As takeover of Anadarko looms, The Woodlands waits, watches and tries not to get hysterical

[Elderberry]

Houston Chronicle by  Jordan Blum June 5, 2019

When Luis Padilla opened The Refuge Bar & Bistro, just a short walk from Anadarko Petroleum’s headquarters in The Woodlands, it quickly became a spot for the oil and gas crowd to congregate after work.

Now, it’s more a place for Anadarko workers to drown their sorrows as they update résumés and contemplate the future of The Woodlands without its flagship employer, which recently agreed to be acquired by Occidental Petroleum.

“It’s a big scare for the employees,” Padilla said. “A lot of them are just waiting and seeing and not wanting to get hysterical just yet.”

Occidental last month agreed to buy Anadarko for $38 billion, outbidding the much bigger oil company Chevron. The looming question is whether Oxy will maintain a presence in The Woodlands or move out entirely, relocating the Anadarko employees it opts to keep on the payroll to Oxy’s new headquarters in Houston’s Energy Corridor.

With Oxy under increased pressure to cut both costs and the massive debt it will take on to complete the acquisition, it’s a decent bet that layoffs are coming and Anadarko’s twin-towers headquarters — the tallest buildings between Houston and Dallas — could end up for sale. Oxy recently bought ConocoPhillips’ old headquarters in the Energy Corridor, a campus of low-rise buildings on 62 acres that can accommodate up to about 4,000 people, according to ConocoPhillips.

Oxy, which plans to relocate there from Greenway Plaza, could move its 2,000-plus employees and still have room to fit much of the Anadarko workforce if it sells The Woodlands property, appraised at about $12 million, but likely worth much more on the open market. Anadarko, which first moved to The Woodlands in 2002, is Montgomery County’s largest private employer with nearly 2,000 full-time, local workers.

“It’s a huge impact to have that many people working and living here,” said J.J. Hollie, president and chief executive of The Woodlands Area Chamber of Commerce. “Losing that would cause ripples we’d certainly feel.”

More: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/As-takeover-of-Anadarko-looms-The-Woodlands-13937358.php

My son loves the Woodlands and plans to get a place there again once he's not living on Oil Rigs.

[thackney]

My son loves the Woodlands and plans to get a place there again once he's not living on Oil Rigs.

He may end up finding a bargain in the real estate as long as he can hold it long enough for demand to recover.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

I had a job offer in the late 70s from Mitchell Energy.  The Woodlands was in its infancy and was basically a sparsely-populated place that looked like it was a very well planned community in the country, hidden by trees.

Bet if I had taken that job and bought a house there it would have gone up a bit in value by now.

And I wouldn't worry about the housing and the empty HQ.  It is a short-term thing and I bet companies are knocking on Oxy's door to see if they can purchase that building and relocate into such a desirable place.

Oxy will sell without too much of a hassle as it has bigger issues to deal with such as integration of APC, Carl Icahn and servicing its dividend.  Not to mention paying Buffett.