One of the major questions, after the news that Tulsa-based WPX Energy is merging with Devon Energy and moving to Oklahoma City, is what happens to the 11-story, 260,000 square foot office tower the company is right now in the process of building in downtown Tulsa.

The building, generating many headlines and much fanfare when it was first announced and when groundbreaking was held last October, was intended to be the new headquarters for the company and was expected to create a dramatic transformation in the Arts District.

Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum even went so far as to call it one of the more important construction projects in Tulsa in the past 25 years.

Bynum says in a conversation with WPX CEO Rick Muncrief, Muncrief pledged to keep going on construction.

“He, y’know, specifically told me, y’know, we will not leave an incomplete project in the middle of Greenwood, that we’re going to do right by the community,” Bynum said.

Bynum said the “nightmare scenario” would be that the company would leave a partially-constructed building sticking out of a hole in the ground, but he said that’s not going to happen.

“I’ve been assured of that,” Bynum said.

Bynum did note the final design of the building might change depending on who winds up using it.

Cox Media Group