Market Watchers Weigh In on Halliburton Move

A specific real estate asset list was not available, but Halliburton's website shows it owns and leases manufacturing and office campus properties throughout the region, both as Halliburton and construction and engineering subsidiary, Kellogg, Brown & Root. As of press time, Halliburton didn't return telephone calls.

Crescent Real Estate Equities Co. in Fort Worth previously owned 1401 McKinney St. where Halliburton is headquartered, and owns the neighboring building at 1301 McKinney St. A Crescent spokeswoman says the company's not commenting since it no longer owns the high rise.

Area real estate experts aren't so much concerned about the announcement's impact on the current hot office market as much as they're pondering the perceived image of the shift. "I think we have the reputation as energy capital of the world, which translates to the energy/engineering capital of the world," says one long-time office investment broker who asked not to be identified. "Halliburton was a huge part of that process." He adds that Halliburton's decision to move the headquarters to the Middle East is a striking one, but "they won't be picking up and shutting down and ghost-towning. I don't see that happening."

Another local real estate expert tells GlobeSt.com that it isn't uncommon for oil companies to shift its headquarters to another location while continuing to maintain a highly visible presence in its former headquarters city. Nor does he see a wholesale shift of operations to the Middle East. "When you have a lot of jobs in Houston that are high-end engineering when it comes to energy, it'd be tough to replace those in other locations," he remarks.

Because of that, Brett Moody, chairman and CEO with Moody National Cos. says he regards the Halliburton move as an expansion rather than relocation. "They're not moving the bulk of their operations," he says. "Halliburton, with its Middle East experience, can go to Dubai and tap into the Chinese and Indian labor markets and lend their expertise there."

Moody adds he isn't surprised that Halliburton is remaining quiet about the impact on its real estate holdings. Keeping cards close to the vest is a sound strategy to better leverage negotiating power, as speculation creates uncertainty, which can lead to better deals, he says.

But none of the experts view the situation as the start of a mass exodus of oil or energy companies from the area. In fact, job growth continues brisk, meaning office space demand continues on the rise. "For every Halliburton that says they're moving headquarters operations to Dubai, we have a Chevron Texaco moving droves of people to Houston and taking on the Enron towers," says the office investment broker.