Weird Times
I’d like to tell you that downtown Oklahoma City is going to do just fine through all this turmoil. But the vibe I’m getting is increasingly mixed.
The good news:
- Leasing activity is up in Bricktown – probably due to the Thunder.
- Devon Energy is showing NO signs of slowing down or scaling back plans for its new headquarters.
- Hotel projects are still moving forward in Bricktown.
- The Health Sciences Center is still going strong and new companies like Orthocare have the potential to become significant employers.
- Leasing and development is proceeding nicely along Automobile Alley.
- SandRidge Energy is almost complete with renovations to the old Kerr-McGee tower and the property will soon be home to about 500 workers.
The mixed news:
- Sales of completed downtown housing don’t seem to be tied so much to the economy as they are to design and location. Keeping that in mind, some housing is selling at a great clip, while others are dead in the water. I won’t add to anyone’s misery by naming names.
- A very painful restructuring of downtown could begin as soon as this summer once Devon Energy buys and starts expanding the west City Center garage. It will hurt at first, but the outcome could really result in the best parking accomodations of almost any downtown of our size.
- We don’t know yet what SandRidge Energy plans to do with the old Braniff towers surrounding the former Kerr-McGee tower.
- Believe it or not, another highrise remains a possibility for downtown Oklahoma City. But see last item on the bad news.
The bad news:
- Two significant downtown employers – Quest Energy and Tronox – are in serious trouble.
- The possibility of a major bankruptcy in Bricktown is growing.
- A handful of major downtown housing developments that were all set to begin this fall are in doubt.
- The Thunder is losing. That was expected, just as it was with the Hornets. But the buzz just isn’t the same this time around. And some of the good things going on right now are tied to the arrival of the NBA. A souring on the team could be bad for much of downtown.
- The credit crunch is like a plague, and it has reached Oklahoma City. Nobody seems to know how much damage it will do to downtown’s momentum. And that’s scary.
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Comments
I agree with some of the Thunder comments. I think most lies on Bennett has he has done a POOR job of PR for this team. I’ve seen good print ads, but only in his families paper, your employer, the Oklahoman. I’ve seen NO tv spots or radio campaign. I’m sure he’s advertised a little on game stations during game nights, but that’s not enough in a small, new market. He needs to fire his design firm that make that Dorito’s joke of a logo/colors as well as whoever is doing his Marketing/PR. The Blazers have a better marketing strategy than I’ve seen with the Thunder. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a HUGE fan and want this team and support this team, but if Bennett doesn’t stop acting like a small town kid and leave this to the pros, we may be without a team in a few years. I do not want that as we certainly won’t get another major league franchise in the future.
Steve, these are all great tidbits, each of which could (perhaps, should) be a separate news piece itself as some already have been. I agree that the credit issue is the major stumbling block over everything development-wise. Although Devon has said they plan to build the tower with cash on hand, the same can’t be said about the any other potential plans. Hopefully, the next six months will see an ease in the credit problem. Most people I have been speaking with think that is likely to be the case, but no one has seen something like this in their lifetime so we will see. Are Quest and Tronox in trouble due the credit crisis? That is certainly the case with some of the smaller Oil and Gas Exploration companies.
As far as the Thunder, as a season ticket holder myself, this team has just had a different feel than the Hornets. Which is fine, but I think it has been mainly due to presentation…and yes, the marketing has been an issue (a few “Thanks OKC for the Support” billboards would help). We don’t have a mascot for starters, the music at the games is childish–how many times a game do we have to hear “Everybody Clap your hands”–I counted at least 15 times one game. The PA guy has no signature lines and keeps berating the crowd to cheer or that the game isn’t over yet, and when the crowd does start cheering, the music guy starts playing another song which quiets the crowd (when the crowd gets into it let them cheer for a while for crying out loud without playing the DE-FENSE song everytime up and down the floor) and the “Rob-esque” guy in the stands also has no signature lines for the crowd (does anyone remember :”Everyone get up, get on your feet, and make some NOOOIIIIIIISE!”). I could go on and on about presentation, but those are the most egregious examples. In any event, GO THUNDER!
Everything Brent said, and I’d like to add: Hinder Sucks.
That said, Im a supporter of the Thunder……and I dont think the honeymoon is quite over yet.
Humble opinion.
Anyone wanna take a stab at guessing what “major” bricktown business may be going bankrupt? If it’s major, then I think that rules out all the restaurautns. I don’t see any restaurant going under as being a “major” bankruptcy, except for maybe Spaghetti Warehouse since they were the first restaurant in bricktown.
I’m gonna guess Harkins theatre. That would definitely be major.
Mike/Craig, if I’ve read between the lines in Steve’s recent stories and blogs I think he has hinted at one or more Bricktown property owners going bankrupt rather than any of the businesses themselves (such as Harkins). But in this fast changing economy, who knows anymore. If they get to the trough fast enough maybe they can get a piece of the Federal Bailout. 
If it’s an actual business going under, the only one that comes to mind is Sonic or Longwave in Bricktown. Notice how he says business and not restaurant. Harkins is doing fine and appears to still have steady foot traffic, I seriously doubt it is them.
To the guy questioning about Tronox. Hello….Tronox has had serious issues ever since Kerr McGee left them, basically Kerr McGee left them all their lawsuits. See the thread on Tronox on OKCTalk for much more info.
He mentioned Hinder because they are a prominent part of the game presentation, including intros and covering “Thunderstruck,” which most probably expected would be the original AC/DC version. The Thunder hired Hinder to re-do it and some other stuff. Which is a nice attempt at a local team connection to a successful national act.
The problem is that Hinder is polarizing for a lot of music fans, some of whom will be offended or at the very least disappointed to hear them instead of AC/DC.
Does that clarify the Hinder comment?
And for the record, I’m not dogging Hinder. I’m only suggesting why justin mentioning them wasn’t random.
Nice summary, Steve.
As for the Thunder, a few things: (1) Agree about Hinder … I’m not actually familiar with the group but what i hear in the games doesn’t begin to have to punch of AC/DC’s stuff, not even close; (2) Agree that the Thunder hasn’t exactly “connected” yet and that the responsibility lies with PBC. I’m sure that PBC is sick of hearing comparisons with George Shinn and the Hornets, but, truth is, Shinn’s organization did know how to (a) put on a show, (b) make a public splash, (c) have lots of community involvement. In short, Shinn, the salesman, was good at selling. Thus far, that’s not been PBC’s strong suit. (3) As for fan support, it has really NOT been lacking. I’m tracking attendance this season with the 2 Hornets seasons here: http://dougdawg.blogspot.com/2008/08/okc-2008-2009-schedule-results.html#attendance and, through 8 home games, this season’s average is 18,556 compared with the 2-Hornet-season average of 18,460 through the 1st 8 games. But, many of us who faithfully attend the games are still waiting to be romanced by the team, even if just a little, so that we can love back. It’s not that we are not there, it’s just that we are waiting to see if THIS team likes US like the Hornets did. We are wanting them to. (4) Game time production has gotten better but it’s not “there” yet. The music needs to be much better, and it needs to include rap music. Like it or not, rap music and the NBA go hand in hand. Remember the NBA Rap which the Chamber of Commerce led with in its March 4 campaign? That’s what we want … well, at least, I do. Lots more could be said, but I do believe it will all come together. It wouldn’t hurt to have team members greet the crowd at the beginning of games and let the fans know that we are appreciated … just a few words, hopefully sincere, could go a long long way to make the team/fan connection.
The best and the worst thing that could happen for this team is for OKC to have had a two year love affair with the Hornets. It made NBA fans in a city that had precious few, for sure. The Hornets success here is the main reason the Thunder is here at all, as we all know.
But what I hadn’t considered, until this season, is the high bar set by the Hornets, and the difficulty any relocating team would have in reaching it in the first season. First, the Hornets were like everybody’s high-school sweetheart. The emotion of that is going to make people look at everything after with a very critical eye. We didn’t know better, before.
But beyond that, the Hornets were in a surprisingly great place as a team. They were settled on a great, hot young coach who had a distinct vision for his team. They were definitely on an uphill trend. Plus, they had CP3. That’s unfair for almost anyone to compete with.
Beyond that, they are apparently widely regarded in the lead as the top team for in-game entertainment. They had the best mascot, a 20 year veteran. We were being spoiled and didn’t even know it.
But the thing that I realized a few weeks ago, that I think many have not, is that they had a far more intact staff than the Thunder had any chance of having. Due to the weird circumstances of the hurricane, which left no reason to stay in NOLA, nearly 100% of the Hornets staff came with them. Sure, their personal lives were disrupted, but that probably just allowed them to bury themselves in their jobs. Jobs they were very good at. Almost all of that staff was made up of trained professionals, with a few local folks thrown in.
The Thunder, on the other hand, only retained around a THIRD of their Seattle staff. So while it seems they had far more time to plan for a move, they actually hit the ground in far worse shape, staff-wise, than the Hornets. Of their new hires, a large number have no NBA experience. Every game is like on-the-job-training for more than half of the staff. That said, they got some of the best and the brightest in this town, and I think they will come on strong. But factor in the newness of most of the staff when judging this season. It truly is an exceptional set of circumstances.
Like the team, all I’m really asking for at this point is obvious, measurable improvement. And I think we’re getting that out of the front office. Just stick with them.
Related to Thunder advertising… Just saw a Thunder ad on the History Channel. 7:17 am… Somehow I don’t think it’s the right market or time for Thunder advertising, maybe I’m wrong.
As for downtown housing not selling, I assume one of the downtown housing projects you are referring to are the Maywood Brownstones. Last I hear only 2 of the townhomes had been leased. This I think has to be due to the prices. At least a few months ago, those things were being priced at around $700,000. Nobody in OKC is gonna pay that much for a 2000 sq ft townhome. Just ain’t gonna happen. I expect when the prices drop, people will buy.
Could you expand a bit on the souring of The Thunder? I know they are losing and people do not like that, but do you mean that people just aren’t excited about the team being in OKC in general? How are ticket sales?