Update
Ok, first things first…. hopefully this post is not as challenging as my past ones. I’ve tried to follow Mr. Hill’s instructions on making photos easier to download. This is especially important today as I provide some quick blog only updates on downtown projects. The above building is the future Candy Factory, which is being developed by Jeff Moore and Chuck Ainsworth. Observers have been waiting to see if this long dormant building at the main entry to Bricktown might finally be brought back to life.
I talked to Chuck today and he reports interior demolition is underway, and that he hopes the project will be completed by 2009. He’s also eager to see work start on the neighboring American Banjo Museum.
Here’s a drawing of the project published last year:
The project, which was originally planned as a mix of residential, retail and some office, has since been switched to retail, office and “some” residential.
- Steve
Thank you for joining our conversation on OKC Central. We encourage your discussion but ask that you stay within the bounds of our commenting and posting policy.
Comments
Steve,
I remember back when the Mclain family, the original owners, had drawn up some fairly ambitious plans for loft apartments.
Perhaps the emphasis in this plan on developing it as retail and office space suggest developers fear an excess of inventory on the residential component of downtown with Block 42, The Hill, etc all coming online in the near future?
Cheers,
Michael
I have no problems with office space, if they leave the street level floors for retail space. I’d rather see it be office space, than an empty boarded up building.
Same here, though I’d like to see a revival of the old American tradition of living above the store.
(The pictures are just fine.)
I don’t think that this building lends itself to residential use as it is and there is not much chance of opening it up with the expansive windows that lofts really need to be successful . . . especially at the rent rates that will be necessary in today’s Bricktown. I agree that office and other commercial with limited residential uses will be a better mix and more reliable ROI for the developers.
There are other buildings in Bricktown that better lend themselves to residential use, such as the former J.P. Awault Building whose ground floor is now occupied by Spaghetti Warehouse, and perhaps the best approach is just slipping in a few lofts here and there like French Hickman did in the Kingman Building formerly owned by Ainsworth and Hickman, rather than taking several floors in one building.
I agree with some of the others, I don’t care what they do on the upper floors, as long as they are used and remodeled (office or residential), however the design renderings do not look very retail friendly on any floor. Ideally retail should be on the first two floors, but they look very boring with tiny windows. Retail needs a nice entryway and lots of big windows!!
That might mean it’s heavily leaning toward office space…? But I think that would be okay. We do have a lot of residential going on already, and Bricktown could definitely use something with a bigger amount of continuous office space.