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John McBryde barely feels the heat from the oven at his new Prairie Thunder Baking Company in MidTown’s Plaza Court Building. Read the story here.

Watch the video here.

For those who were asking why downtown housing seems so expensive, and whether affordable housing will ever be next …
 

Why downtown condos cost $250,000 By Steve Lackmeyer

For the past two years, the question has lingered among those watching the emergence of housing in downtown Oklahoma City: “Why are so many of the new units priced at $250,000 and up?

Such pricing left a lot of young urban professionals who rent downtown frustrated. They could afford to jump from a $750 a month rental payment to a $1,000 condominium payment. But $1,000 a month doesn’t get you past $200,000 without a hefty down payment.

It’s not as if downtown developers haven’t known all along about this pent-up demand. While they might make more money on a half-million-dollar condo, they would be assured a quick sale with units averaging $150,000. Yet in almost every major downtown development announced to date, the prices continue to hover at $350,000.

The Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority, recently given a choice between a mixed-use development of lower-price condos and apartments versus high-price residential towers for MidTown, went with the upscale product.

Credit Brett Hamm, president of Downtown Oklahoma City Inc., for offering an explanation that sheds light on the question of high-price housing.

The slant toward higher-price housing isn’t by coincidence — it is a grand conspiracy. Well, that’s not exactly how Hamm worded it. But here’s his take: you have to start somewhere.

You can start with expensive housing in an area and then eventually add lower-price choices to the mix. But you can’t start developing an area by building a lot of lower-price housing and then hope to add more expensive units later.

Downtown housing really was a blank slate as late as 2000. It was then that a study by Houston-based CDS Market Research reported 6,000 people desired to live in downtown Oklahoma City but their interests were thwarted by a lack of available housing.

That was the match that lit the fuse.Much of the development involves land controlled by the Urban Renewal Authority. The Hill, Block 42, The Centennial and now Overholser Greens all are Urban Renewal projects, all involving products generally priced north of $200,000.

Also priced higher than $200,000, but developed privately, are the Brownstones at Maywood Park. On the other side of this equation are the Central Avenue Villas, the Harvey Lofts and the just announced Lofts at Maywood Park as developments offering at least half of their units below $200,000.

But the number of higher-price units far out-number the ones that will be sought after by all those aspiring homeowners living in the Deep Deuce apartments.And that’s just fine with Hamm. One of the often-told rules of buying a home is to avoid the highest-price house on the block.

Take that wisdom downtown and you can see why it’s so important to get the high-end housing under way. You don’t want to buy a $400,000 house surrounded by $150,000 homes. But who doesn’t want to buy a $150,000 house surrounded by $400,000 homes?

Of course, the next question is whether all of this expensive housing downtown will sell. The results aren’t quite in yet, but with The Centennial a virtual sell-out and half the units sold at Block 42, the grand conspiracy is far from a failure.

One year has passed since I wrote this column. Since then, we’ve seen a sell-out at The Centennial and the Harvey Lofts, and only a few units remain at Block 42. Developers at The Hill have not disclosed their sales, and it’s too early to say whether The Brownstones at Maywood Park or the Central Avenue Villas will or won’t be a success. And one more thought. There are two city-oriented online forums in this town, www.okctalk.com and www.okmet.org. Both boards have members discussing this topic, but notice the difference in how they do so.

Here’s the okmet discussion.

And here’s the okctalk discussion.

This beauty at 100 NE 8 has looked like this for quite some time. And until 2006, it was owned by the Corsair Cattle Co., which also owned the former Pat’s Lounge building on NW 10 now being renovated by Greg Banta.

The billboard is an interesting approach to zoning. This property is visible to thousands who travel I-235 into downtown.

The property was sold to the Triangle development group in 2006 for $353,000, and they are now seeking to have the building torn down. 

Downtown Oklahoma City skyline as seen from Interstate 40 - the view for most people traveling through from elsewhere in the country. How does it compare to Des Moines, Omaha and Charlotte? PHOTO BY CHRIS LANDSBERGER 

So this week we took a tour of downtown Des Moines, Iowa; Omaha, Nebraska; and Charlotte, North Carolina. What’s that you say? Boring cities. Not sexy like Denver, Austin, Dallas or Seattle?

I’m not sure it’s safe for an Oklahoma City resident to tour Seattle right now. And those other cities, well, just stick with me here. Did you join me on this tour? If not, hit the “You Tube Downtown Tour” category button and get a better idea of the downtowns in question.

And then consider these very basis numbers, all pulled from the 2006 estimates provided at www.census.gov.

Charlotte, North Carolina. Population, 648,387. Per capita income, $29,825.

Oklahoma City. Population, 543,524. Per capita income, $22,665.

Omaha, Nebraska. Population, 382,776. Per capita income, 423,759.

Des Moines, Iowa. Population, 196,857. Per capita income, 423,215.

Where should downtown Oklahoma City fit into this mix, and based on the tour, how do you think it measures up to these cities today? (Yes, by all means, use that comment field below).

So, what can we learn about downtown Omaha? First off, from the downtown Omaha association, we discover that “successful growth and development of the Old Market, Gene Leahy Mall, Heartland of America Park, numerous residential properties, hotel facilities, the new arena and convention center, the First National Bank project, and other corporate building projects have boosted the popularity of Downtown Omaha, making it an attractive destination to live, work, and visit.”

Wait a minute: did someone mention “Old Market”? What’s that?

“The Old Market Omaha, is a premier arts and entertainment district featuring fine dining, shopping, corporate meeting facilities, hotel accommodations, upscale night life, and sought-after real estate. Located in downtown Omaha just minutes from Omaha Eppley Airport, the Old Market is close to several nearby attractions including Durham Western Heritage Museum, Omaha Civic Auditorium, Qwest Center Omaha, Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo, and more.

Head to Omaha’s Old Market district, where exceptional gifts and dining are around every corner. From Harney to Jackson streets and 10th to 13th streets, unique shops, boutiques, pubs, more than 30 area restaurants and distinctive entertainment define this historic neighborhood.

Home of the new Holland Performing Arts Center, downtown is also a haven for the arts. The Holland Performing Arts Center, completed in 2005, provides a true concert hall environment with acoustics designed to accommodate the Omaha Symphony as well as other local and touring arts organizations and artists. The Joslyn Art Museum, the Orpheum Theater, the Rose Blumkin Performing Arts Center, and more are all located in downtown Omaha.

The Old Market district was crucial to the commercial development of Omaha as the wholesale jobbing area flourished in the 1880’s and continued well into the twentieth century. The district, then comprised of former light industrial and warehouse buildings and wholesale jobbing houses, served as the distribution center for a variety of goods shipped on the Union Pacific Railroad and its branch lines all the way to the west coast. Today, the Old Market Omaha is a multi-block collection of renovated brick warehouses, quaint storefronts, old-fashioned lampposts, uneven brick streets, horse-drawn carriages and street-side musicians.

The city has spent nearly $2 billion in new construction and development, including the $291 million Qwest Center Omaha, a new 40-story First National Bank Building, a riverfront university campus for the world-renowned Gallup Organization, and a National Park Service Regional headquarters building for Union Pacific.

Follow the brick-paved streets of history into an area of Omaha rich in history and bursting with the flavor of today. Enjoy an intimate dinner or shop for the latest fashions. “

That sounds like a lot of fun - even better than Bricktown! So we’re not the only city with an old town area after all…

So let’s take a tour, shall we?
First, downtown Omaha:

And, now, Old Market:

I can’t remember a time when these duplexes along Broadway Drive at NW 11 were anything but trouble for downtown. Several years ago they were well known crack houses.  Hand Up Ministries bought them, fixed them up, and then turned them into halfway houses for sex offenders. The neighborhood didn’t like that either, and by last fall, authorities were responding to complaints that they were illegally within the prohibited range of a school (the Oklahoma School of Math and Sciences). Anyway, by winter, they were history.

They’ve quickly fallen into disrepair, extensively vandalized - likely by copper thieves. Anyway, Bert Belanger admits they are his now, and he is preparing to tear them down for an undisclosed future development.

Now, what would work well on this site (and realize his holdings will including the junk yard to the east on NW 11 and the boarded up nursing home across the street, which he also says will be cleared).

Read my story here.

UPDATE: Old Downtown Guy, a man definitely in the know about what’s happening in the city, comments on Bert’s past work and predicts that housing may be on the way for Broadway Drive. Read his comments here at www.okctalk.com.

It was at one of the very first mayors roundtables, several years ago, that I first got a glimpse of what we’re now seeing as the transformation of the Flat Iron and Deep Deuce areas into a real downtown neighborhood.

And yes, again, it was at another roundtable that it became clear the city was going to aggressively seek development of the area we now know as Core to Shore.

So what’s next?

Here’s the advance for next week’s Mayors Roundtable from the city:

Developers, contractors, design professionals and government leaders interested in learning about future housing demand and the development of a Central Park-like space in downtown Oklahoma City can register now through May 12 for the seventh annual Mayor’s Development Roundtable.  The Roundtable will be held from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Wednesday, May 14 at the Cox Business Services Convention Center. Real estate market expert Laurie Volk will kick off the event with a session called “Changing Markets and the New Housing Paradigm.” 

Volk is co-director of Zimmerman/Volk Associates, a New Jersey-based market research firm specializing in urban development and redevelopment.

The second session will feature Peter Harnik, director of the Center for City Park Excellence for the Trust for Public Land in Washington, D.C.  Harnik, who is the author of Inside City Parks, a book about the park system in the 25 largest cities in the U.S. and The Excellent City Park System:  What Makes it Great and How to Get There, will discuss development opportunities related to a proposed park in downtown Oklahoma City. Mayor Cornett will facilitate roundtable discussion with speakers, attendees and local experts after each session. 

The Mayor will close the conference by presenting an Award for Outstanding Development in Oklahoma City. Registration is $65 and includes breakfast and lunch.

 Register online by May 12 at www.okc.gov/planning/roundtable.

I agree with the suggestion that Des Moines, Iowa, might surprise some people who might not think of it as being an urban hot spot. But I too have heard a lot about development in this city. So here’s our You Tube downtown tour of the day.