Michael Randle, Author at Southern Business & Development

Major settlement reached in $10B Golden Pass LNG dispute

Posted on July 22, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

After a few months of jockeying in bankruptcy court, Zachry Holdings and Golden Pass LNG say they’ve reached terms on a potential settlement.

In a July 19 filing in the U.S. Southern District of Texas Bankruptcy Court, lawyers on both sides say that the two have resolved to avoid litigation over a number of disputes related to the $10 billion liquefied natural gas export terminal being constructed in Sabine Pass, Texas. The settlement is awaiting bankruptcy judge Marvin Isgur’s approval.

The project, owned by a joint venture between Spring-based Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) and QatarEnergy, went sideways after Zachry claimed that unpaid cost overruns led the San Antonio construction firm to drain its cash reserves and seek Chapter 11 protection.

Houston Business Journal

Toyota president talks ‘Project Iceberg’ expansion

Posted on July 22, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

It’s doubtful Susann Kazunas had an opportunity to fully soak in her promotion to president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas Inc. before pivoting to ensure the San Antonio campus was well positioned to secure a more than $530 million expansion commitment from its parent company.

“Project Iceberg,” as that plan was branded internally, is now a done deal. In June, the Japanese automaker confirmed it would fund the TMMTX expansion.

That decision is expected to have a significant impact on the South Side campus and on San Antonio’s auto manufacturing industry.

“Toyota continuously looks for opportunities to gain manufacturing efficiencies as part of our corporate culture and business mindset,” Kazunas said. “This project created an opportunity to streamline truck manufacturing, allowing TMMTX to be considered for this work.”

San Antonio Business Journal

Meeting overload is ‘out of control.’ The consequences are costly.

Posted on July 22, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

Workers are being overwhelmed by meetings and emails, and that flood of interruptions can have consequences for companies that don’t take a proactive approach.

Experts say managers and employers who aren’t strategic about meeting quantity and quality are risking burnout, disengagement and even turnover, but there are some best practices companies can use to avoid the type of meeting mayhem that is frustrating many workers.

Monitoring and analytics platform Vyopta analyzed 40 million meetings involving more than 450,000 employees across 11 companies and found workers attended an average of 8.3 meetings a week in 2021. That number grew to 10.1 meetings a week in 2023.

Meanwhile, the rate at which some workers did not participate — such as not speaking or enabling their cameras on virtual meetings — rose among small-group meetings from 4.8% in 2022 to 7.2% in 2023.

The Business Journals

Amazon data center arm buys Sterling campus for $136M

Posted on July 22, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) has acquired a data center campus in Sterling for $135.75 million, a price that looks to be well below what it would cost to the company to build new data centers from the ground up.

The e-commerce giant’s data center arm, Amazon Data Services Inc., more commonly known as Amazon Web Services, bought the 33-acre assemblage known as TransDulles Centre 2 at 45900 Pathfinder Plaza on June 24, according to Loudoun County property records.

It’s home to three one-story data centers totaling about 442,000 square feet, meaning the sale price works out to about $307 per square foot. That appears to be well short of the buildings’ replacement cost, which in Northern Virginia runs around $500 per square foot, an industry source told me.

Washington Business Journal

San Antonio’s industrial sector braces for impact of unprecedented new construction

Posted on July 22, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

San Antonio’s industrial real estate market has a loaded construction pipeline and a healthy demand for space.

Research from Dallas-based commercial real estate brokerage CBRE (NYSE: CBRE) shows a relatively stable market leaning slightly in favor of tenants.

During the second quarter of 2024, the market saw a net absorption rate of industrial space just over 422,000 square feet. While that puts it above the previous quarter’s figure, market conditions are making it difficult to keep up with the record amount of supply. Last quarter, 1.5 million square feet of new industrial space came online.

“We’re still getting tons of inquiries and people coming in and touring, but it’s more challenging getting over that final bump in the road and getting a lease signed,” said Brad O’Neill, a San Antonio-based industrial and logistics broker with CBRE. “Everyone’s double-checking, triple-checking — making sure all the i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed. What we say around the office is that from 2020 to 2022, we were riding on a rocket ship. Now we’re driving a Ferrari, and while it feels slow, it’s still a Ferrari going 150 miles per hour.”

San Antonio Business Journal

Proposed state permits released for new wells to supply Georgia Hyundai EV plant

Posted on July 22, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

State regulators released draft permits Monday for four new groundwater wells planned in South Georgia to serve Hyundai’s $7.6 billion electric vehicle factory despite vocal opposition from residents concerned about how the withdrawals will impact their water supplies.

The factory, which Hyundai calls its Metaplant, is Georgia’s largest-ever economic development project, which the company promises will employ 8,500. It is located in north Bryan County, about 25 miles west of downtown Savannah. But like other parts of coastal Georgia, Bryan County has groundwater pumping restrictions in place to limit saltwater intrusion into the underlying aquifer.

To get around the limits, state and local officials have planned to serve the factory by drilling wells in neighboring Bulloch County, where the same constraints don’t exist.

Release of the draft permits by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) opens a public comment period that runs through Aug. 20. After that window closes, EPD typically reviews comments it receives — a process that often takes months and depends on the amount and type of feedback it receives. After that is complete, the agency will decide whether or not to issue final permits.

Under the draft terms, the four wells combined would be allowed to suck up to 6.6 million gallons of water each day out of the Floridan aquifer. Two wells would be owned by Bryan County and two others would belong to Bulloch.

Atlanta Journal Constitution

Charlotte’s office vacancy rate hits ‘historic high’ as new construction dries up

Posted on July 19, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

Charlotte’s overall office vacancy hit an all-time high in the second quarter of 2024.

A report released this month by commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield shows the market’s overall office vacancy reaching 24.7% last quarter, compared to about 21% in Q1. In fact, the overall vacancy rate had hovered between 19% and 21% for the last several quarters, according to previous CBJ reporting.

“This is a historic high for vacancy in the market. The last time it came close was after the great financial crisis in 2008,” said JP Price, Cushman & Wakefield’s senior research analyst for the Carolinas.

Price said the April delivery of 110 East, a 370,000-square-foot, 24-story office tower in South End, is part of the reason for the increase. The building, developed by Florida-based Stiles Corp.’s and California-based Shorenstein Properties, delivered with no pre-leased tenants.

“Pre-leasing has really dropped off in this market, so that was not unexpected,” he said. “If you were to remove that, the subset of vacancy there would be about 3.3%.”

Charlotte Business Journal

Mailchimp owner lays off 1,800, to consolidate tech jobs in Atlanta and other cities

Posted on July 19, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

Mailchimp owner Intuit Inc. laid off about 1,800 employees last week, which is about 10% of the company’s workforce.

A spokesperson declined to comment on how many employees are based in Atlanta and how many employees were laid off in Atlanta. As of July 31, 2023 the company had about 18,200 employees globally.

Intuit (Nasdaq: INTU) plans to consolidate 80 tech roles to sites including Atlanta; Bangalore, India; New York; Tel Aviv, Israel; and Toronto, CEO Sasan Goodarzi said in an email to employees.

Atlanta Business Chronicle

Fortune 500 packaging giant to keep metro Atlanta HQ after $20B merger

Posted on July 18, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

One of Georgia’s largest companies finalized a $20 billion international merger earlier this month and confirmed it will continue to run its U.S. operations in metro Atlanta.

Sandy Springs-based WestRock on July 5 completed its deal to merge with Dublin-based Smurfit Kappa, forming a new paper and packaging giant called Smurfit Westrock. On Monday, the company revealed it will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “SW” and will use the ticker “SWR” on the London Stock Exchange.

Smurfit Westrock’s global headquarters will be located in Dublin, while Westrock’s offices at Northpark Towncenter in Sandy Springs will anchor the company’s U.S. division. WestRock has called the office complex at 1000 Abernathy Rd. NE it’s homebase since 2017 after relocating about 800 employees from Norcross.

Mergers are nothing new for WestRock, a corrugated packaging company that makes products ranging from pizza boxes to ice cream cartons to medicine containers. The Fortune 500 company resulted from a 2015 merger between MeadWestvaco and RockTenn.

Atlanta Journal Constitution

Oklahoma Celebrates $51 Million Investment in Tulsa Region’s Tech Hub

Posted on July 17, 2024October 25, 2024 by Michael Randle

Governor Kevin Stitt released a statement celebrating the $51 million federal investment in Tulsa’s Tech Hub. The Tech Hub, which focuses on autonomous technologies such as drones, will make Tulsa the world’s leading destination for innovation, investment and talent in this technology and will find uses in industries spanning agriculture, defense, energy, health care, manufacturing and beyond.

“Oklahoma has a long legacy of excellence in aviation, defense and manufacturing, which makes our great state the ideal location to lead the development of the next generation of autonomous technologies,” said Governor Stitt. “The future of autonomous systems is right here in Oklahoma, and I am thrilled to see the innovations Oklahoma companies are generating as we continue to become a top 10 state.”

Led by Tulsa Innovation Labs – an initiative of the George Kaiser Family Foundation – Tulsa received a “Tech Hub” designation in October 2023 from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA), recognizing northeastern Oklahoma’s potential to become globally competitive in the development of autonomous systems, such as drones. The designation also allowed the region to apply for implementation funding as part of EDA’s Tech Hubs Program, which aims to strengthen U.S. economic and national security. Through various projects and initiatives, THETA will create nearly 60,000 good jobs with wages higher than the current regional average.

Oklahoma Department of Commerce