A groundbreaking Thursday on the Geophysical Resource Campus is significant not only for the Society of Exploration Geophysicists, which is putting up a four-story building, but also for the tight Class A office space market in Tulsa.
The SEG is investing about $20 million in the building, which will be situated across from the group's existing five-story international headquarters. That building went up about 30 years ago on the 11-acre park-like setting at 8801 S. Yale Ave.
"For the society, this new building will enable SEG to better meet its educational mission, and for the city of Tulsa, this project will add an exceptional Class A building to Tulsa's landscape, which should attract the attention of businesses both near and far," said Steven Davis, executive director of the SEG.
Jared Andresen, managing director of realty firm Newmark Grubb, said the vacancy rate for Class A office space in Tulsa is less than 5 percent.
Andresen said SEG will relocate to one of the floors in the new 78,992-square-foot building and that another tenant in the existing 97,071-square-foot building will move into SEG's space.
Andresen said there is tremendous interest from energy companies to lease space in the new upscale building.
"We're going to have three floors (available) at 20,000 square feet each," he said. "To me it's a complete sign of how strong Tulsa is right now. You just don't do speculative office space. Certainly not since 2008, and really not before."
The wooded campus is situated on the east side of Yale Avenue and borders numerous single-family homes. It features a picturesque pond with fountains and complementary landscaping and outdoor seating.
Julie Reynolds, PMg project manager, said the campus will still be 55 percent green space and will be set back from the neighborhood by 150 feet. A decision was made to build a parking garage instead of surface parking and have it border Yale Avenue instead of the neighborhood, she said.
Davis said the SEG started with 37 employees and now has more than 100 people in addition to offices in Dubai and Beijing. Its membership had gone to 32,000 members from across the globe from about 18,700 mostly U.S. members.
"We're a vibrant organization. We're growing at a considerable rate," he said. "Tulsa has been a fantastic home."
SEG President David Monk, an adviser for Houston-based Apache Corp., said about 65 percent of the membership now is oversees.
"This will be a central hub to the community and around the world," he said.
Gary Servos, treasurer for SEG's board of directors, said SEG, through its real estate holdings, society activities and foundation injects millions of dollars each year into scholarships and programs around the world.
"We can find ground water using applied geophysics just like they use it for oil and gas," he said.
"We can do remediation of toxic sights, archaeology; we can just do a variety of things using applied geophysical technology."
Of the 32,000 membership, more than 5,000 are students, Servos said.
"These are the future geophysicists of the world, and we're bringing them along much faster than when I came through 50 plus years ago," he said.
GH2 is the architect for the project, and Planning Design Group is the landscape architect. Manhattan Construction is the contractor.
GH2 architect Brian Thomas said he worked closely with the tenants and the landscape architect to come up with a design that will blend with the campus and build on SEG's history.
The black glass curtain wall with its reflective elements will be incorporated from the older building and natural elements of wood, exposed steel and geological features will be used throughout.
"It's a blend of an urban and natural setting that's really seamless," Thomas said. "They're going to own this building forever. It's an investment for them. It's a reflection of them."
Class A space in the downtown area is hard to find.
Andresen said the BOK Tower and One Place Tower, across the street from the BOK Center, are fully leased.
The 15-floor City Hall, also known as One Technology Center, is about 93 percent occupied.
Andresen said construction on SEG's new headquarters should be completed in early 2015.
Susan Hylton 918-581-8381
susan.hylton@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: Upscale digs
Real Estate
U.S. homebuilders' confidence in the housing market held this month at its highest level in nearly eight years. But builders are starting to worry that sales may slow if mortgage rates continue to rise.
New home construction in the Tulsa region from January to August is outpacing last year's numbers, a continuation of the upward tick that started in 2012 following a six-year slide.
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