First National Center is actually 3 separate structures: The 33-story historic Tower built in 1931; the 14-story Center building finished in 1956; and the East building opened in 1974.
The Tower will be extensively renovated and be home to a new hotel to be operated by Coury Hospitality, which was behind the remakes of the beautifully-done Colcord and Ambassador hotels in Oklahoma City. Like First National, both those buildings had previously been used as office space.
The Tower also contains two 14-story wings that extend east from the larger structure, with an open space between. That open space reaches all the was to skylight of the Great Banking Lobby below.
The marble and mural lined space will become the lobby for the hotel as well as a cocktail lounge. Other restaurants and bars are planned for the complex as well.
Atop the northern wing will be a new pool area; 149 rooms are planned for the hotel on floors 2 through 8 with 210 apartments above.
The Center and part of the East buildings will be gutted and used for parking, approximately 620 spaces.
A section of the East building fronting Broadway will be completely demolished to make way for parking entrances and exits as well as the ramp structure needed to service the huge parking structure.
The facades along Park Avenue will be preserved and 2 levels of retail space face Park Avenue.
In 2014 the City of Oklahoma City commissioned a study to identify ways in which Park could be enhanced as the primary retail corridor for the central business district and the First National property was prominently featured.
The sale to Brooks and Charlie Nicholas closed last week and work is expected to start soon.