[Owlhorn]

Originally Posted by Shasta

Word on the street is the Hines building is a go but someone leaked before they were ready to announce. I've been hearing a late 2012 groundbreaking with an early 2014 opening date set. It's the worst kept secret in town.

Also, while everyone is lamenting the potential loss of some jobs at Continental and Devon, people aren't mentioning that the Houston job market performed WAY better than predicted last year. Additionally, the big oil/energy companies are starting to hire. With the Gulf opening back up to drilling and the price of oil remaining around $100 a barrel, things should really start to pick up here in town.

And, I hate to rain on the Dallasite's parade, but our three brand new towers are starting off pretty damn well. The Hess Tower is 100% leased out. The building in the Pavilions is also 100% leased out to NRG (Reliant Energy). And, while the Hines tower isn't 100% leased, they did land two stellar tenants in KPMG (top floors) and BG Group (naming rights).

The time is right to start something now to take advantage of the future. The class A market in downtown is way too tight right now for someone to not make a play.

Lastly, word in Pine Shadows, where the head of Continental lives, is that the wife is flat out refusing to move to Chicago. Their house, which is just down the street from my parents' place is fully occupied and there's been no attempt to sell... Just sayin'

Why should that make Dallasites mad?