montgomery County Improvement District, expects to happen within the next month or so.

The development is subject to a yet-to-be-signed agreement with the economic development organization, which also requires it to be completed within five years and create 200 permanent jobs. In return, the EMCID provides incentives, including workforce training funds, infrastructure improvements, and discounted real estate costs, McCrady said.

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...ry-county.html

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Also plans to add 300 jobs to the current Collins Aerospace employees in the new campus. I also wonder if FlightAware is staying at Greenway or moving to the Collins facility now that they’re a division

[Jack Lance]

Sustainable fuels and energy transition projects are fueling the low carbon economy and bringing economic diversity to the Greater Houston economy.

Texas companies, projects soar in sustainable aviation fuel industry, report says

As interest in the production of sustainable aviation fuels grows, Houston companies will have significant roles to play.

A new report released by the Sustainable Aviation Futures North America Congress highlighted facilities producing SAF and renewable diesels, including several created by companies with a Houston presence.

Shortly after the report was released, Houston-based engineering firm McDermott International Ltd. announced a master services agreement with Colorado-based biofuels company Gevo Inc. (Nasdaq: GEVO) to provide engineering and planning services for multiple SAF plants across the nation, with the first one to be located in South Dakota.

Companies with a Houston presence named in the report include Chile-based HIF Global, which tapped London-based chemicals company Johnson Matthey and North Carolina-based Honeywell (Nasdaq: HON) for its planned SAF plant south of Houston. HIF, which has its U.S. headquarters in Houston, said the plant would produce over 11,000 barrels per day of SAF. The company received permitting approval from the state of Texas in May.

Other Texas-based projects include Sacramento, California-based Infinium’s multiple planned projects to develop electrofuels, which are made using renewable energy, hydrogen and recycled carbon dioxide for heavy transport sectors.

The abundance of renewable electricity and CO2 emissions in the Lone Star State were factors that brought Infinium to Texas for its projects. Infinium has already struck partnerships with Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) as a customer for its fuels and signed a deal with Plano, Texas-based Denbury Inc. (NYSE: DEN) — which will be acquired by Spring-based Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) — for a potential Brazoria County e-fuels plant.

Meanwhile, Houston-based Next Renewable Fuels has made acquisitions in Oregon, where it plans to build a $2 billion biofuels refinery. The project has faced local opposition as it works its way through Oregon’s permitting processes.

Next received investment from United Airlines Ventures, the venture fund of Chicago-based United Airlines (Nasdaq: UAL), which also has a significant presence in Houston. United Airlines Ventures launched a $100 million fund targeting investments in new technologies related to alternative fuels.

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...oar-texas.html

KBR's energy transition deals drive increased revenue, strong Q2 performance

Deals in the energy transition sector drove increased revenue for KBR Inc. (NYSE: KBR), according to the Houston-based technology and engineering company's second-quarter results.

Within its Sustainable Technology Solutions business unit, the contractor closed deals with ISU Chemical Co. and Avina Clean Hydrogen to design a lithium-sulfide battery unit and to work on a green ammonia project, respectively. Those deals brought in a $5.1 billion backlog for the second quarter, and the sector saw a 32% year-over-year increase in revenue.

One of the contracts the company will record for the third quarter is a deal worth up to $1.9 billion with NASA for operations on its human spaceflight programs. The contract will initially run for five years but has options to extend its term up to nine years. The deal follows another NASA contract worth up to $719 million, which KBR landed as part of a joint venture with Intuitive Machines (Nasdaq: LUNR).

Bradie discussed the worldwide growth in adopting ammonia as a technology during the question-and-answer section of the call. Ammonia serves purposes in both agriculture and energy storage. In industry parlance, “blue” refers to ammonia produced with nitrogen and “blue” hydrogen, which is derived from natural gas while the carbon dioxide byproduct is captured and stored, while “green” ammonia is made with renewable electricity and water — naturally producing little to no emissions.

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...2-revenue.html

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally posted the Crown Castle planned office consolidation in the wrong thread; new article shows that the majority of CC will be consolidated in Houston and Atlanta

https://wirelessestimator.com/articl...on-management/

[ParaguaneroSwag]

As Corebridge Financial continues separation from AIG, they plan on hiring IT department that is currently shared with AIG as both businesses work towards complete separation.

https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com...ke-455079.aspx

Chevron Phillips previous 200k hq sold and bought new 300k+ hq also in woodlands to expand

https://therealdeal.com/texas/housto...s-60m-hq-move/

[Jack Lance]

A new Port Houston container Warf is increasing the Ports handling of containerized cargo and helping to increase Greater Houston's economic diversity.

Pete Buttigieg, local officials celebrate Port of Houston Wharf 6 opening.

The Port of Houston was bustling with activity Friday morning, despite the sweltering heat, as dignitaries including U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, gathered at the Bayport Container Terminal in Seabrook to celebrate the opening of its newest wharf.

"It doesn't seem that exciting. At first glance, it's a concrete slab," said Ric Campo, chairman of the Port Commission of the Port of Houston Authority, in praise of the new Wharf 6. "But in reality, it's really a whole lot more. This wharf represents the future of our port."

The $91.6 million Wharf 6 project includes 1,000 feet of new container wharf, marine bollards and fiber optic cabling. The federal Port Infrastructure Development Program chipped in $21.84 million for the work, as well as some $18 million to support a related project, Buttigieg said, expanding the Bayport terminal's container yard.

The port of Houston is considered one of the fastest-growing in the United States. In May, Campo announced that after handling record import and export volume in 2022, Port Houston is the fifth largest container port in the United States, up from seventh, handling 7 percent of all container tonnage.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/bus...photo-24109684

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by hakeemdream

Why is Fluor leaving Sugar Land?

They purchased a tract of land for a new campus in Sugar Land, and now all of a sudden they are leaving altogether.

Doesn't make any sense.

Fluor has likely done a lot of corporate restructurings since then. As a matter of a fact, Fluor is planning to split into 2.

To be fair, there’s been A LOTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!! of companies splitting into 2 or more since the pandemic. Corebridge from AIG. General Electric is splitting into 3 (most recently spinning off healthcare division). NCR dividing into an ATM and commercial software independent companies. J&J spinning off consumer product line. Brookfield spinning off real estate division. I could go on for a long time. Fluor is just one of many.

None the less, they’ve clearly changed philosophies since 2012. And EC & the I 10W corridor is the bulk of engineers in greater Houston so it fits their employment base more.

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by hakeemdream

My Fluor friends just bought a house in Riverstone 2 years ago and another one bought one in Sienna 4 years ago. Their commute is about to become a *****.

Maybe you should be the one giving us the information on Fluor’s plans then