Downtown OKC 2020: Bert Belanger
Bert Belanger
When I became re-involved in 2003 in OKC development, I touted TIF (Tax Increment Financing) as the means through which the MAPS sales tax incentive could be “bootstrapped” to help create a dense mixed use environment. The target: a broadly defined “triangle” bordered by I-40 on the south, I-235 on the diagonal and on the west, a north-south boundary splitting what is now known as MidTown.
The Factory - an unrealized redevelopment of an entire square block in Bricktown pitched by Bert Belanger and the McLain family in 2003.
My first efforts were with ERC on Deep Deuce, then the Arts District, then The Factory, in which I was technically “Oh for three.”
However, we learned a great deal that we have tried to apply since. We conducted a market study of 14 peer cities that had neither sexy mountains nor shorelines and found that each had between 2 percent and 8 percent of their MSAs’ population within the urban core. At the low end for OKC, that math translates to 24,000 people. Even counting the Jail, we are under 2,000 today.
Now that a number of players have emerged downtown, the geographic focus has naturally gotten blurred. The Thunder and Devon Tower have brought into the game two 800-lb gorillas – the NBA owners group and Devon Energy. To a significant but lesser extent, Sandridge, the Humphreys family, Roy Oliver/Mark Beffort and CHK/McClendon have gained strong positions in the core. Greg Banta/Bob Howard/Mickey Clagg and Corsair/Smith Brothers have made a number of speculative buys in MidTown that are starting to see life. Steve Mason, Chris and Meg Salyer, Nick Preftakes, BMI and Earl Neighbors have taken very different but positive approaches as user/owners.
The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber and the City Staff are clearly and rightfully feeling their oats, while the Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority has been weakened by Larry Nichols’ departure and the controversial pick of The Hill’s developer, which probably has spawned a winding down of some trustees’ long running influence. The approval of a un-Urban design for the Chamber’s building was an unfortunate reminder of the darker days in OKC history before the Bombing made consensus and grass roots projects possible over politics.
The highly-anticipated Brownstones at Maywood Park have not sold as quickly as hoped.
A perceived negative out there is that the former Triangle group has splintered, which is true but not necessarily a bad thing, as each of us can now play in their own sandboxes and probably get more done, and I think Maywood Park has been unfairly maligned as a bit of a bust as most of the brownstones sit empty. I say unfairly because I think they will ultimately sell, and because the City got exactly what it asked for from all of the Downtown housing developers – expensive, high-end for sale homes.
Neither the City or Urban Renewal wanted affordable rentals, as they turned down both of my ERC proposals for mixed income apartments in the competition for the Deep Deuce site (2002, with Benham) and the Arts District site (2003, with ADG and Raptor). The only for sale projects that have sold out have been the Centennial (albeit to mostly corporate buyers) and the Harvey Lofts rehab (only 17 units between $100k and $200k).
Dick Tannenbaum has made a very successful entre into housing development (Park Harvey and Lincoln), but not without hiccups (eg the failed attempts to condo both the Montgomery and the Classen). Block 42 has more dark windows at night than not, and The Hill deal is a ticking time bomb; the unpaid contractors will soon grow tired of waiting for their money and will no longer play as nice as they have been.
The national meltdown has been a big factor, but the reality is that OKC has never been a big condo market. Also, no one can blame even the richest buyers for a reluctance to buy if the surroundings of a real dense and active urban village does not materialize as quickly as everyone would like.
The reality that the City is experiencing downtown is that critical mass and density matters most, and is not delivered quick enough through the linear production and absorption of for-sale housing. The decision by Urban Renewal and the City to promote and push for upper end, for-sale housing first was ill-timed to be sure, but generally a violation of real estate development fundamentals.
In my opinion, the critical path to successful infill Downtown development in OKC begins first with creating density of people using the real estate on a 24/7 basis. This happens quickest through 2 uses – Hotels and Rental Apartments, which more quickly put more heads on beds than any other use.
Everyone wants to experience an urban “Magnificent Mile” environment like Michigan Avenue, but Daniel Burnham’s Plan For Chicago took 15 years to draft and adopt and over 90 years to develop, culminating with Millennium Park, absolutely the coolest urban green space in America. That is why I think that the current Core to Shore emphasis puts the cart way before the horse. We need to finish the Core first in a most excellent way.
I believe that the following represents a better chronology for a critical path for OKC’s Downtown Development
1- Plan for Core to Shore through a broader 20 year long process and horizon, led and participated in by more than a couple dozen people, incrementally stopping and adjusting every 3-5 years to review how the market is responding. Mix in Social Initiatives like the Jail (on a more modest, phased basis, not as a response to another unfunded Federal mandate) and Homeless Center with the sexy stuff so that voter fatigue doesn’t kill the Goose that Laid the MAPs Eggs.
2- Avoid the consolidation of power in administering Business Improvement Districts comprising the current and emerging “districts” that make up the Downtown Core. Remember that absolute power corrupts absolutely.
3- Let the Neighborhoods and Districts decide where their boundaries begin and end and manage themselves through Business Improvement Districts and other Owners Associations. The localized characteristics of Auto Alley, Bricktown, Deep Deuce, Maywood Park, Midtown, Film District, Lower Bricktown, Courthouse Block, Devon/Botanical Gardens each have their own forces of will, market attraction and good design attributes that will help compel and sort out the timing and priorities of projects – politics should not.
4 – Use TIF creatively and broadly to include Sale and Room Taxes for discrete user-driven projects, as per the examples of the Skirvin Hotel and Devon Tower.
5- Inventory current infrastructure opportunities and challenges in the Core and create a priority list that gets addressed by TIF. Example on one end of the spectrum – we can cheaply double parking on Broadway through angled striping and narrowed, slower traffic; versus the other end of the spectrum – the costly Boulevard through nothing to nowhere, which only happens five years after the Feds fund I-40.
6 – Agree that density, shared parking, connectivity and walkability are good and should be the paramount ideals for Project design.
7 – Focus on Big Users and what they need to come into the Core.
8 – Rental apartments can be tailored for sites big and small, renters rich and not so rich, and are the most finance-able class of real estate today and for the foreseeable future.
9 – The Quiet Zone (property owners are seeking new gates along the BNSF railroad to quiet train noise as it passes through the Flat Iron district) is a threshold need that must happen first BEFORE any other project Downtown – it is absolutely essential to any private project of scale, and will create incremental value on both sides of the tracks for miles East and West, North and South.
10 – Do not try to Force the Core to Shore – it is my sense that a relatively small group of parties are unduly influencing priorities. I am okay with the MAPs 3 Convention Center Idea just South of the Ford Center, but it is still a long ways to the South shoreline. Our version of Millennium Park will have to be birthed and season for 10 years before development happens naturally further South. The thing that could change this is if a huge User shows up, but none are on the horizon that I can see.
The Secret Behind OKC's Low Unemployment Rate
(Brought to our attention by David Holt)
Given a Choice, People Would Take a Chicken Sandwich and a Newspaper Before Kerr-McGee?
What does it say about Kerr-McGee’s final legacy that when asked in a poll two days ago (unscientific, for sure) what downtown business they miss the most, more people by a wide margin replied they miss Chickfila and Taylor’s Newsstand more than Kerr-McGee?
Downtown OKC 2020: Dennis Wells
Dennis Wells
Guests blogs on the future of downtown Oklahoma City continue with this latest post by architect Dennis Wells. Dennis is one of those guys I still need to enjoy a long cup of coffee with – most of my conversations with him have been by phone. He has become a leading voice (though not for all) in the residential section of MidTown (he calls it SoSA, others call it the Cottage District). If you’re looking for a traditional neighborhood consisting of identical Dallas-style homes, stay far, far away from the area around NW 8 and Shartel where Dennis is a leading champion for bold modern architecture. Dennis, count on me calling you soon for a cup of coffee. I’ll let you pick the place – that’s always a good insight into who a person is!
What should downtown Oklahoma City look like in 2020, and how can this vision be best achieved?
Oklahoma has some uniquely positive attributes characterized by our people and geography: We are abnormally friendly… We are more Native American than any other state… We reside on top of large amounts of petroleum… We have a rich country music and blues heritage…
There are also some not-so-positive images: We are perceived as being red-neck… The weather is often windy, and seasonally dangerous… Our State is not known for its high-profile natural beauty…
Our downtown should represent us by amplifying our good attributes and by spinning our negative images in surprising ways. Amplify and surprise. Our urban design should showcase our friendliness and somehow promote our perceived negatives as positives.
Right now Bricktown is maturing into a truly world-class entertainment district. Several CBD rim districts are growing into vital niche neighborhoods, and the Devon tower is ratcheting-up our urban image physically and psychologically. This important momentum is happening even in the midst of global economic downturn, and should be protected and nurtured.
The relocation of Interstate-40 opens opportunities for redevelopment of the abandoned highway and creates challenges for unifying the proposed Core to Shore district. A budding river environment offers incredible potential. This is an enviable position, and moving forward here’s what we need to do…
Protect and nurture the existing momentum: There are certain components of the Core to Shore vision that should happen now, but opening large new parcels for development will absorb projects and stunt the growth of all the other rim districts including Bricktown. The existing CBD and adjacent districts need more time to mature and “finish out.” There are too many gaps in the existing downtown that need to be filled with housing and other good urban architecture.
Validate the Boulevard design: Why are six new lanes of traffic needed where previously there were zero? An impressive new boulevard will be great where it’s justified, but Core to Shore will already be lacerated once by the new I-40; why would we purposefully construct another pedestrian barrier? Where is it written that ALL of the old I-40 space has to be used for a boulevard? What if local artists competed to transform remnants of columns and/or roadway into works of art, or unique public spaces? The avoided demolition dollars could be used to create a signature landmark for the city.
Downtown still has several large vacant, undeveloped lots.
Create seamless pedestrian access between key nodes: The existing pathways between the convention/hotel area and Bricktown are offensive. There are several ways to improve them, but canal extension is the best. Some sort of transit system that is frequent and fast should be provided between other CBD nodes and the rim districts… This service should be frequent and free between high density tourist nodes. MAPS-3 should include a component for ensuring top-tier connectivity between Bricktown and key adjacent areas.
The Bricktown Association is proposing a $25 million canal extension be included with a MAPS 3 ballot that would ensure connection to a convention center proposed as part of the same ballot. This map assumes construction of a convention center south of Ford Center - a site shown in renderings released by the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber.
Most of us are not urban planners or engineers or politicians, but the process for determining and implementing any urban plan requires all of their skills. Steve Lackmeyer does a great job of extracting our thoughts, and this web log is useful in that regard but ultimately we must make sure we’ve got the right planning team, and then rely on them to do their jobs well, and on the voters to approve their work.
…Now, how do we spin our redneck image? Easy… stock the canal with giant catfish and get Larry the cable guy to host an annual Bricktown Noodling Festival, which we’ll schedule during peak tornado season!
Where's the Public Discussion?
That was the question asked of me this morning when someone called me talking about how a MAPS 3 ballot consisting of transit, a convention center and a Core to Shore central park was presented as a done deal at yesterday’s Olympic training site announcement along the Oklahoma River. The person asked me if there had been a council vote or any community meetings leading up to this apparent decision.
My response: I don’t know of any community meetings on what should be on the ballot. I don’t know of a council vote that has taken place to date and that the mayor is only one of nine votes.
As for further discussion of all this, I still await some guest blog posts from about two dozen people I emailed a week and a half ago. Several agreed to participate, but I’ve only received three to date. I’ve got to wonder if the others don’t respond, does that mean they think downtown’s future has been adequately discussed and there should be no further debate or discussion?
-Steve
Oklahoma City Talent, Away, But Still With Us
People keep reminding me of architect Brandon Specketer. He first caught my attention when I saw his proposals for turning the Santa Fe depot or the nearby train viaduct into an intermodal station.
Blair Humphreys then showcased Specketer’s work on his blog, www.imaginativeamerica.com and explained this P.C. North and OU grad, after working Hans Butzer and Rand Elliott (great teachers), went to NYC to continue his career in architecture.
Again, an impression was made – but with Brandon working in New York and my not having met him in person (at least in my memory, forgive Brandon if I’m wrong), thoughts turn to other people, events, things, etc.
But this brilliant guy keeps coming up. I’ve seen (at least I think I’ve seen) some of his comments on this blog, and now I’ve been made aware that he has his own blog. And his old hometown is clearly close to his heart. But by being away, he notices things we might not. This latest post, referred to me by Kim Searls, is especially interesting:
The biggest ‘good’ by far was that downtown, it’s local. All of it.³ And that is the best thing that can happen for downtown Oklahoma City as it begins taking its first real steps towards becoming a viable neighborhood rather than just a ‘destination.’ My wife and I enjoyed the fact that we weren’t walking into a generic retail oriented development similar to what’s occurring around the nation. (do we really need another mall fashioned as a ‘town square?’)
We were in Oklahoma City. Rather than a conforming sameness, the restaurants were uniquely individual, local and entirely Oklahoman. I have to call out Sage and Bolero. If the city took a more active stance in encouraging more developments like these downtown, residents and the necessary density would follow. And this is where government policy comes in.
I believe that one of the smartest things any city could do right now is find creative ways to encourage existing small businesses to expand and entrepreneurs to hang their own signs on the storefront. Whether its taking advantage of the $15 billion that’s been used to open up credit, or helping forge partnerships between smaller, local banks.
Read Brandon’s full post here.
The Downtown Housing Problem
I have now talked with at least a dozen people frustrated over what they say is a lack of choice when it comes to buying a residence downtown. Half want housing between $100,000 and $200,000. But others are quite willing to pay a lot more. But that’s the catch: The higher-end housing is apparently more appealing to the younger demographic which can’t go that high, and the lower-end housing doesn’t appeal to the higher-end buyers. Not sure if any of this was contemplated when I wrote this in 2007:
Why downtown condos cost $250,000
By Steve Lackmeyer
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Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Edition: CITY, Section: BUSINESS, Page 4B——————————————————————————–
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.
August 4 Convention News
Liza Cryder from Bricktown brings this to our attention:
The Oklahoma Career and Technology Education Summer Conference will begin at 10 a.m. on August 4, 2009. Downtown and Bricktown Vendors and Restaurants please make note when scheduling staff for lunch August 4 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. that the 4,000 attendees will be on their own. Also, the CareerTech Night at the AT&T Bricktown Ballpark will begin at 7:05 p.m. on August 4 so please be prepared.
What Do We Miss Downtown? The Poll
My Favorite New Blog
Well, I’m not sure if that’s new. But in the past couple weeks I’ve fallen in love with Mary Phillips’ The Archivist (definitely a cool name for a blog!).
