Architect Randy Floyd considers the two homes she owns with partner Michael Smith to be the best example of what her block looked like a century ago. The houses at 810 and 812 NW 7 were built in 1906 when the hill they went up on was considered “out in the country.”

“These homes were middle class,” Floyd said. “And in quite a few, the owners lived on the first floor, and they had rental units on the second floor. In our buildings, they had a 1,120-square-foot residence on the first floor and two rental units on the second floor.”

Saved from demolition

The two homes, which Floyd describes as “Territorial Victorian,” feature flat roofs and a soft pediment one might see in a Western movie. When Floyd and Smith first bought the properties, both the homes and the block itself were considered blighted.

Several of the homes on the block were torn down in the early 1980s to make way for decidedly modern structures that included attorneys’ offices at 719 N Shartel and the three-story Classen Glenn Condominiums at 901 NW 7 (both were designed by Beck Associates). Floyd suspects more structures like her own might have been torn down if not for the mid-1980s oil bust halting redevelopment of the block.

Floyd doesn’t mind the presence of the offices — she points out the neighborhood has always been mixed-use and she hopes to see more professionals decide to combine businesses and homes along NW 7.

The Classen Glenn Condominiums, an award-winning design by Beck Associates when it opened in 1985, looms large at the corner of NW 7 and Classen. The condos and law offices were the first projects for architect Don Beck, whose firm later went on to designing the Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library and the new Oklahoma State Historical Museum.

Urban sentiment

Beck recalled the developer of the condominiums once envisioned building more housing on the block but gave up when the oil bust hit. Some construction problems, most notably the lack of water splashing, have prevented the condos from reaching their full potential, Beck said.

“I like the forms of Classen Glenn,” Floyd said. “I like the big walls with holes in them, and I think modern is just fine. But when you look at all these houses, what do you see? You see porches with steps coming down to the street, you see sidewalks. But when you look at Classen Glenn, it’s totally walled off. If it had been built with a more urban sentiment, facing the streets, maybe our streets wouldn’t have been lost to the vagrants, prostitutes and drug dealers. They gave the street away.”

Neighbor and fellow architect Bryan Fitzsimmons is more complimentary toward Classen Glenn, which he notes hasn’t achieved the sort of sales prices under way at new downtown condominium projects in Deep Deuce and Lower Bricktown.

“Classen Glenn is very interesting, and I have high hopes it will prosper again,” Fitzsimmons said. “It has ahead of its time. It was the first high-density housing built downtown, and the city just wasn’t ready for it yet.”

But is the city ready for Fitzsimmons’ own home at 719 N Francis? Fitzsimmons admits his house, built in 2005, has been mistaken as a church and office building. He makes no apologies for his modern expressionist design, much of it geared toward his wife’s Vietnamese roots.

“We tried to mix up the cultures a bit — my modern tastes with a lot of dedications to her interest in numerology,” Fitzsimmons said. “It has her favorite color of red, a sign of good health, wishing luck others, and the angle of the wall is to the number 13 — her birthday.”

The stairwell in the home is four stories tall, and the front of the house to the top of the silver rooftop is 25 feet. The distance from the alley to the top of the stairwell, meanwhile, is 37 feet.

“Nobody can identify what it is,” Fitzsimmons said.

Yet another architect, Dennis Walls, has started construction on his own modern design home at 834 NW 7. Like Fitzsimmons, Walls’ design stands out from typical residential construction. Inspired by the work of architect Paolo Soleri, Walls describes his new home as a “plaster cube.”

“It’s going to be 40 feet by 40 feet, and 25 feet tall,” said Walls, who is an architect with Glover Smith Bode. “It’s set on cost efficiency. I was thinking economy of materials, with an industrial look on the interior.”

Both Fitzsimmons and Walls say they were inspired to build along NW 7 by Floyd and Smith.

“I went on an AIA (American Institute of Architects) tour when their homes were first gutted, and they were just starting work,” Walls said. “I thought, ‘Wow, someone is putting money in here, let’s take a look.’ ”

Walls doesn’t mind that the block features so many designs — the very quirkiness of the area was what attracted him away from the suburbs.

“I’m escaping the suburbs,” Walls said. “I don’t like the rubber stamp housing development, and I want to see some diversity. The building stock here goes from the law firm built in the late ’70s style to a Habitat for Humanity home. I could build whatever style I wanted without too much opposition.”

Urban pioneers

Phil Bewley wasn’t an architect, but he, too, marveled at the efforts undertaken by Floyd and Smith and also dreamed of becoming an urban pioneer. Floyd and Smith had just started renovations when Phil Bewley and brother Rick bought a four-plex at 712 N Francis that was built in 1925.

“My brother was obsessed with finding something downtown, something old he could bring back, with a view,” Rick Bewley said. “The house ended up needing an entire gutting, all the way to the inside walls where there had been several fires over the years. You could see on the second floor trusses where they had been repaired and spliced together.”

Just as the gutting was complete, financing was in place and renovations were starting, Phil Bewley got some bad news: He had brain cancer. In his weakened condition, he could only watch as his family and friends took over renovation of his dream home.

Phil Bewley moved in by September. He died Oct. 11 at age 52. Rick Bewley thinks his brother would be excited to see the continued diversity of the block, which is about to include a couple of new, modern homes being planned by Floyd and Smith.

“In his office he had all the articles that ever came out on MidTown pinned up on his walls,” Rick Bewley said. “He was a big fan of unusual architecture. Over the past 25 years, he did plastic work for architect Rand Elliott, so he was always in tune with neat new cool stuff.”

Another Take on Urban Design

I’m adding a new link today – one that I’m sure will spark a fun discussion about the role of Urban Design guidelines in what is referred to as the “cottage district” within MidTown. Dennis Wells, the host of http://www.freesosa.com is himself an urban pioneer in the neighboodhood, which is a split between historic homes and modern architecture. This is a split that has existed since construction of the Classen Glen Condominiums in the early 1980s and has continued with the area’s resurgence in recent years. Tomorrow I’ll post a story I wrote a couple of years ago about this area – for now, here’s an intro by Wells about his site:

You might have heard that “SoSA” is the underground name for MidTown’s Cottage District.  (The OKC Planning Department doesn’t necessarily like “Cottage District,” and could officially change the name in the future.)
 
The City Ordinance contains the design guidelines for a variety of neighborhoods and overlay districts…  SoSA’s guidelines are not very well defined, and the Planning Department is currently drafting new rules for this neighborhood.  Some people favor more traditional guidelines; others would like the City to encourage diversity and innovation.  Considering what’s already been done there, and that the future core-to-shore development will reduce SoSA’s draw, I come down on the
side of encouraging innovation, and encouraging it soon.
 
Without well defined design guidelines, the Urban Design Commission is often forced to waffle and defer on decisions, which can stall or even kill an innovative project.  In an effort to glean public opinion on the subject I recently established www.freesosa.com  and  blog.freesosa.com
 
Visit freeSoSA.com to learn a bit more about the area, and then add your thoughts to the blog:  blog.freeSoSA.com 

Dennis Wells

Oklahoma City

My Visit With Marva

It may seem odd, but the two-story former Sieber grocery strikes me as almost being more stunning than the hotel itself. Maybe it’s simply a matter of discovery – I always appreciated the former and potential future architectural grandeur of the hotel. But I could never get past the dilapidated condition of the grocery to see just how stunning it could be.

Inside the former grocery building.

The lobby continues to take shape.

It won’t be too much longer before the old Sieber Hotel in MidTown opens up as apartments. I visited with developer Marva Ellard last week and was treated to a brief tour on the condition I would only post these photos on the blog and wait before doing a formal story in The Oklahoman or at www.newsok.com.

Yes, it’s true Greg Banta won’t be leading redevelopment of MidTown anymore. But it’s difficult to believe the area is going to grind to a halt without him.

Final note: the downtown housing tour hosted by Downtown OKC Inc. is still producing results – I met new residents of the Sieber who were drawn in by the tour and were preparing to take measurements for furnishings and decor.

Why?

Today we start off with a new feature at OKC Central – Why?

I now know that this blog is getting read by an interesting mix of people throughout downtown. So why not use it to ask some really uncomfortable questions? And while we’re at it, let’s just send a photo to the appropriate people with just one question: “Why?”

So, the following photo is going out via email tomorrow to Planning Director Russell Claus, Mayor Mick Cornett, and the two people in charge of the city’s fire code inspections, Deputy Chief Bryan Heirston and District Chief Kellie Lee.

Let’s see if they respond. In the meantime, any of you readers care to take a shot at this same question? 

The apparent junk yard at NW 10 and Harvey. Why?

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.

Amazement. Sadness. Uncertainty. Hope.

It’s a vision – that’s for sure. How much of it will come true, especially without Greg Banta’s name no longer attached? Hard to say, but Blair Humphreys over at www.imaginativeamerica.com brought this to our attention just as we’re all wondering what’s next for MidTown now that Banta has sold his interests to partners Bob Howard and Mickey Clagg.


Midtown Oklahoma City Animation - by Skyline Ink from imagiNATIVEamerica on Vimeo.

At a Crossroads in MidTown

Even if Greg Banta never takes another step into MidTown, his place in the district’s history is already secure. In today’s Oklahoman, I’m reporting Banta’s departure from the MidTown Renaissance development. Partners Bob Howard and Mickey Clagg, whose financial backing was critical to Banta’s success to date, have bought out his interests and they say they are continuing with his vision.

And what a vision it is. MidTown was so bad just a few years ago that St. Anthony Hospital was seriously considering abandoning the neighborhood. Their decision to stay and partner with the city to improve the community was significant. But it was Banta who came in and created a plan to buy up almost all of the area’s flop houses and convert them into offices and housing. Ironically, it’s that initial part of the development has yet to be proven out – much of the property is just about done being renovated. The bigger bounce came with the arrival of Howard and Clagg. They bought the long empty Plaza Court and a string of diliapidated but interesting looking buildings along Walker Avenue and NW 10.

Some properties they bought at slum prices (what they were worth). As word got out, they had to pay more than face value. Either way, this neighborhood is no longer blighted – it’s clearly become an alternative to Bricktown. It’s an entertainment district for locals with no paid parking (though it’s increasingly difficult to find spaces when the district is really rocking).

Of course people will wonder why Banta sold out. Gossip will always follow an event like this. But regardless of how and why, if the folks running the Dean A. McGee Awards are looking for a good candidate for next year’s Neal Horton Award, maybe it’s time to consider a three-way tie.

One must wonder what Banta will do next. There are a lot more properties in the area with different owners that could use his sort of vision. If he can get some of those into play, and Howard and Clagg continue with their development as they say they will, who is to say this won’t end up being a win for everybody?

By the way, having just read www.newsok.com, I can tell you you’ll get more information on this story if you pick up the paper.

Dog Days of Summer

It’s hot out there. But downtown is still moving forward at a fast clip, and I guess, so must I. As I’ve reported before, more hotels are likley to be announced, most of them in Bricktown.

More housing is coming too – and much of it will be targeted to the pent-up demand for downtown homes priced at less than $200,000.

I’m also beginning to see signs that the folks in Bricktown may be awakening to reality – let’s wait and see of course – but surely a decade of demanding $20 a square foot and not getting it should be a loud and clear answer from the market about what is and isn’t realistic.

Had a nice visit with the owner of Lit Clothing, which opened up in The Centennial. Overall, Lower Bricktown still isn’t hitting the retail mix I know some leaders hoped for several years ago, but it’s getting closer to offering the sort of diversity that’s been missing from Bricktown since day one.

I talked with Chuck Ainsworth, and yes, that is construction you can see starting up in what will the American Banjo Museum. Now, if only someone could close a deal to have the Mickey Mantle Museum. Then we would really have a regional tourism destination.

Automobile Alley is still humming along. I visited with Steve Mason yesterday and I’ll have a story on that soon. I also visited with Marva Ellard, and things are going nicely with her redevelopment of the Sieber Hotel. The Sieber family is still very emotionally attached to that old building and it’s not unusual to find one of them driving by … veeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyy sssssssssssllllllllllllloooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwlllllllllllyyyyyyyy.

Marva is definitely one of those folks I’d call a “building hugger.” I asked her what she thought about Bert Belanger tearing down the old sex offender houses and plans to tear down the boarded up nursing home on Broadway Drive. Her response was ho-hum at best… I’m not hearing from any people who really consider these properties a big loss.

That’s it for now. Sorry for the dearth of posts this week. 

BREAKING NEWS! (Yep, McNellie's is Open!)

The wait in MidTown is over. McNellie’s is open at the Plaza Court – and everybody can decide for themselves whether this much beloved Irish pub in Tulsa is as great as everyone says it is.

(For what it’s worth, I visited prior to the opening and couldn’t help but be impressed by what these folks have done with the one-time home of Veasey Drugs).