It's almost like you found part of the Holy Grail.

The real Holy Grail is the drawing showing the new tenants for Classen curve, the triangle, and all the other retail they are building out.

Well this is definitely the East Holy Grail. Wow, complete with traffic circles..

The real Holy Grail is the drawing showing the new tenants for Classen curve, the triangle, and all the other retail they are building out.

So maybe the holy coaster?

Can someone explain to me what reddit is and how Ttownzfinest (with a "z") posts this highly credible working masterplan and then mentions they will actually go up to Building 28?

The guy is in the construction field and had access to that plan, which looks to be a utility drawing.

We've seen most of that stuff in the past in various forms and places.

This is the way Chesapeake does business... Keeps everything hidden and secret. Even as buildings are nearing completion you still can't find renderings of them anywhere. I've called Rand Elliott who referred me to CHK's PR firm who didn't even bother to return my call. And this is for buildings like #14 which is about 80% complete anyway.

The things I find are usually in city documents they are required to file -- like for the data center and central plant. When something falls completely within their existing PUD they don't even have to do that.


Similarly, big things are in the works for Nichols Hills Plaza but they do nothing but play covert. Even the tenants there don't know what is going on; there was a forum a bunch of them formed in order to try and figure it out.


It's a very strange way to do business and I've never seen anyone act like this before.

That's how you do business when you're $6 BILLION in the hole and it wouldn't stun anyone on Wall Street to see you either file bankruptcy or double in size at any given time.

Somebody should go take a camera to their cafeteria building. Guests are allowed on Fridays, and the food is always very good. In the entrance to the cafeteria building they have renderings for the new Building 14-17 prototypes, they look incredible.

FYI they have more than one restaurant on campus, they aren't in one building.

Spartan - YJGM

FYI they have more than one restaurant on campus, they aren't in one building.

Cool.

Pete (or anyone): Can you provide an updated estimate of CHK's local office space and employment numbers?

Total number of local employees.
Total square footage of office space.
Total cost for the real estate (land & improvements).

That should provide an "apples-to-apples" comparison with Devon, Sand Ridge and Continental, and what they pay to house their employees.

For Chesapeake:


4,000 OKC-area employees as per the Chamber (2,600 for Devon)
2.7 million in office space built, purchased or under construction -- if they build out to Building 28 shown on their last master plan, that would be about 5.2 million square feet total. Keep in mind they own about 1 million sq. feet that isn't on their campus.
About $1 billion invested in real estate thus far, including Nichols Hills Plaza, Classen Curve, etc. However, they are still putting lots of money into the buildings they have acquired and seem to be poised to spend a bunch at NHP as well. Also to build through Building 28 -- about 15 more structures -- that would be about another $.5 billion.

betts, what do you hear about NH Plaza in general?

And have you heard anything about the tenants for the building next to Anthropologie??

I won't be surprised if its Urban Outfitters, since we know they are looking at the market, and it's Anthropologies sister company.

Drove by today and the 50th & western gas station is gone.

I won't be surprised if its Urban Outfitters, since we know they are looking at the market, and it's Anthropologies sister company.

Do they commonly locate in the same building, particularly when they're the only tenants as well?

For Chesapeake:


4,000 OKC-area employees as per the Chamber (2,600 for Devon)
2.7 million in office space built, purchased or under construction -- if they build out to Building 28 shown on their last master plan, that would be about 5.2 million square feet total. Keep in mind they own about 1 million sq. feet that isn't on their campus.
About $1 billion invested in real estate thus far, including Nichols Hills Plaza, Classen Curve, etc. However, they are still putting lots of money into the buildings they have acquired and seem to be poised to spend a bunch at NHP as well. Also to build through Building 28 -- about 15 more structures -- that would be about another $.5 billion.


Do we know how much buildings 12-28 cost? (individually)

Do we know how much buildings 12-28 cost? (individually)

I've kept track of the building permits of everything that has been built or is under construction.

I've estimated the others based on similar size buildings they've already constructed.

They range from $10 million to about $30 million depending on square footage.

Drove by this morning and counted 6 cranes on their campus.

Drove by Lakeview Towers today and it looks like CHK is going with the same dark color along with the updated windows for these buildings like they did with the old IBC building and what has been done to 50Penn. The first pass I was like, wtf? The second pass I like it, dresses up the buildings.

Drove by Lakeview Towers today and it looks like CHK is going with the same dark color along with the updated windows for these buildings like they did with the old IBC building and what has been done to 50Penn. The first pass I was like, wtf? The second pass I like it, dresses up the buildings.

Photo from Metro:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/63hefner4612.jpg

Those buildings have always been very, blah. Anything will help.

Drove by Lakeview Towers today and it looks like CHK is going with the same dark color along with the updated windows for these buildings like they did with the old IBC building and what has been done to 50Penn. The first pass I was like, wtf? The second pass I like it, dresses up the buildings.

Those are actually the Atrium Towers, Lakeview Towers are over on NW Expressway.

They painted the north building on 4/23. They have most of the windows and trim replaced on the south tower. My company still occupies most of the north tower so I would assume they'll wait until we move out.

Those are actually the Atrium Towers, Lakeview Towers are over on NW Expressway.

They painted the north building on 4/23. They have most of the windows and trim replaced on the south tower. My company still occupies most of the north tower so I would assume they'll wait until we move out.

Yes! Thanks for correcting!

Chesapeake CEO McClendon To Give Up Chairman Position (http://www.news9.com/story/18000516/chesapeake-ceo-mcclendon-to-give-up-chairman-position)

Posted: May 01, 2012 9:30 AM CDT Updated: May 01, 2012 9:44 AM CDT
By Alex Cameron, Oklahoma Impact Team

OKLAHOMA CITY -

Chesapeake Energy announced this morning that Aubrey McClendon will be replaced as Chairman of the company's Board of Directors by a non-executive chairman. McClendon, one of the Chesapeake's co-founders, will stay on as Chief Executive Officer.

I am going to say that these new revelations that have done major damage to McClendon do not bode well for the CHK campus project, which is largely McClendon's vision.

I'm going to also speculate that we may be witnessing the beginning of CHK imploding. This is not looking good at all.

The most important thing is that the company continues to employ thousands in OKC.

Beyond that, I wasn't excited about any of the development they had planned anyway.

If their campus plans stop going forward, what will OKC lose? Just a big grid of spread-out 5-story buildings that aren't open to the public anyway.


I was very worried about this happening when they were pulling down things left and right and had not put anything back for public use. At least we now have Whole Foods, Anthropologie and Classen Curve.

It's probably a good thing they haven't yet started in on NH Plaza or much of anything north of 63rd.

I have thought it interesting that they haven't started any new buildings in the past couple of months. Even the NH plaza has slowed down. Not sure it is tied to anything or not. I am still wondering when they will finish out the whole foods shopping center. Are they still doing construction in that area?

Moved a bunch of posts to the Local Businesses forum:

http://www.okctalk.com/showthread.php?t=26031

Please keep this thread about CHK's real estate development; the other is for their business practices.


Thanks.

Building permit for CHK to build a "Collision Clinic" at 410 W. Wilshire.

They own that huge tract of vacant land at the SW corner of Wilshire and Hudson.

I've noticed what seemed to be an appreciable down-tick in Chesapeake buying smaller properties. Then I was able to string together some associations and realize they have just be doing so under a whole new slew of LLC's.

There is a separate one that has been buying the homes directly west of the old Salvation Army building they purchased in 2010.

You can see their ownership in yellow (assuming this is their LLC, of which I am quite sure); one hold out but all these acquisitions have been fairly recent. They spent $2 million for the Salvation Army and thus far about another $1.5 million on the adjacent homes.

That equates to about $1.3 million per acre.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/chkbarnes.jpg

I've noticed what seemed to be an appreciable down-tick in Chesapeake buying smaller properties. Then I was able to string together some associations and realize they have just be doing so under a whole new slew of LLC's.

There is a separate one that has been buying the homes directly west of the old Salvation Army building they purchased in 2010.

You can see their ownership in yellow (assuming this is their LLC, of which I am quite sure); one hold out but all these acquisitions have been fairly recent. They spent $2 million for the Salvation Army and thus far about another $1.5 million on the adjacent homes.

That equates to about $1.3 million per acre.


Pete,
How do you track the buying selling of these properties?


That sure is some strange property to buy. I wonder if they would try and do another classen curve thing there.

Thank you Pete for this cool find.

Sometime ago I thought some postings mentioned this location as a potential site for Container Store.

Believe me, it's not easy to track these things, especially since CHK is constantly creating new LLC's that are registered to people other than themselves.

As to how I know CHK is actually connected, let's just say I have my ways. But it takes a lot of time and effort to stay on top of this, which is obviously they way they want it.

Pete,
How do you track the buying selling of these properties?


That sure is some strange property to buy. I wonder if they would try and do another classen curve thing there.

Not a strange property, great corner but hard to make it work at 1.3mil an acre. But you know, it's Chesapeake, normal economics don't matter. It's also way to small for a large center like classen curve. I'm sure they plan on condemning that one dead end street once they have that final house.

You can find these records at oklahomacounty.org

You can find these records at oklahomacounty.org

But you would never know CHK was behind this or hundreds of other properties because they are not owned by anything with Chesapeake in the title.

They have attorneys create a bunch of different LLC's and that's where this gets very complicated.


I've had multiple reporters contact me because they have not been able to figure this out; that's how convoluted their dealings are.

That looks like a good location for an oil rig to start drilling. Seriously, they ought to focus on their energy business with all the renewed scrutiny, not this whatever it is.

do they usually buy blocks of houses under the same LLC or is it one LLC per property and then they use a new one.

It would seem simple enough to just look at all property transactions and pull out the LLC ones. I am probally making this way simpler then it is.

What got you started with your obsession tracking these guys anyhow?

Question: Aubrey never liked tall buildings because he believed that everyone who works in the same building should know each other. Now that he is not the CEO anymore, does that mean there is a greater possibility in the future(I'm talking about 15, maybe 20 years)for a high-rise built downtown?

Question: Aubrey never liked tall buildings because he believed that everyone who works in the same building should know each other. Now that he is not the CEO anymore, does that mean there is a greater possibility in the future(I'm talking about 15, maybe 20 years)for a high-rise built downtown?

He is still the CEO (at least for now), the position he stepped down from was the chairman of the board. Even if he was replaced though given how nice and new much of their facilities are, there is little reason to expect them to move.

Question: Aubrey never liked tall buildings because he believed that everyone who works in the same building should know each other.

I'll be honest, I like Aubrey, and his ideas..and I think this is a great one. How right he is... what a shame.

I'll be honest, I like Aubrey, and his ideas..and I think this is a great one. How right he is... what a shame.

He definitely has that old fashioned gamblers, wildcatters mentality.

there is little reason to expect them to move.

I was never expecting them to move. The idea of abunch of 4-5 story buildings is great. The landscaping around it is amazing an I dont dislike one thing about it. What I was saying was that with the growing amount of employees, will they just build more buildings on there campus? Or will they go other places such as: Moore or Norman? Downtown okc?

Aubrey never liked tall buildings because he believed that everyone who works in the same building should know each other.

So, if people don't know each other, you should build separate buildings for them? What does that even mean? That's a better model if your desire is for separate departments to never know each other, which may make sense in Chesapeake's case. There is a lot more communal feeling when you are in one building than when you are fragmented and spread out. I've worked in buildings where people who worked in completely different departments with completely different cultures knew each other and intermingled without manufactured gatherings. This does not happen as much when you are spread out across a campus and the only way you get to know each other is through organized "extracurricular" events.

I think Aubrey's position stems more from a personal need to make sure certain people don't get to know each other, rather than any motivation to for employees to be more familiar with each other. Normally, you would think it had more to do with growing incrementally to preserve cash flow, but that certainly wouldn't be, uh, let's just say it wouldn't be consistent with normal operating procedure. Either way, it would be illogical to argue that a vast campus has any communal advantage over housing everyone under one roof.

So, if people don't know each other, you should build separate buildings for them? What does that even mean? That's a better model if your desire is for separate departments to never know each other, which may make sense in Chesapeake's case. There is a lot more communal feeling when you are in one building than when you are fragmented and spread out. I've worked in buildings where people who worked in completely different departments with completely different cultures knew each other and intermingled without manufactured gatherings. This does not happen as much when you are spread out across a campus and the only way you get to know each other is through organized "extracurricular" events.

I think Aubrey's position stems more from a personal need to make sure certain people don't get to know each other, rather than any motivation to for employees to be more familiar with each other. Normally, you would think it had more to do with growing incrementally to preserve cash flow, but that certainly wouldn't be, uh, let's just say it wouldn't be consistent with normal operating procedure. Either way, it would be illogical to argue that a vast campus has any communal advantage over housing everyone under one roof.


Couldn't you get the same effect by building a high rise and just putting the related people in groups of floors? I don't see the advantage of the current CHK campus either.

I think the bigger reason is that CHK is growing faster than it can plan for the long term.

It's taking them over 2 years to build each of those five-story buildings. That's about how long it took for Devon to build their entire complex and have all their employees under one roof.

CHK's campus already is way too spread out to be practical and it's only going to get worse. They own buildings from west of Portland all the way to Lincoln Blvd.; and on their campus alone some of their buildings will be half a mile apart.

When it became obvious they were going to need tons more space, they should have switched to building taller/bigger buildings.

Well I think they're getting there, by placing the Georgian model aside.

I think the bigger reason is that CHK is growing faster than it can plan for the long term.

I'm not sure that makes sense either. If they KNOW they are going to grow, then, like Pete said, they should have built vertical and not wasted so much money on land acquisition. Campuses are a better idea when you're not sure what's going to happen, as they are scalable. In that sense, and in Chesapeake's case, a campus is probably a good idea. At least, it makes more operational/planning sense than Aubrey's bizarre isolated work place theory.

Well I think they're getting there, by placing the Georgian model aside.

Really? The new ones look different, but it's all still way more horizontal than vertical. From what I can tell, the new ones have monster footprints compared to their profiles.

Well I think they're getting there, by placing the Georgian model aside.

All their buildings will be five stories or shorter.

It's taking them far, far longer to build a decent amount of office space by constructing all the separate buildings. Each has unique architecture, engineering, floorplans, furniture, etc. They have to clear land and dig foundations every time they want to add five floors of space and once they start, it still takes them two years to bring it on line.

They've been building that campus for 10 years and still have nowhere close to the amount of space needed to house their employees. So, they've had to go buy a bunch of buildings -- at a big premium, of course -- that will never be part of their campus.

The model they've been using to buy/build office space is outrageously expensive, is taking them a decade longer than Devon or SandRidge, and in the interim and even the long-term, is wildly inefficient.


At least they are doing it 63rd & Western rather than 150th & May.

How will CHK's financial difficulties affect their real estate operations? I'm guessing that pending and future acquisitions are at a standstill, current construction projects will be completed, and future construction plans are on hold. That goes for both core (campus for employees) and non-core (off-campus speculation like CC & NH Plaza).

How will CHK's financial difficulties affect their real estate operations? I'm guessing that pending and future acquisitions are at a standstill, current construction projects will be completed, and future construction plans are on hold. That goes for both core (campus for employees) and non-core (off-campus speculation like CC & NH Plaza).

I believe this will be how things unfold.

The big unknown is employment levels given their asset sell-off plan. I know they will be laying off lots of field people (landmen) but not sure how that is going to affect the employees at HQ.

Jeff Records & MidFirst may regret having played hard-to-get all these years.

Well, looks like CHK is still heating up the check book...

Two new building permits today:

$1.5 million to renovate floors 5 & 6 in the Central Park North building
$.4 million to renovate the ground floor at Atrium Towers South building

Noticed that as well.... can't get the dang list done....

Thinking macroeconomically, if the non-core real estate is liquidated and sold at much lower prices than what CHK paid, then their property tax valuation for each would decrease, as would the amount of taxes collected by the assessor. In the big picture, would this have a substantial impact on the assessor's revenue, or would it be just a rounding error? Secondly, would putting a lot of product on the market suddenly plunge valuations and decrease stability in a way that the large number of residential REO has in certain markets around the country?

Thinking macroeconomically, if the non-core real estate is liquidated and sold at much lower prices than what CHK paid, then their property tax valuation for each would decrease, as would the amount of taxes collected by the assessor. In the big picture, would this have a substantial impact on the assessor's revenue, or would it be just a rounding error? Secondly, would putting a lot of product on the market suddenly plunge valuations and decrease stability in a way that the large number of residential REO has in certain markets around the country?

The assessment is based on the market value, not what CHK paid for it. For the most part, assessments have not gone up dramatically on the properties that have been purchased, even when the purchase price was 2 to 4 times the previously assessed value.

So, regardless of what happens to Chesapeake and their real estate holdings, I don't think property tax collections would be affected in any significant way. In the larger scheme, CHK properties are a drop in the bucket and there is tons of new construction around town, and improved properties yield much more in taxes.


Regarding the general market, if the worst-case scenario played out and all of CHK's properties had to be sold, then of course there would be huge effect on the entire OKC office market. They own/occupy or have under construction almost 3,000,000 square feet of office space. This does not include another 2.5 million square feet they have proposed (assuming a complete building out of the campus master plan).

They do own a lot of undeveloped land as well but that is mostly in the 63rd & Western area, and much of it was vacant or practically vacant to start.

Any word what is supposed to go in by Anthropologie? I was at the complex a week ago and it looks totally done. Are they having trouble getting people to lease it?

the covered area next to anthropologie has a very weird feel to it. Doesn't feel right for any kind of business.

No, it's now clear that was built without a particular tenant in mind, as they have been finished for a while and no interior build out has commenced.

I know McClendon and CHK have been working with the Economic Development Trust in trying to attract new national retailers. I suspect they are holding out for one of the companies they have been wooing.

It seems they want to keep Classen Curve all local businesses with the Triangle area devoted to nationals. McClendon recently said he wants the area north of Whole Foods to be for national chains.

I presume Anthropologie is open for business? It looked like it was but just barely as there was only 1 or 2 cars in front and I presume they were employes...in sharp contrast to the bustling parking lot of Whole Foods.

Anthropologie doesn't seem to attract many shoppers. I don't know if that is by design, if shoppers spend money in less-apparent ways, or if they're simply not performing well.