I Don't Do Party Pics … But …
I guess it’s no big deal to share some shots I took last night during the debut party for Oklahoma Today’s all OKC issue at the new Iguana Mexican Grill at NW 9 and Broadway.
Have fun and spot the downtown players … my spottings included Greg Banta visiting with Mickey Clagg (now that’s a discussion I’d like to listen in on), Bert Belanger, who was accompanied by a Houston apartment developer (just visiting, I’m sure), Chris and Meg Salyer, who I’ll bet are simply bewildered by the idea that Steve Mason has taken properties on the verge of collapse and spent millions to bring them back to life (this inside joke is a test on how much you know about the history of Automobile Alley), architect Rand Elliott and his wife Jeanette (still waiting to see what Kerr Park will look like), MidTown’s Arturo Chavez (quit following me!), the usual gang from Downtown Oklahoma City Inc., Skirvin Hilton General Manager John Williams, that crazy river guy Pat Downes, and many more.
Final note: Ah… free food and drink. Sure fire way to get a reporter in the room. This issue of Oklahoma Today is really impressive – it’s a nice recap of what’s going on downtown and throughout the city.
Central Business District Parking
So if you read my column today, you now know that there likely are some growing pains ahead for downtown, especially in regards to parking.
The Central Oklahoma Transportation and Parking Authority will likely be pocketing some money from selling garages to Devon and SandRidge. So, if it were to build a new garage or add parking, where should that take place?
Ideas that have been floated around:
- Add on to the east City Center garage
- Tear down Century Center Plaza and replace it with a bigger garage
- Tear down the middle tower of First National Center (the ugly one) and replace it with a high rise garage.
Any other ideas?
Blank Walls
The model and renderings for the new Devon Energy tower drew rave reviews this week. But Tulsa blogger Michael Bates wonders how it will tie into life on the street.
Sad, but true, when Devon Energy announced plans to build a skyscraper that will not just be the tallest in the state, but one of the tallest in the surrounding region (bigger than anything in Denver, Kansas City, St. Louis, Dallas, Fort Worth, New Orleans and Austin), I expected Tulsa’s online community to react with bitterness and resentment.It’s weird, really. You rarely see the OKC online community trashing Tulsa – there’s a lot of admiration for downtown
Tulsa’s Art Deco skyline and enthusiasm for any efforts to revive the area. And there is admiration for the design of BOK Arena, and shared celebration over the renovation of the Mayo Hotel.But in Tulsa, pretty much any good news about downtown OKC is greeted with a mix of cheap shots, cliché insults and vows of “it will never happen.”But there are exceptions. I’ve long been a fan of www.batesline.com because its author, Michael Bates (also a columnist at Urban Tulsa), isn’t afraid to ask the unpopular questions. And his latest post may cause some discomfort for Tulsans and Oklahoma Citians alike when it comes to the new Devon tower:
Over at TulsaNow’s public forum, some participants are feeling tower envy, wishing for some deep-pockets oil company to build some new skyscrapers in downtown, but we have to recall that Oklahoma City took a pass, for the most part, on the building frenzy of the late ’70s, early ’80s oil boom. While OKC’s tallest building is of that era, the next tallest is from the ’30s. From the late ’60s to the early ’80s, Tulsa built five new skyscrapers: Fourth National Bank (now Bank of America), Cities Service Building (now 110 W. 7th), 1st National Bank (now
First Plaza), the BOk Tower, and the Mid-Continent Tower — the addition that stands beside and is cantilevered over the original Cosden Building at 4th and Boston.There are rumors of even more tall towers in Oklahoma City, and some OKCers are giddy at the thought of “filling the gaps in the skyline.” The thing about filling those gaps is that the new skyscrapers have to touch the ground at some point, and how these towers meet the street is what matters most to downtown’s vitality. It may look beautiful from five miles away, it may have a great view from the top story, but how does it look to someone walking by on the street?
Bates may very well be onto something here, and it’s a thought that Jack Money and I contemplated in our 2006 book “OKC Second Time Around.” We discovered the writings of William H. Whyte in files maintained by late Bricktown developer Neal Horton. It was easy to see why Whyte’s writings attracted Horton, who was trying to reinvent the old warehouse district as an old towne district that would bring life back to downtown streets:
“As Horton and his partners raced ahead with their grand plans, they followed other downtown renovations like those on Dallas’ West End, Pitsburgh’s South Side, and New York City’s South Street Seaport with great interest. They also took notice of comments made in a 1983 Time article by William Whyte, a renowned critic of modern city planning who had visited Oklahoma City in the early 1980s. “The Blank Wall is on its way to becoming the dominant feature of many United States downtowns,” Whyte complained. “Without the windows or adornment to relieve their monotony, the walls are built of concrete, brick, granite, metal veneer, opaque glass and mirrors … designed out of fear – fear of the untidy hustle and bustle of city streets and undesirables – the walls spread fear.”
- OKC Second Time Around
In his book “City,” Whyte included this study of how the shopfront for Saks Fifth Avenue created a vibrant urban corner in New York City.
In our book Jack and I then noted the obvious – that in Oklahoma City’s rush to improve, it had also built an ample supply of “blank walls” The towers built during the Urban Renewal era fit perfectly into the very sort of design criticized by Whyte. Even older buildings like the historic Pioneer Telephone Building had their old storefronts sealed with brick and marble.
Quoting Whyte again:
“By eliminating the hospitable jumble of shop fronts, restaurant entrances and newsstands, the walls deaden the very city the buildings claim to revitalize.”
Bates’ questions might just apply as well to the proposed new headquarters for the Oklahoma City Greater Chamber. Or drive down Automobile Alley and look at how Steve Mason has brought life back to the1000 block of N Broadway.
Leadership Square – one of downtown’s most admired Urban Renewal era office buildings. But does it have the sort of street-frontage that brings life back to the street?
Pioneer Telephone Building – a marble fortress?
Are More High Rises Coming?
Look for something big – and complicated – to ensue when the following people are found gathering in one room: Assistant City Manager Cathy O’Connor, the city’s economic development coordinator Brent Bryant, City Attorney Kenny Jordan and private attorneys Dan Batchelor, Leslie Batchelor and John Michael Williams.
Along with Urban Renewal director JoeVan Bullard and assistant city attorney Dan Brummit, they were the dream team that put together the complicated financing package for the Skirvin Hilton Hotel, and many of the same names were involved with bringing Dell Computers to town, finding a way to finance the Native American Cultural Center, and almost certainly ongoing work in Core to Shore.
Keep all this mind as I quote from today’s story about the impact of the new Devon Tower on downtown’s tax increment financing district:
O’Connor sees no shortage of takers for any increase in TIF funding — and she said she strongly believes Devon’s project will be followed by more high-rises in the immediate neighborhood.
“There is an element of spin-off here,” O’Connor said.
Well now, isn’t that interesting? Now, let’s put this together with what I’ve written previously about veteran developer Nicholas Preftakes:
Blockbuster
Main Street land could be landlord’s development ticketBy Steve Lackmeyer
Business Writer
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Edition: CITY, Section: BUSINESS, Page 1B
Over the past few months, Ed Strawn has noticed a steady stream of surveyors outside his downtown landmark cafeteria, the Lunch Box. He assumes they are working for Nicholas Preftakes, who has spent the past two years buying up surrounding properties, and most recently spent $750,000 to add to his collection the one-story building that has been home to the Lunch Box since 1947.“He doesn’t want us to close,” said Strawn, whose restaurant dates to World War I when it first opened near Sheridan and Broadway. “He told me he won’t be the one to close us down.”
But Strawn reports Preftakes did hint that the Lunch Box could be relocated when his three-year lease expires.
Preftakes’ purchase of the Lunch Box building is fueling rumors that his plans include more than being a landlord over the diverse block bordered by Hudson, Walker, Sheridan and Main.
Long-term plans?
To date, Preftakes has spent more than $12 million on the block. Only five properties on the block are not under his control. They include 420 W Main, a 10-story office building and surface parking owned by the city, the Union Bus Station at Sheridan and Walker, Pizza Town, 430 W Main and Coney Island, 428, W Main.
Preftakes has declined to discuss his purchases on the block, continuing his silence about any long-term plans. When he bought the Auto Hotel at 17 N Hudson, he ended the contract with Republic Parking and closed it down. Anita Sanders’ law firm immediately left a building they remodeled at 408 W Main after it was bought by Preftakes.
But at One N Hudson, the former Black Hotel, Preftakes has continued to lease the property, most recently adding a restaurant on the ground floor.
So what gives? With Preftakes not talking, all eyes turn to Devon Energy Corp., which is pursuing plans to build a skyscraper across the street from the properties Preftakes owns.
Devon’s Chief Executive Officer Larry Nichols said he doesn’t comment on work involving other developers.
And he has dismissed rumors that Devon was interested in seeing the properties west of Hudson Avenue razed to make way for parking.
Nichols said Devon is only focused on expanding the City Center garage and dedicating it to parking for that company’s work force.
Preftakes is one of downtown’s veteran developers, and is no stranger to new commercial development or redevelopment of old urban properties. He started the downtown living trend with renovation of an old automobile dealership into lofts at NW 13 and Broadway some 13 years ago.
He also took the worn-out former headquarters of C.R. Anthony’s and turned it into a modern office building at 701 N Broadway building.
Brett Hamm, president of Downtown Oklahoma City Inc., admits he, too, is clueless about Preftakes’ ultimate plan. But he predicted future development could include housing, retail, offices or a hotel.
Will the Skyline Continue to Rise?
I’m having some pretty interesting conversations with people in the know today. They’re saying yesterday’s Devon tower unveiling makes it more and more likely we will see more high-rises announced nearby.
But where? Who? When?
So What Do We Know About Devon Tower?
Check out Wednesday’s Oklahoman, and you’ll have a head start on the big presentation…..
Devon Tower Designs Will Appear at OKC Central First
Once upon a time, my job consisted of reporting on a breaking story, assembling all the information together, and then writing a story for the next day’s newspaper. We all know the world has changed since then, and I’m very happy to report to you that I fully intend to have Devon Tower designs posted at www.okccentral.com as soon as I can move them from a disc to this blog. That means, my friends, that if you’re at work tomorrow morning, be sure to check in at www.okccentral.com between 9:30 a.m. and 10 a.m.
I’ll have my laptop powered up, the wireless card connected, and hopefully, we’ll all have some fun finding out what the downtown Oklahoma City skyline might look like in five years.
Here’s a hint: it won’t be “traditional.”
Higher and Higher and Higher
Devon Energy will release plans for its new skyscraper on Wednesday. So how tall will it be? This poll will continue through Tuesday night. For bragging rights, feel free to post a comment below the poll on your prediction.
This and That and This
This morning the Bricktown Urban Design Committee meets – and again the Cotton Exchange project is on continuance. If you read my early reporting, I tried to provide all the hints I could not to get too excited about this proposed project. As a reporter, I can’t say, “don’t believe it, it’s not going to happen.” Nor would I have if I could have. That’s not for me to say. Over the years I’ve seen people who should have had all the means and ability to get a project going, and they didn’t. And I’ve been surprised to see newcomers with no experience, no apparent means to get a big project done, do just that.
But the odds were against Gary Cotton’s original plans for the Cotton Exchange. It was being unrolled just as the economy was going south. Cotton has money, but he’s not Aubrey McClendon. And he had no experience in development. He made up for it by assembling an impressive team for design, construction and marketing.
So we wait for what he has admitted will definitely be a smaller project.
On other items, it appears as if the latest downtown video posted here is rather unpopular. So, should I eliminate the post?
It certainly appears as if the American Banjo Museum is a certainty. Work has begun on the building and a banjo performance will be included at the annual “Taste of Bricktown” this fall.
One more week until we see the designs for the new Devon Energy Tower. Yes, I have every reason to believe it will be several stories higher than the 37 first mentioned by Larry Nichols.
That’s it friends. Gotta run.
Inspiration from Charlotte?
It seems as if in many ways Oklahoma City is following the path taken by Charlotte, North Carolina, in becoming a big league city. So why not look at their skyline for a hint at what a new Devon Tower might look like? Here are my favorites:
Bank of America:
Wachovia Tower:
Hearst Center (my favorite of the three):
Only 13 days remain until we get to see what has almost certainly gotten the approval already by Larry Nichols.
