Things You Might Have Missed
With everything going on these past two weeks, you might have missed some deals quietly moving along in the background. So what did we miss?Well, to begin with, the deal between Oklahoma City and the Oklahoma City Public School System that would have resulted in school administrators moving into downtown’s Journal Record Building is dead.
The district initially negotiated to buy 70,000 square feet of the 110,000 square-foot building at a cost of $8.5 million. The deal was delayed week after week by city officials who initially believed the deal was inevitable. But this week the item was scratched for good.
The Bricktown Urban Design Committee last week approved plans to repair and cover a stucco finish at 3 E Main. The century-old building originally had a brick facade, but architects reported removal of the stucco was cost prohibitive. The building is being renovated into the corporate headquarters for Standley Systems. The company bought the three-story building, built in 1901, for $937,500 last year.
Can You Spare a Dime?
Couple of thoughts today…
Expect the city council to consider once again a sale of space inside the Journal Record Building to the Oklahoma City Public Schools administration. This will fill up a large amount of space that has sat vacant since the city bought the building after it was damaged by the 1995 bombing of the nearby Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.
The sale will bring hundreds of workers to north downtown, and will almost certainly be a nice bump for nearby businesses like Markee’s Deli.
Today’s Main Street column looks at panhandling and how downtown Oklahoma City is trying to do away with what is regarded by most merchants as a threat to continued development. And in many cities, enforcement to eliminate such solicitation is stepping up as far as the courts will allow.
I’ve provided some examples of what’s being done in other cities. What have you seen that you think might be effective in Oklahoma City? Or do you think panhandling should be allowed?
-Steve
