Boston, MA 04/22/2014 (wallstreetpr) – Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM)’s appeal against a jury verdict to pay a penalty of $105 million was recently rejected by the US Supreme court. This penalty was on account of Exxon contaminating the underground water in NYC with the addition of a gasoline additive.
Defense
The main argument that Exxon put forward was that the city had no plans of using these wells located in Queens for the next 15-20 years; consequently, the jury’s verdict was inappropriate.
The city of New York had previously sued XOM and other oil companies on the grounds that the companies were aware of the fact that the addition of this substance would contaminate the water.
Exxon Mobil Campus
It is now common knowledge that Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) is building a 385 acre campus located south of The Woodlands. It will comprise of 20 office buildings that will accommodate more than 10,000 employees when it opens in 2015. This project will be a huge boost to the creation of jobs in the real estate sector.
The existing office building of XOM is 1.2 million square feet and currently valued at $43 million, will undergo a complete renovation after it shifts base to the new campus. The resulting transformation would create a virtual new building in downtown Houston.
Advantages
There are other developers in the region who are taking advantage of new corporate headquarters, to build their own projects. For instance, Woodbine Development Corporation has designs of building four hotels close to the Exxon campus. The first of these will commence operations by the summer of 2015.
Another company, Oden Hughes, has come up with a 384 unit residential complex in the vicinity. This is primarily on account of the huge demand they foresee in the coming months. Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) will be employing between 10,000 and 15,000 direct in house employees with an additional 35,000 indirect jobs. The impact of this job growth would result in higher rentals, in the surrounding areas.
