Good Update on City Place Condos
Roy Oliver is also doing a makeover of the City Place lobby.
Yes indeed friends, Roy Oliver really is building residential condos on the top floors of City Place. See the Richard Mize story here. Wouldn’t it be cool if the California owners of First National got the same idea for across the street?
New Convention Center: Discuss Amongst Yourselves
Breaking story today about study suggesting up to $400 million be spent to build a new convention center. More coverage in tomorrow’s paper. So what do you think? Should this be the centerpiece of a MAPS 3? If so, when should it hit the ballots? Or should we simply stick with what we’ve got?
Where would you like a see a new convention center built? What should be done with the existing building?
Angled Parking on Broadway
It looks like the postcard had it right. Jeff Speck, you now have proof that angled parking did indeed once exist along Broadway.
To Jeff Speck: Yes, Broadway Once Had Angled Parking
It was, I admit, a quick answer that might have even been tainted by a bit of ego. Visiting with author and consultant Jeff Speck last week during a dinner with members of ULI, the discussion turned to Broadway and how ridiculously wide it is.
Speck, author of “Suburban Nation,” has been hired by the city to prepare a plan on how to make downtown more friendly to pedestrians. Nobody at the table seemed to believe that Broadway once had angled parking. I spoke up and said “yes it did” without hesitation.
The pressure was on after that. A.J. Kirkpatrick, one of the city’s bright up anc coming assistant planners, was at that table and I know he reads this blog. By giving such an answer, and being so cocky about it, I had to come up with the proof to back up my assertion. I knew I had seen an image of angled parking along Broadway, and sure enough, after doing some searching in my archives at www.okchistory.com (a private history site maintained by myself and Jack Money), the above illustration is at least a start at providing evidence to Speck. This 1920s image appears to be looking north from Sheridan Avenue.
-Steve
How Can Downtown Oklahoma City Help Main Street Cherokee?
Oklahoman Real Estate Editor Richard Mize has a great column today about James Cotter, owner of downtown Oklahoma City’s Chase Tower. While Mr. Cotter has made some significant efforts to do some braggin at Chase Tower by emblazoning the floor with his brand, he’s taken no such pride with some Main Street properties in the northern Oklahoma town of Cherokee.
Richard has given a voice to these folks by writing about their unsuccessful efforts to get Cotter to sell or donate key downtown properties that obviously have no value to him as evidenced by their lack of upkeep.
But if Mr. Cotter doesn’t care about what the folks in Cherokee think about him, I wonder if he places more value on his reputation in a town where he owns the largest office tower – one that will be half empty in a few years when Devon moves into its own tower. One might think he might need some good will to fill up all that empty space in a 36-story building he claims is legally named Cotter Ranch Tower (I bet you didn’t know that).
After doing some research on Mr. Cotter, it appears as if “Cotter Ranch” Chase Tower is the gem of his portfolio. According to the San Antonio Express News, Cotter got into the real estate business after leaving the Army in the 1950s. He attended Walla Walla College in Walla Walla, Wash., and developed a 36-lot subdivision before graduating in the late 1950s.
Around that time, Cotter also owned the last privately owned bus line in Washington, which served Walla Walla and the surrounding area.
Now he owns about 70 buildings, including medical office buildings, retail centers and warehouses in Texas, Washington, Idaho, California, Oklahoma and Florida. He wants to get his three sons — all named James — started in the real estate business.
Now let’s talk about tiny Cherokee, population 1,437. Like many small Oklahoma towns, Cherokee is fighting the same battle faced by many towns its size. Between 2000 and 2007, its population dropped 10 percent. Yet the town, as evidenced in the above photo, is trying to keep its Main Street nice and doing what it can to rebound. A donation by Mr. Cotter of two buildings with little value to himself would be a big boost to this town.
What do you think? I wonder whether anyone in the big city, home to “Cotter Ranch Tower,” would contact Mr. Cotter if they knew they could contact his local representative, Chase Tower manager Tammy Powell, at (405) 601-6600 or by Email at tammypowell@cotterandsons.com. As for Cotter and his sons, I couldn’t find a web site or email address in San Antonio. But they are located at 802 NE Loop 410, San Antiono, Texas, 78217 and their phone number is (210) 822-2001.
Starting Fresh: The Next Chapter on the Chamber Building
As mentioned here previously, Blair Humphreys has started an intriguing discussion about the proposed Greater Oklahoma City Chamber headquarters to be built at NW 4 and Broadway.
Here’s how he starts his latest entry:
Lets break free of what is clearly a flawed proposal and begin a process that looks for fresh solutions and ideas, producing a new plan that meets the Chamber’s objectives while enhancing downtown Oklahoma City for decades to come. I have found that the best plans are produced through collaboration, so I hope you will join me in this re-visioning effort!
Plenty of fun will be had with Blair’s introduction of anonymous comments for this discussion. And having been treated to Blair’s ideas last summer, I promise his upcoming posts on this topic will be interesting, innovative and even controversial for some. Stay tuned for more ….
A Different Take On Tronox – Not A Sign of the Times…
I have nothing but the upmost respect for Darren Currin, who writes the square foot blog. (UPDATE: AS OF WEDNESDAY THIS POST ON HAS DISAPPEARED). But I’m not so sure he’s nailed things down with Tronox.
Tronox, first of all, is in chemicals, not energy, and is the world’s third-largest producer of whitening pigment titanium dioxide. And while the economic downturn hasn’t helped Tronox, it’s role in the company’s bankruptcy is more likely due to a drop in construction and manufacturing, not in energy prices.
In the story today by Oklahoman business writer Don Mecoy, it’s clear the company believes it’s problems are due to a staggering amount of liabilities that Kerr-McGee dumped into Tronox when it spun off the former chemical division. Kerr-McGee then was taken over by Anadarko Petroleum. Interestingly, it appears as if Tronox, through the bankruptcy, is trying to place that debt back with Anadarko.
If the company succeeds, it’s not so ridiculous to allow for the possibility that the company can not only survive and reorganize, but once again thrive downtown.
Darren’s overall take on the downtown office market is correct – the wonderful drops in vacancy the past few years could be reversed if the energy sector craters. He mentions “many” energy firms have already closed downtown – that’s an outflux I’m not aware of and he’s not naming any names. His take, I guess, is that the glass is half empty and it’s getting emptier. My take is the glass is half full and the verdict is still out on what’s next.
A Sad Prediction Comes True
On Jan. 6 I posted predictions for 2009, including the following:
At least one significant downtown employer will end up filing for bankruptcy.
Sadly, this one has come true.
Another One Bites the Dust
I'm Stunned
Downtown is about to undergo changes that could arguably rival the original MAPS program. Developing ….
