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Criticize First, Ask Questions and Gather Facts Later?

Posted by
on May 30, 2013 at 7:47 am

That’s not my way of doing things.

But last week’s OKC Central Live Chat (the transcript was posted Wednesday) included the following bit of conversation inspired by a $4.8 million building permit filed for a proposed Marriott Springhill Suites:

_______________________________________
Nick 10:37 a.m. There seems to be a bit of backlash (on an online message board) to the proposed hotel in Deep Deuce at 1st and Perry. What are your thoughts? Are people getting too upset at the cost per sq. foot by reading too much into it or is cheap Bricktown hotel construction headed north?
Steve Lackmeyer 10:38 a.m. I think people are uninformed and need to wait and see what is proposed first. This is a typical example of the downside of online message boards.
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I’m not going to jump to conclusions without information. The city often receives partial building permit filings, so it wouldn’t be a shocker if the $4.8 million did not represent the total extent of the project. At the same time, a glance at the other hotels built by Dr. Atul Patel does make one wonder if he’s prepared to build a different product downtown to match up with not just expectations but design ordinance requirements. The application was filed with the Downtown Design Review Committee on May 21. It’s far from complete, lacks the sort of renderings and information usually required by the committee, and I doubt it will be heard at the June meeting. But we do have some information.
First, let’s get a look at the site at NE 1 and Russell Perry:
Marriott Springhill Suites site at NE 1 and Russell Perry. Photo by Steve Lackmeyer. Do not repost without permission.

Marriott Springhill Suites site at NE 1 and Russell Perry. Photo by Steve Lackmeyer. Do not repost without permission.

Footprint of Marriott Springhill Suites Hotel. Photo by Steve Lackmeyer. Do not repost without permission.

Footprint of Marriott Springhill Suites Hotel. Photo by Steve Lackmeyer. Do not repost without permission.

Second, glancing at these construction drawings, the hotel’s facade is clearly not all synthetic stucco, a material loathed by many downtown. After reviewing the plans that show each facade, and discussing it with a city planner, it appears the brick to stucco mix is about 60/40 (I believe guidelines limit it to 20 percent synthetic stucco)
Photo by Steve Lackmeyer. Do not repost without permission.

Photo by Steve Lackmeyer. Do not repost without permission.

First floor plans. Photo by Steve Lackmeyer. Do not repost without permission.

First floor plans. Photo by Steve Lackmeyer. Do not repost without permission.

By delving into the building permit drawings, we also know that the project will be six stories high, two elevator shafts (that’s at least $300,000 right there), an indoor and outdoor pool, 115 rooms, and most importantly, 77,538 square feet. That’s an important figure because if we’re going to assume $4.8 million represents the total investment (which I’m not), we divide it by 77,538 and come up with about $62 a square foot.
So, we’re going to build a six-story hotel – and it includes an indoor pool and an outdoor pool. And a kitchen and restaurant buffet area similar to those found at Hampton Inns, and a lounge, a small market, a fitness center, a business center, meeting rooms, lobby and more – and with at least half the facade in brick – for $62 a square foot?
Pool and fitness center at Springhill Suites in Moore.

Pool and fitness center at Springhill Suites in Moore.

Springhill Suites lobby. Building plans indicate something similar is planned for the Deep Deuce hotel.

Springhill Suites lobby. Building plans indicate something similar is planned for the Deep Deuce hotel.

Wow. I’m impressed. If all this is being done for $62 a square foot, Dr. Patel is brilliant and he’s set to revolutionize the hotel industry.

Yet I instinctively know we don’t have all the information yet. I’ve got calls out to Dr. Patel. Only with his input, or additional public records being filed, will we know the true investment. But do we have enough information to get riled up and declare this to be a cheap development not worthy of downtown?
What we do know is what $5 million does pay for with a developer who has been frequently criticized by some of these same folks for doing minimal design – Randy Hogan. His one-story, 10,ooo-square-foot Kevin Durant restaurant in Lower Bricktown is a $5 million project (and without any parking either). Do the math. And remember, with the hotel, I’m being asked not to be so dismissive of folks who are assuming a six-story, 77,538-square-foot hotel (with parking) is being built in nearby Deep Deuce for $4.8 million.
Anyone can say anything on the Internet. There are questions to be asked: are these limited service hotels good for downtown’s long-term development? Are the exterior facing air conditioning units acceptable? Are too many hotels being built in Bricktown and Deep Deuce?
But don’t ask me what I think about backlash by a few anonymous people (and two who aren’t anonymous and are people I know and respect) against a project of which they are not informed, and then get upset when I suggest such backlash might be premature and that these people are uninformed.

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The New Devon Tower Gets a Place Marker on Google

Posted by
on September 24, 2009 at 11:11 am
Devon Tower makes Google maps. But where is everything else?

Devon Tower makes Google maps. But where is everything else?

That means it’s got to be a done deal, right? Of course Google maps is still missing several new hotels, housing developments, two garages in its aerial photos. And when this photo was taken the Colcord was still Class C office space.

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Twitter Frenzy – Grabbing for any Glimmer of Relevance

Posted by
on March 8, 2009 at 8:47 pm

Leave it to the Daily Show to put everything in perspective.

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The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c
Twitter Frenzy

“It’s no wonder young people love it, according to reports about young people by middle-aged people.”
- Samantha Bee

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Who Wants It More?

Posted by
on March 6, 2009 at 11:42 am

Let’s see how this twitter thing works. Fun idea below – and if you want Bcycle in OKC, you need to go here to vote and let Bcyle know “you want it more.”

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Sending Some Love to OKMET.ORG

Posted by
on March 3, 2009 at 9:31 pm

I’m not backing away from the compliment I paid to OKC Talk. But I just want to add that there’s another online forum, www.okmet.org , that is also on my daily reading list. The two forums have their own angles – OKC Talk is more community oriented, while OKMET is more about development issues (I’ve also seen some surprising scoops there as well).

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Metro Has Questions

Posted by
on March 3, 2009 at 10:30 am

Over at www.okctalk.com – the city’s premier online community forum – Metro has posted the following questions. I’m really hoping he’s not thinking I’m bored and without a to-do list right now. But they are good questions. And some, I suspect, can be answered by some of this blog’s readers (Yes, I’m talking to Grant, Bert, Jason and others).

So guys, if you can, help me out here.

- Steve

Metro’s questions and story ideas:

1.) Asian District Streetscaping/ area projects including Lotus Plaza and Sun Moon Plaza as well as the new Asian Plaza that is going up.

2.) Legacy Arts retail update and possibly why Henderson was allowed to bail out on an unfinished OCURA project after he was given several years of delays and watered down the bid that got him the project.

3.) Maywood Lofts/Leslie – brief status update

4.) Devon Update- (not much to report, but everyone is always interested in rehashing old news).

5.) First National Update – I know he wrote about the liens in today’s paper, but I’d like to see much more in depth about what improvements they have done, where they are at with current improvements and what is planned. That new “north” entrance seems to be coming along way behind schedule.

6.) The Hill Update – more info on what Canfield is doing to secure financing.

7.) Humphrey’s Farris Wheel/ Downtown Airpark project

8.) Bert Belanger’s proposed development

9.) Where Steve Mason is at on developing the rest of NW 9th near Broadway.

10.) Update on Mickey Clagg/Bob Howard and their “Midtown Renaissance”. Especially the building on 10th and Robinson as it is shaping up. What are they doing to attract retailers, etc.

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The Borg and The Cybermen … Are My (GASP!) Friends?

Posted by
on February 23, 2009 at 6:00 am

whiteflag.jpg

Ah what the heck – I always thought Dr. Who had a bit of the multiple personality bit going on. Everytime he got to be likable, he’d become someone totally different.

Yeah, I’ll twitter. Not sure how this works, but I’m sure the wise guy who created an account for me WITHOUT MY PERMISSION (yeah you Mike Koehler) will teach me a trick or two. As for who I’m following, it’s pretty difficult getting past Darth Vader.

As for the poll. Yes, it was hacked. You can read about it in my weekend posts. But I was still able to determine the likely vote was about 600 to 150 if my estimates and blog tracking analysis are correct.

Anyway, that’s about it for now. Had a rough weekend and to be honest I may be a bit challenged to come up with good material the next day or two so forgive me in advance.

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Twitter Numbers

Posted by
on February 20, 2009 at 5:48 pm

Kyle Jones, someone I believe is a relative newcomer to the comment section at OKC Central, claims he “crashed” the twitter poll and that “one person” did most of the voting.

The poll as Friday at 5:30 p.m. had more than 2,700 votes. The twitter account set up on my behalf, without my approval, now has 66 “followers.”

Complicating the mission to find out the truth is that the blog traffic reports we get are mangled up every week or two. That happened today.

Not sure what to make of all this. I’ll announce Monday whether I’ll be waving the white flag.

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Making a Point?

Posted by
on February 20, 2009 at 4:55 pm

The Borg

I’m trying to reconcile my blog traffic report with the numbers being reported on the twitter poll. I’ll address this whole matter more on Monday …

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The Twitter Army is Scary

Posted by
on February 20, 2009 at 11:53 am

The twitter army apparently takes no prisoners. They’ve taken over the poll and there’s been a dramatic reversal in my apparent digital fate (the poll went from 54-46 percent against twitter this morning to 84-16 percent for it).

Meanwhile, I got an email last night welcoming me to twitter. This was a surprise, since I had done everything possible to run away from the Cybermen. I was clueless at first as to who had tried to force my hand – then I got an email from co-worker and digital guy Mike Koehler, who quickly emerged as the suspect. Here’s what unraveled from there:

From: Mike Koehler
Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 5:38 PM
To: Steve Lackmeyer
Subject: RE: Twitter

Yes.

Your anti-Twitterism could no longer be tolerated.

I am eventually going to be training everyone about its benefits, but I’m making you a special case. I think it would help you, just so you could be in the flow of some of the conversations happening on the site that are revelent to you and your sources.

From: Steve Lackmeyer
Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 5:35 PM
To: Mike Koehler
Subject: RE: Twitter

did you do this?

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