Lovallo Wins
A month or so ago, it appeared as if Randy Floyd might prevail in her appeal of the Urban Design Commission’s approval of the planned Lovallo residence. For background, go here.
Today, the entire board agreed to reject the appeal. After listening the hour-long debate, I’m still not clear how this happened. The same arguments were made as last time. The same obsession with an “anomoly.”
This time we heard more about how a roof line might effect perception of the street’s flow. Lovallo’s attorney, Michael Laird, seemed to score with the board when he argued the Urban Design Commission isn’t allowed to approve a design that is any closer to the curb than existing homes (Floyd was arguing this could invite more new homes to creep even closer to the curb).
Now comes the critical question: will the victorious side be gracious toward Floyd and continue fostering this rebirth of a true urban neighborhood? Maybe they can all get together on a gateway or beautification project that can go toward healing the wounds.
Interesting tidbit: Yoeckell wasn’t planning on switching his vote. He just explained to me that he misheard the motion and went along with the vote. He intends to correct the record with the minutes. His vote apparently would not have changed outcome.
SoSA/Cottage District: Here We Go Again
So who will be absent at tomorrow’s Board of Adjustment meeting as it hears, again, the appeal by Randy Floyd to overturn approval of the Lovallo residence by the Urban Design Committee (see previous posts starting with this one).
The meeting is at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at City Hall.
Dennis Wells, who is on the other side of this fight, won’t be at the meeting. But he’s teasing yet another project coming to the neighborhood on his website, www.freesosa.com.
Image is shown above.
OKC Central: The Weekly Show
Well, it’s a done deal; I shot the first segments this morning for an upcoming weekly video show that focus on development downtown and in the innercity. While I was uncertain about this going into it, I’m beginning to think this could be a good addition to my coverage and hopefully one you’ll enjoy.
I’ll tell you more as we get closer to the show’s launch.
On an unrelated matter … people will mock me for saying so (I would have myself not too long ago), but I’m beginning to think that as Rick Dowell continues to talk about building a 30-story residential tower, by the way he does deals, it could actually happen.
I’ll share more about this and more over the next week.
Good to Bad to Good at the Sieber Hotel
They say that all journalists are cynical and are harbingers of only bad news. I’m not arguing that my profession probably deserves a lot of the criticisms it gets day to day. But I’ll be the first to admit I’m the type to root for the underdog. And Marva Ellard was definitely the underdog when she bought the Sieber Hotel more than a decade ago. Once a MidTown landmark, at 1305 N Hudson, the property was a mess by the 1990s.
For whatever reason, Ellard had plenty of doubters. Two city council members seemed intent on sinking her project at one point. Other downtown developers tried to place doubt as to whether she could ever pull it off.
And yet Marva pulled it off. I had a lot of fun covering this this past decade, and in conjunction with my coverage today, I thought I’d share a pictorial journey through the good and bad times of the Sieber Hotel.
The Sieber Hotel during its “glory days.”
The Sieber Hotel – during not so glorious days (circa 2001)
Marva Ellard gets to work on the lobby.
This building will not fall!
Marva Ellard looks upward at the skylight in the Sieber lobby - maybe for some divine guidence….
Window restoration – one of the most complicated and expensive items on any historic tax credit project, begins (circa 2007)
The old mosaic tile floor in the Sieber lobby is revealed to be incredibly intact.
The former Sieber butcher shop and grocery, once barely standing during early renovations, is back in top shape by fall 2008.
The completed lobby – one of many wonderful photos shot by Paul Southerland during a recent tour.
The Sieber on Video
Inspiration?
A reader of this blog brought this masterpiece to my attention and I agree, there are some features that really do seem to be similar to what’s being attempted by architect Bryan Fitzsimmons in the Cottage District (or SoSA).
From the Frank Lloyd Wright website:
Wright’s Robie House
The Robie House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for his client Frederick C. Robie, is considered one of the most important buildings in the history of American architecture. Designed in Wright’s Oak Park studio in 1908 and completed in 1910, the building inspired an architectural revolution. Its sweeping horizontal lines, dramatic overhangs, stretches of art glass windows and open floor plan make it a quintessential Prairie style house. Although it was designed more than ninety years ago, the building remains a masterpiece of modern architecture.
Redefining/Defining a Neighborhood
Oh my, oh my. I would not have wanted to be John Yoeckel today.
For those of you who don’t know John, he’s a well respected civic leader and a member of the city’s Board of Adjustment.
It’s his job to make someone very, very happy or very, very unhappy. Sometimes his vote, along with three other board members, can end up with both results.
Today was one of those days. And oh, how difficult it was to face disappointing either side.
On both sides you had top notch attorneys and well-known architects and urban pioneers.
Both sides represent residents of a MidTown neighborhood who clearly love their community, are doing everything to bring it back to life, and yet can’t even agree what to call it or what it should be.
Yeah, this was a fun case – and the stakes were nothing less than the redefinition of a neighborhood.
The neighborhood in question is defined as follows by the MidTown Association:
Located in the west central portion of MidTown, the Cottage District is characterized by older single family cottages and bungalows. This area contains Red Andrews Park and Municipal Gym, Emerson
School, and considerable amounts of vacant land.
So, let’s meet the two sides:
SoSA (South of Saint Anthony) Neighborhood: Architect Dennis Wells coined the proposed renaming of “the Cottage District,” noting its eclectic mix does not match its name. And indeed, long before this battle began I wrote a story noting the diversity of this neighborhood. Wells allies include architect Bryan Fitzsimmons, who like Wells has recently built a modern home in area that certainly isn’t your standard Dallas style suburban home in Deer Creek.
Cottage District: Randy Floyd and Michael Smith were pioneers in this neighborhood long before Wells and Fitzsimmons. They took a chance on a row of territorial era homes, and their renovations showed that the neighborhood once overrun with drug dealers and prostitutes was ready for a revival. And now for some history:If you go to Bricktown, there is enough urban fabric (brick warehouses) that one can say “this is the area’s character, here’s how it should guide designs for new construction and renovations.” Same can be said for Automobile Alley and the Asian District. But how does one judge the Cottage District/SoSA?Do we judge the area and set design guidelines based on the neighborhood’s original housing stock? That’s a problem for some because so many of the homes were torn down and left as either empty lots, or rebuilt as …
Modern Design Homes.
Yep, the neighborhood has plenty of it. The Classen Glen condominiums set the tone a quarter century ago and Fitzsimmons put an exclamation point on it with his own new home a few years back.
Then came Wells, and now comes yet another proposed modern home.The home, designed for Bill Lovallo by Fitzsimmons, is a two-story, 1,730-square-foot house that would sit atop a sloped lot at 825 NW 7. And while the home lines up with others on the street, a second level fronted with glass panels would face out closer to the street than most of the other homes.
Smith and Floyd argued at a November meeting of the Urban Design Commission that the project violated the neighborhood’s setback requirements. But Lovallo and Fitzsimmons responded that it was in line with at least one other home at NW 7 and Shartel.
That home, an older structure that went through a renovation deemed substandard by many in the neighborhood, was promptly declared an anomaly by Smith and Floyd as they sought to overturn the design committee’s ruling to the Board of Adjustment on Thursday.Smith and Floyd were represented by attorney Leslie Batchelor, who is also a well known innercity advocate and civic leader.
Lovallo and Fitzsimmons, meanwhile, were represented by high-powered and respected attorney Michael Laird, who is also no stranger to urban issues.
Watching the proceedings, I knew that John Yoeckel would end up being the first guy to show his hand. He spoke of his admiration for both sides, and then he announced his vote – he would uphold Randy Floyd’s challenge. He cited the city’s original zoning intent and setbacks as being more important than the anomaly at 829 NW 7.
Next up, board member Stephen Dobbs, who noted there is no allowance for exclusions of “anomalies.”The vote is 1-1. And the deciding vote is left up to Rod Baker, who was absent, and David Wanzer, who had to recuse himself due to ties to Fitzsimmons.
And so we wait for yet another day on this matter to be decided. And one can only imagine the fun John will have at the next downtown social.
Gone
It looks like MidTown is going to learn the hard way that you can’t leave wonderful old buildings like this boarded up and empty for long periods. Sadly, this one had a bright future – it was to be home to the Oklahoma Foundation for Digestive Research and would have been a great anchor. Trison at OKC Talk reports fire destroyed all but the elevator shaft. The building was built in 1910.
My Report on the "Cottage District" or "SoSA" from 2007
Architecture: Mixture of styles, from Victorian to modern, are on display in MidTown
Urban block blends creativity, history
Renovation of a home by brothers became the fulfillment of a dying wish.
By Steve Lackmeyer
Business Writer
| Sunday, April 22, 2007 Edition: CITY, Section: SPECIAL SECTION, Page 16 |
OUTLOOK III SPECIAL SECTION |
Linked Objects: (Click image for details)
Imagine a block that features an early 1980s example of dense urban housing, a renovated 1925 two-story brick home, a couple of restored 1906 two-story wood frame duplex and to cap it off, a brand new “contemporary modern” home that is sometimes mistaken for a church or business.The mix is eclectic but very real. Welcome to the corner of Francis and NW 7, in the heart of MidTown’s cottage district. It’s a block that has captured the imagination of urban pioneers, and was one man’s final dying wish.
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
