An Open Letter from Grant Humphreys
The Flatiron: Oklahoma City, OK from imagiNATIVEamerica on Vimeo.
A year ago there were at least a handful of downtown developments on the drawing boards that seemed to be sure things. One of those was the Flatiron, a mixed-use development by Grant Humphreys at 5th and Harrison.
Construction was to start in the fall. And that’s where things get all messed up; have your leases and financing nailed down in July, 2008, and things are still set. But fall was a totally different story following the economic crash, and while Oklahoma City has been spared much of the pain, financing is still troublesome for pretty much everybody.
Grant Humphreys wants to make this deal work. He spent time and money on the project. He invested his creative energies and hopes.
The local economy isn’t shutting down, but it’s not immune from the outside pressures. Interestingly enough, I’m seeing more leasing activity along Broadway and in Bricktown than I have the previous two years.
By all accounts, Devon Energy is showing no hint of delaying or stopping construction of its 54-story highrise.
Yet the banking crunch is having its effort. Without any further delay, here’s Grant’s open letter:
From: Grant Humphreys
Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 5:03 PM
Subject: THE FLATIRON – A SYMBOL OF RESILIENCE – of our downtown, of our city, of our Oklahoma spirit
Across the nation, the economic crisis has forced many development projects to be put on hold or brought to an end. Yet Oklahoma City, despite some very real economic downturns, continues to prove itself as one of the most resilient markets in America.
After almost three years of design and due diligence, our project known as ‘The Flatiron’ is poised to become a reality. When the construction of this project begins at the gateway of downtown OKC, The Flatiron will deliver the message that Oklahoma City is still in the game. Watching this new 5-story mixed-use project be built will boost confidence in our market and help maintain or increase property values as well. No doubt the Devon Tower will deliver this same message around the world, but we’re the small business version that is ready to go. But we need YOUR help.
We need YOUR help to meet our pre-leasing hurdle. The Flatiron will create more than 73,000 RSF of Class ‘A’ office and retail space ideally located at the gateway to downtown, Bricktown and the Oklahoma Health Center. Our asking rates are $22/RSF (gross) for loft office and $22/RSF (net) for street level retail (with CPI bumps). We need credit tenants willing to sign a 5-year lease. Local tenants are great. Once we’ve pre-leased 50% of this space, we will move towards an exciting groundbreaking event. We want to work with brokers. So bring me a deal. With your help, we can meet this goal . . . and you’ll be the first invited to the party!
All the information you need is available online at www.flatironokc.com. You can find floor plans, marketing brochures and a video of the project. Make a point to watch the video. It’s awesome.
Dave Ortloff, our Director of Marketing, is handling the broker relations. He’s here for you. If you’d like to arrange a tour or receive more information about this exciting project, just call Dave at (405) 228-1000 (ext 4). His contact information is also on the website referenced above.
Let’s work together to show everyone that, despite the rest of the nation, the real estate market in Oklahoma City is alive and well. I appreciate your help!
Thanks,
Grant
Find out more by visiting their website at: FlatironOkc.com!
UPDATE: A co-worker got an interesting call from a “homebuilder” who complained about this post. The homebuilder didn’t bother contacting me directly, but apparently feels this is a ”lovefest” for Grant Humphreys and wanted to know how much Grant paid for it.
Grant paid nothing. I post what I find interesting. I found the new animation interesting. I thought Grant’s comments were interesting. There you have it, anonymous homebuilder. The same logic went into yesterday’s posting on the Prohibition Room.
I also think this might be interesting to my readers. If I’m guily of a ”lovefest” here, I guess you can also say I’ve had “lovefests” with Marva Ellard and the Sieber, Ron Bradshaw and the Maywood Lofts, Larry Nichols and Devon Tower, pretty much all of Bricktown and all of MidTown and all of Automobile Alley.
Here’s the thing people keep on missing: I cover downtown and the inner-core. That’s what I do. If I were the Sooner beat writer, I guess I’d be accused of having a lovefest with Bob Stoops.
Geez…
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Comments
Grant, I’m pulling for you. Good for you for not sitting around passively waiting for things to change.
Steve, I have a few unsold specs in completion. My open letter is on its way. Oh, wait, they’re north of Memorial… 
My comment above towards Grant and you was made before I caught your update. It was genuine and sincere, and I think his efforts in this regard are (as always) innovative.
I’ll pony up as the builder your update refers to, but my note to your colleague wasn’t intended the tone you describe, Steve. Nor did I use the term “love fest” or insinuate that, or even wonder if, the post was paid for.
It was in good fun, albeit sarcastically put, about when he was going to open his blog to open letters for those he covers in the media.
I don’t know you, Steve, nor you me, well enough for me to have sent you an email in such jest, as evidenced by the light-hearted comment I left prior even to seeing your update.
I say let the love continue, as it’s certainly well-deserved.
Just so the air is clear…
Poor taste. It’s one thing to post positive articles about a certain development, it’s quite another to flat-out (pardon the pun) post what amounts to an advertisement practically begging for tenants by the Flatiron developer himself. What were you thinking?
Really, Jerry? I feel that it deserves coverage (especially considering Steve’s beat) as an innovative way that a downtown developer is seeking financing and local tenants while the national economy flounders.
Jerry what you just said is in poor taste… if you really think it was a bad decision for Steve to post this then why don’t u send him a private e-mail? instead u dip down to the level of which u are criticizing! that is poor taste!
Jeff, please accept my apologies. I did not know my co-worker was referring to you and his email did not hint that the comment was made in good humor.
That said, this whole thing did prompt me to bring up a topic that was overdue anyway.
For years, if not decades, the innercity was pretty much ignored by the business press with most attention going to suburban development.
That coverage is important and is ongoing. Interesting and creative projects (like your Main Street development) should be written about.
But what I started doing four years ago was to bring that same level of coverage to the urban core.
And that seems to trip people up at times.
Would I have printed Grant’s letter verbatum in the paper? Probably not. But on the blog, this is where we can pretty much report such items and not worry about space issues or unfairness to other downtown developers.
If Judy Hatfield wants to make a similar pitch for Carnegie Center or ditto for Bob Howard with MidTown, that’s just fine with me. Note I posted similar information not too long ago for Ron Bradshaw in regard to the Leslie.
Now, as for Jerry’s criticism. I’ve always made it clear I’m ok with people questioning what I write, report and post. I might actually be wrong once in a while (that’s what my wife at least suggests sometimes).
So far, however, I’m not hearing anything that would make reconsider what I’ve posted in regard to Grant and the Flatiron.
Final comment: I have Jeff’s blog in my links because it’s a great read and I visit it regularly. Jeff, I’ve not met you but I feel like I know you through your blog. I hope maybe I can get to meet you soon and was disappointed you weren’t able to make it to ULI, though clearly you had other priorities that night!
[...] An Open Letter from Grant Humphreys UPDATE: A co-worker got an interesting call from a “homebuilder” who complained about this post. The homebuilder didn’t bother contacting me directly, but apparently feels this is a ”lovefest” for Grant Humphreys and wanted to know how much Grant paid for it. [...]
This is newsworthy, but I still have questions. Is it reasonable to invest in another new building in this area when Block 42 still doesn’t seem very full and The Brownstones are an urban ghost town?
Each project has had varying degrees of success. The Central Avenue Villas are filling up quite a bit and Block 42 is at last report 75 percent sold and filled. As for the Brownstones, you are not alone in your perception though they have had better luck with sales since dropping their asking prices. Most seem to think the issue with the Brownstones is one of functional design, not demand.
The Brownstones are the high end of what’s been built and what’s planned. They are going to be the hardest to sell because they are (justifiably) expensive.
I have no problem with Steve promoting this project however he can, because it’s the most exciting project in the works.
Steve, I know you only posted this a few days and it takes weeks if not a couple months to get letters of intent signed, but I hope you’ll keep us updated on Grant’s progress. I’d like to know when he hits 50% and decides to proceed.
This is a great project. I hope this letter gets Grant to the 50% level he needs to proceed, or even much higher than that. That is going to be such a great neighborhood when all is complete.