# Civic Matters > Suburban & Other OK Communities > Norman >  315 White Street

## Geographer

$1 mil construction permit was pulled last week. Speculations?

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## HangryHippo

> $1 mil construction permit was pulled last week. Speculations?


Is this the old Toto's space?

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## Geographer

Yes I believe it is

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## BG918

Maybe another Elliot Nelson (McNellies) concept?

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## HangryHippo

> Maybe another Elliot Nelson (McNellies) concept?


Have you heard this was even a possibility?  Someone listed who owns the lot now, but I can't find the post...

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## Pete

The building permit was filed by an LLC that shares the same address with Top of the World; a Norman company that manufactures athletic caps.

I bet this will be a store for them:

TOP OF THE WORLD

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## Geographer

> The building permit was filed by an LLC that shares the same address with Top of the World; a Norman company that manufactures athletic caps.
> 
> I bet this will be a store for them:
> 
> TOP OF THE WORLD


that sucks...the last thing we need on campus corner is MORE sports apparel. yawn.

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## Pete

Just learned that same group owns Benvenuti's in downtown Norman, so it may be tied into that as well.

I have the OKCTalk mole network on this and should know more after this weekend.   :Smile: 

Benvenuiti's Ristorante

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## Geographer

> Just learned that same group owns Benvenuti's in downtown Norman, so it may be tied into that as well.
> 
> I have the OKCTalk mole network on this and should know more after this weekend.  
> 
> Benvenuiti's Ristorante


I suppose that's alright...Bevenuiti's is good, extremely overpriced, but good.

I, for one, would love to see a BBQ joint on campus corner.


Also, I believe this building will be 3 stories with office space as well...

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## Pete

Iron Starr tried Campus Corner and didn't last, a very rare miss for A Good Egg Group.  Keith Paul said that CC is a very difficult animal for restaurateurs.


Benvenuti's is owned by Peter Wilson, who also owns Top of the World.  Brown is married to Hal Smith's niece.

Benvenuti's must be doing something right as they have been operating for seven years now.

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## Geographer

> Iron Starr tried Campus Corner and didn't last, a very rare miss for A Good Egg Group.  Keith Paul said that CC is a very difficult animal for restaurateurs.
> 
> 
> Benvenuti's is owned by Peter Wilson, who also owns Top of the World.  Brown is married to Hal Smith's niece.
> 
> Benvenuti's must be doing something right as they have been operating for seven years now.


Yeah, it's definitely the most expensive and "fanciest" restaurant in Norman...so I suppose that's why it's still in business.

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## ChargerAg

Does 1 million seem excessive to anybody else for such a little space?  Is it going to be multiple stories?    I can't imagine how much much they would have to make on that space to pay off that loan.    Also that doesn't cover the cost of what they payed to demo the place.

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## Spartan

> Iron Starr tried Campus Corner and didn't last, a very rare miss for A Good Egg Group.  Keith Paul said that CC is a very difficult animal for restaurateurs.
> 
> 
> Benvenuti's is owned by Peter Wilson, who also owns Top of the World.  Brown is married to Hal Smith's niece.
> 
> Benvenuti's must be doing something right as they have been operating for seven years now.


Iron Starr was horribly ran at that location and AGE has never righted many wrongs I encountered there

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## BG918

In The Raw (which is now closed) also had service/management issues that the ones in OKC and Tulsa didn't have.  There is that small sushi place on Asp but I think CC could support a larger, more bar-oriented sushi/Japanese place if it was the right concept.  An offshoot of Sushi Neko would be pretty cool, or something like Musashi's.

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## dankrutka

Why was this building torn down without plans for rebuilding immediately? It looks terrible. From a couple weeks ago: 
image.jpgimage.jpg

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## HangryHippo

> Iron Starr was horribly ran at that location and AGE has never righted many wrongs I encountered there


Can you elaborate on what wrongs you encountered?

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## HangryHippo

> I suppose that's alright...Bevenuiti's is good, extremely overpriced, but good.
> 
> I, for one, would love to see a BBQ joint on campus corner.
> 
> 
> Also, I believe this building will be 3 stories with office space as well...


Where did you hear that it will be 3 stories?

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## Geographer

"Commercial New Construction

315 White St. CAMC LLC 3-story restaurant and office building $1,000,000"

This is the description of the permit on this article: building permits  Business  The Norman Transcript

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## BoulderSooner

> Yeah, it's definitely the most expensive and "fanciest" restaurant in Norman...so I suppose that's why it's still in business.


or because it is the best Italian in the metro

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## Geographer

> or because it is the best Italian in the metro


no way haha. Have you tried Segio's? It's literally right across the train tracks from Benvenuti's...it's way more authentic and MUCH MUCH cheaper.

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## ChargerAg

> "Commercial New Construction
> 
> 315 White St. CAMC LLC 3-story restaurant and office building $1,000,000"
> 
> This is the description of the permit on this article: building permits  Business  The Norman Transcript


3 stories seems like it will look a bit weird next to all those 1 story buildings.   Also I wonder how the additional floor space will effect parking in the area.  I have often wondered why the city doesn't build a small parking garage in the area.

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## Geographer

> 3 stories seems like it will look a bit weird next to all those 1 story buildings.   Also I wonder how the additional floor space will effect parking in the area.  I have often wondered why the city doesn't build a small parking garage in the area.



There's already so much parking around campus corner.  There's a huge lot on the west side of University behind D-Bo's house that's open to the public at night.  There's also ample street parking surrounding campus corner.  Parking wouldn't be an issue IMO.

Three stories will look fine, just on the next block west you have that set of buildings that are two stories...you also have the church catty corner to this block that's two-three stories.  IMO, every new building on campus corner should be no shorter than 2-3 buildings.  The environment of campus corner screams for buildings taller than 1-2 stories.

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## Pete

I learned a pizza place is going in this spot -- slightly upscale.

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## venture

If it isn't Giordano's, it doesn't belong. :-P

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## Geographer

another pizza place!? dang it. oh well

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## shavethewhales

Meh. As a current OU student, I am continually amazed that no one seems to want open a cheaper establishment on campus corner for those of us who don't want to spend $8-10 on lunch. I often get food from the gas station because I don't want to spend that much on lunch. There are a couple of options such as Chic-fil-a, but it's extremely busy. A taco bell within walking distance from campus corner would probably put everyone out of business.

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## Mel

Does Norman have an Upper Crust?

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## kevinpate

> Does Norman have an Upper Crust?


No.

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## ou48A

> Meh. As a current OU student, I am continually amazed that no one seems to want open a cheaper establishment on campus corner for those of us who don't want to spend $8-10 on lunch. I often get food from the gas station because I don't want to spend that much on lunch. There are a couple of options such as Chic-fil-a, but it's extremely busy. A taco bell within walking distance from campus corner would probably *put everyone out of business*.


You would probably need to talk to the man who owns and basically controls most of the Campus Corner area  for an answerer.
He probably doesn’t want to "put everyone out of business”?

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## Jersey Boss

> Meh. As a current OU student, I am continually amazed that no one seems to want open a cheaper establishment on campus corner for those of us who don't want to spend $8-10 on lunch. I often get food from the gas station because I don't want to spend that much on lunch. There are a couple of options such as Chic-fil-a, but it's extremely busy. A taco bell within walking distance from campus corner would probably put everyone out of business.


DIAMOND DAWGS, on Asp. There is also a SUBWAY. You can get lunch there for 5 bucks.

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## dankrutka

You clearly have not even looked around Campus Corner. In addition to the two other places mentioned, Fuzzy's has a huge breakfast sandwich for $3 called "The Big Fuzz." There are definitely cheap options on Campus Corner.

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## Soonerman

Fuzzy's is awesome.

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## kevinpate

Add in the small portion at the greek house for cheap eats.
(not that I've ever ordered the small portion myself, but several friends did and felt it was too much for them. Luckily, I was often present to save them from temptation.)
Haven't been this fall. Hope it remains open and the new owners are treating it well.

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## Jeepnokc

> .
> (not that I've ever ordered the small portion myself,.


<----like---->

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## ChargerAg

Any ideas on when they will start construction on this?

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## ChargerAg

went by this location this weekend.   Still no movement.   There doesn't seem to be much rush to get this built.

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## ChargerAg

Went by again tonight and still no activity.   How long does one have to build after a permit is filed?     

I think it has now been over a year since the toto's building was torn down.

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## ChargerAg

Went by the site tonight and looks like they started working on this site this week.   It will be really interesting to see what this new building look like at this location.   

Also interesting is the convince store across from this site has closed and they are putting in what looks to be a smoking supply store.

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## shavethewhales

I never thought I'd say this, but I miss that convenience store. I never even went in there, but it was definitely more beneficial to campus corner than a seedy vape store. That new place really brings the whole area down... maybe it will look better when they're done with whatever renovations they're doing, but at the moment it looks like some drifters just wandered in and setup shop.

Farther down the street, one of the old antique/vintage/craft stores is being converted into a "lounge".

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## ChargerAg

Looks like the steel work is topped off on this structure.   It looks to be about 3.5 stories.    I am guessing the top 1/2 is to hide a AC or elevator shaft.   The new building really looks huge next to all the other building but am hoping that this is the beginning of something new for this area.

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## HangryHippo

I got a picture of the steel work.  I'll try to post it later.

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## positano

It's actually going to be gourmet, wood-fired pizza, plus more. The concept is really being driven by Anthony Compagni, the chef and one of the owners of Benvenuti's. Plans are to have a rooftop terrace.

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## ChargerAg

Went by again and I was wrong.  The building is at least 4 stories and really stands out.

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## soonerfan_in_okc

image.jpg

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## BG918

A rooftop terrace there will be awesome, great views of campus.  It definitely stands out, now they need to tear down and redevelop the building at Asp & White.  That is prime property for residential with retail along White and Asp.

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## OUman

The Norman Transcript

It is indeed a new authentic Neapolitan-style pizza restaurant. The wood-fire oven was made in Italy and flown in. Pretty cool. The building will apparently be four stories, with a rooftop bar and dining area.

As for cheap options on Campus Corner in addition to the ones already mentioned: Which Wich, New York Pizza and Pasta (lunch special for around 5 or 6 bucks on weekdays), T.E.A. Cafe, Pickleman's Cafe, Jimmy John's Subs, The Pita Pit. Plus the Greek House has some good options (lot of food at good value).

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## dankrutka

Good to see this space being filled. It has made me sick seeing the an empty space in the urban fabric of what may be Oklahoma's best urban area.

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## BG918

> Good to see this space being filled. It has made me sick seeing the an empty space in the urban fabric of what may be Oklahoma's best urban area.


I don't know if I 'd go that far.  Campus Corner is a nice walkable area with a lot of unique stores and restaurants but for it be great (IMO) it needs to expand to the west along University and further north along Buchanan and Asp, as well as add more housing and keep new chain restaurants and retail to a minimum compared to locally owned businesses.  It certainly has a lot of potential and infill projects like these are a step in that direction.  The biggest hole is still the parking lot across the street by Chimy's.  Fill that in and that really completes the street along Asp and White.

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## HangryHippo

Does anyone have a rendering of what the final design of this building looks like?

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## Pete

Holy heck, this thing looks like a skyscraper (from https://twitter.com/fowwow):

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## Jake

I noticed it for the first time last week and thought, "What the heck is that?!"

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## UrbanNorman

Are there any renderings of this anywhere? I saw Aztec Construction had a sign up top, and I went to their website but nothing.  As for their other projects, they were extremely suburban in design pretty much across the board. To say this frightens me is an understatement...

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## Pete



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## Pete



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## sooner88

How tall is the building that Victoria's is in? This seems really out of place for Campus Corner.

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## BG918

> How tall is the building that Victoria's is in? This seems really out of place for Campus Corner.


It looks almost twice the height.  I think it's great to see taller developments and hope this leads to more in that area.  What is the zoning max height in Campus Corner?

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## s00nr1

That rooftop is going to have an amazing (!!) view of campus.

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## HangryHippo

Is orange-ish exterior in the rendering going to be brick or something else?

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## kevinpate

> How tall is the building that Victoria's is in? This seems really out of place for Campus Corner.


It will be taller than the rest of the existing campus corner structures.  Indeed, once completed and someone is at the upper level bar, it is fair to say they'll be a few floors and eyes and ears and mouth and noise, head and shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes above it all.

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## tfvc.org

I think it will be cool to sit on the top and see the view as well.  One of my favorite places to eat in Norman was The Vista just for the view.  If Vast wasn't so expensive I would eat there more often just for the view.

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## Pete

> Is orange-ish exterior in the rendering going to be brick or something else?


It's red brick.

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## HOT ROD

ASIDE: speaking of skyscrapers, it would be nice to see Norman and maybe a few other suburbs with a few 20-floor towers in their downtowns. I know we want to focus on Downtown first, but will be nice to see more highrise action than just in Downtown/OHC and NW Xpwy. Im not talking about a lot of office space here, just two or three towers to give the larger suburbs a little identity and shot in the arm (office wise).

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## BG918

> ASIDE: speaking of skyscrapers, it would be nice to see Norman and maybe a few other suburbs with a few 20-floor towers in their downtowns. I know we want to focus on Downtown first, but will be nice to see more highrise action than just in Downtown/OHC and NW Xpwy. Im not talking about a lot of office space here, just two or three towers to give the larger suburbs a little identity and shot in the arm (office wise).


Unfortunately I don't think the demand is there otherwise we would've seen this happen.  Norman's downtown has never been a very big business center but I think it has potential to be larger since it is, with Campus Corner, the largest mixed-use district in the metro outside of downtown OKC and one day will be connected directly by commuter rail.  It also has the flagship state university less than a mile away, and is centrally located within Norman itself.  

I've always thought OU could do more to foster development here, such as create an innovation district similar to what the University of Louisville has done: Louisville Takes Step To Becoming Leader in Life-Long Wellness and Aging Care | WFPL.  The south campus area is where the bioscience and weather research and related businesses have been building, which has been OU's main focus.  Maybe the downtown district could be more engineering/energy research/technology-related?  It would start with building a new larger home for eTec in Campus Corner and building up the Asp corridor as the natural link between OU, Campus Corner and downtown.

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## metro

> The building permit was filed by an LLC that shares the same address with Top of the World; a Norman company that manufactures athletic caps.
> 
> I bet this will be a store for them:
> 
> TOP OF THE WORLD


Or corporate office I wouldn't be surprised. They are a Norman company, but are HUGE (as far as impact) and mostly unknown. TOW is the #1 hat provider to NCAA teams now, they put out a great product, but I'm NOT excited they're moving to Campus Corner.

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## UrbanNorman

> Or corporate office I wouldn't be surprised. They are a Norman company, but are HUGE (as far as impact) and mostly unknown. TOW is the #1 hat provider to NCAA teams now, they put out a great product, but I'm NOT excited they're moving to Campus Corner.


When you say not excited, are you referring to the assumption that their corporate office may be located there?  If so, I disagree. Having more office tenants on Campus Corner is only a good thing in my opinion, especially if they reserve the first floor for retail.

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## dankrutka

Updated picture and you can also see some upgrades to the building to the east.

image.jpg

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## dankrutka

Pictures don't a justice to the massiveness of this building compared to its surroundings. 

image.jpg

image.jpg

I don't like that there are no windows on the sides. Do we have renderings for the final product?

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## Jeepnokc

[QUOTE=dankrutka;895867]Pictures don't a justice to the massiveness of this building compared to its surroundings. 

image.jpg

image.jpg

I don't like that there are no windows on the sides. Do we have renderings for the final product?[/QUOTE

The windowless sides may be building code issue as they have built to the lot line.  The original plans for 600 W Sheridan in Film Row had a single window on the side but we were forced to remove on the chance that someone may build on the lot next to us.  Sounds dumb as I could easily brick up the window if that ever happened but instead...I have one office that doesn't have a window.

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## kevinpate

> ...
> I have one office that doesn't have a window.


Oh, that would so drive me straight to bonkersville.  A few years back, I was helping out a friend, and fellow solo, while his unit was deployed for six months.  His practice was based in an interior office. There was a tiny window, but it only provided a view into a windowless hallway.  I did as much as I reasonably could do elsewhere.  He was, and is, a very good friend, but I must admit I relished each and every departure from that closed up cave.  

I may be Founder, Chairman, President, CEO, CFO and COO of Hermits R Moi, but this hermit truly craves a cave with a fair bit of natural lighting.

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## UrbanNorman

Based on the antique style brickwork on the back and now what is going up on the front, I have changed my tune on this building a bit. I'm a little more optimistic than when I first saw it going up. The windowless sides are still concerning, but when looking at the back of the building off Asp back towards campus, the taller buildings in the distance (on campus) help the new structure fit in better than I thought it would.

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## BG918

It's similar to a lot of zero lot line older buildings that have windowless sides.  It just sticks out more because it's taller than the surrounding buildings.  In the future there will likely be similar height buildings built up against the sides especially the east side which would be a great location for apartments or condos.

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## Jersey Boss

> Pictures don't a justice to the massiveness of this building compared to its surroundings. 
> 
> image.jpg
> 
> image.jpg
> 
> I don't like that there are no windows on the sides. Do we have renderings for the final product?


It looks like they are putting 10 pounds of potatoes(TOW Building) into a 3 pound sack(the rest of CC).

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## HangryHippo

I'm excited for a taller building in Campus Corner.  There are some amazing views when you get above the ground floor in Norman.

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## HangryHippo

There's a new article in the Journal Record about this building.  Would someone with a subscription please post the full article?

Rising corner: Pizzeria, other new businesses expected in Norman | The Journal Record

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## BG918

Is it open yet?  I'd like to see check it out after the WVU game Saturday.

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## dankrutka

> Is it open yet?  I'd like to see check it out after the WVU game Saturday.


Not even close.

Edit: I am more just talking about the building being done, but maybe the ground floor is further along. Here's a pic I took on Friday.

image.jpg

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## HangryHippo

> Rising corner: Pizzeria, other new businesses expected in Norman | The Journal Record


Pete or warreng or ljbab - can one of you please post the full article from the JR on this development?

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## dankrutka

From Saturday.

image.jpeg

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## KayneMo

From yesterday, Dec 12:

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## Pete

Holy cow.

That building is so out of proportion with it's surroundings.  Thought it might look a bit different once it was largely finished, but nope.

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## Urbanized

It's really odd in person.

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## BG918

If they building to the east were redeveloped into something mixed-use 3-4 stories tall it wouldn't stand out as much.  That, the Box property at White & University and the parking lot across the street are ripe for that kind of denser development.  I think it will blend in just fine over the next few years.

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## kevinpate

Perhaps CC will continue to rebuild up on other spots as well.
Someone is always going to be first.
Here is hoping they are simply the first of many.

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## HangryHippo

What strikes me as weird is the oddly shaped part of the building on the back that's covered in what looks like EIFS.  It's just weird and detracts from the otherwise attractive brick structure.  But, I hope it's just the first of many structures that start to build up in that area.

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## Pete



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## macfoucin

https://m.facebook.com/Volare-387038...urce=typeahead

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## Eric

What is that part of the building in the back? If it weren't for that it wouldn't stick out all that much at all. Also, do they expect a two story building next door?

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## Questor

Norman planning commission lol.

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## HangryHippo

> What is that part of the building in the back? If it weren't for that it wouldn't stick out all that much at all. Also, do they expect a two story building next door?


That's the part that bothers me. What the hell is that funky stucco extension/tumor of the corner? It really detracts from the building.

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## Pete

No doubt the elevator shaft.

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## Urbanized

So, SO weird.

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## dankrutka

Yep, this building is strange in person. It's not all bad, but just strange. Pete White is the guy who bought the Sandridge properties on Automobile Alley. Hopefully he does something good with those properties... The completion of this building has really dragged...
image.jpeg

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## Jake

Feels like this mofo has been under construction for like 5 years.

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## positano

Getting close. There are a couple of private events this week. Place looks great.

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## ChargerAg

Little more information.  

http://www.normantranscript.com/news...9273a86a2.html

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## HangryHippo

> Little more information.  
> 
> http://www.normantranscript.com/news...9273a86a2.html


As an aside, is there a ****tier website than normanfranscript.com? If there is, I've yet to see it. Just an awful experience. It's 2016 and you'd think the website would get the attention it deserves.

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