Does this annoucement come if the NBA / Ford center March 4 vote was a "NO"??

I don't think so, I believe once again that the people of Okc that believe in the future of downtown with MAPs 1,2, and "MAPs for millionaires" are the driving force behind this announcement and the future announcements that will follow this.

To borrow another members quote, "continue the renaissance".
Who can say, but, personally, I doubt very much that this announcement hinged on the success of the March 4 vote. I think that the announcement would have come either way ... but it surely is another "March 2008" present to Okc, ain't it?

Thanks for the good info, Swake. That helps put things in better perspective.

Another point of comparison is that big, boxy One Williams Center in Tulsa (the state's tallest) is about 22,000 sq. ft. per floor.

Also, the tallest building in Dallas -- BofA Plaza -- averages 26,000 sq. ft. per floor. That's just a massive building, though.

I thought the old hospital building in Tulsa on the ORU campus was the tallest in the state, somewhere around 70 or 71 stories.

Congratulations on the new tower, I really hope they choose a good architect, don't be afraid to go outside of Oklahoma and please, please don't go with Benham.

The BOK tower (formerly known as One Williams Center) is 52 floors and 1.2 million square feet, not including the former mall at the base. I think the mall (which is now just all office space) is another 500-600,000 square feet. Williams owns all of this still. The article you are referencing is talking about the same of the Williams Center Tower I and Williams Center Tower II buildings, they are across the street from the BOK tower and are the angular black buildings.

Cityplex in south Tulsa is actually 60 floors but is not as tall as BOK, all three buildings of Cityplex are 2.2 million square feet. The First Place Tower in Tulsa is 41 floors and the Midcon Tower is 36. I don't know how big they are though for comparison, I would guess they are each well under the 1 million square feet planned for your tower.

I would not be surprised at all to have George Kaiser build his own "BOK Tower". One that is not actually the owned by and the headquarters of another company (Williams). BOK owns a full block of land right next to the BOK Center, my guess is that will someday be the new headquarters of BOK. Oklahoma's largest company is the privately held Semgroup, and they might also want their own tower as well someday, they are currently located at Warren Place in south Tulsa. Oneok is also growing and might want to finish their building at some point. That building was started as a 60 floor tower taller than the BOK, but was capped off at 16 floors.

Either that, or if Tulsa leaders don't get their act together, some of these companies might consider downtown OKC as a relocation option.

For a 1 mil. plus square foot building I'm expecting it to be at least 43/44 stories tall. I'm glad that Nichols is harping on the fact that he wants it to be iconic. To me, that lessens our chances of getting an "Austin" type of pyramid structure. (DT Austin is awesome by the way) The math that they used to come up with the 37 story estimate assumed that the building would be a box. It won't be a box and be iconic so I think that we can rule anything below 40 stories out.

For me, anything around 570/600 ft. would be ideal. I'm afraid anything taller than that would stick out like a sore thumb. That is unless we get condo towers in the Core to Shore area....in that case Devon tower would be more centered and I'll be cool with a 60 story 650 ft monster! :dizzy:

Let's hope that it has a crown of some sort.

Metro, that's now called CityPlex and while it's 60 floors, isn't quite as tall as the 52-story Williams Center.

It was built as a hospital and for various reasons the floors aren't as tall. It's typical in hotels as well, because they don't have large, open spaces (just a series of smaller rooms) and don't need taller ceilings. They also don't get reconfigured like office space and therefore don't necessarily have suspended ceilings that allow for quick reworking of HVAC and electrical.

I thought the old hospital building in Tulsa on the ORU campus was the tallest in the state, somewhere around 70 or 71 stories.
No, at least according to Emporis and Skyscraperpage.com, the building noted by Swake ...


Cityplex in south Tulsa is actually 60 floors but is not as tall as BOK, all three buildings of Cityplex are 2.2 million square feet. The First Place Tower in Tulsa is 41 floors and the Midcon Tower is 36. I don't know how big they are though for comparison, I would guess they are each well under the 1 million square feet planned for your tower.

... which is on or near the ORU campus, I think, has the most stories, but as he noted, Williams I (BOK) is the tallest ... again, according to not only him but Emporis and Skyscraperpage.com.

Either that, or if Tulsa leaders don't get their act together, some of these companies might consider downtown OKC as a relocation option.

Why? The problems in DT Tulsa have nothing to do with the business climate. Tulsa's working on residential and their overall urban fabric just like we are.

Thanks for the info Swake.

This is very exciting news, many of us younger crowd have never witnessed a skyscraper being build in Okc.

I'll be 30 on Monday so this is kinda a cool gift for this news to come out. The only building I can ever remember being built and having seen it with my own eyes is the Valiant Bank building near Belle Isle. I guess I could include the Oklahoman place off of Britton & Broadway Extension...but that's short.

Thanks for the correction on height on the CityPlex compound.

Decious, I agree Tulsa is working on their residential and urban fabric, however many believed Devon's committment was in part due to the citizen's committment to OKC and investing in our short-term and long-term future. Many thought Devon and other's could have possibly been bought out or eventually moved to Houston if we would have turned down bond and tax issues like Tulsa has. Why don't you think it's possible Tulsa companies might get frustrated with things not getting done in Tulsa and employees wanting a better urban quality of life. I think it's possible, although not at a high possiblility. Especially for smaller to midsize firms.

Thanks for the correction on height on the CityPlex compound.

Decious, I agree Tulsa is working on their residential and urban fabric, however many believed Devon's committment was in part due to the citizen's committment to OKC and investing in our short-term and long-term future. Many thought Devon and other's could have possibly been bought out or eventually moved to Houston if we would have turned down bond and tax issues like Tulsa has. Why don't you think it's possible Tulsa companies might get frustrated with things not getting done in Tulsa and employees wanting a better urban quality of life. I think it's possible, although not at a high possiblility. Especially for smaller to midsize firms.

While I am still upset that the $270 million river tax failed you are not making an accurate representation of the reality in Tulsa. The river tax passed inside the city of Tulsa (it was a county vote) and even with the failure of the river tax, Tulsa has passed over a billion dollars in new taxes for civic and school improvements in just the last five years. On the river, even with the failure of the river vote, the Tulsa area has more than $1.5 Billion in development on the river either recently completed or in some stage of construction or planning.

Thanks for the correction on height on the CityPlex compound.

Decious, I agree Tulsa is working on their residential and urban fabric, however many believed Devon's committment was in part due to the citizen's committment to OKC and investing in our short-term and long-term future. Many thought Devon and other's could have possibly been bought out or eventually moved to Houston if we would have turned down bond and tax issues like Tulsa has. Why don't you think it's possible Tulsa companies might get frustrated with things not getting done in Tulsa and employees wanting a better urban quality of life. I think it's possible, although not at a high possiblility. Especially for smaller to midsize firms.

Cool. I'm glad that you really believe what you said and weren't just taking a swipe @ Swake. :wink:

I think that it's possible that a company would move from Tulsa to OKC, but I don't think that any decision would be based on the perceived "OKC forward" mentality.

I absolutely cannot fathom BOK, Williams, OneOK etc. moving to OKC. Why would they? Tulsa may be struggling with their DT reinvention in some areas that we are doing well in, but the cities are still pretty much the same. A canyon exists between Chicago and Tulsa.... I might give the gap between OKC and Tulsa the width of a pen.

In 15 years an unbiased outsider may indeed be able to see tangible differences between the two cities, but currently we're practically twins. Time and development may change that, but one decade will not. I can't imagine even one individual moving from Tulsa to OKC based on the NBA anymore that I can see someone uprooting themselves from OKC to move to Tulsa because they love trees. Even less of a chance that a father would uproot his family...Even less of a chance that a company would move multiple families. Why? Come to OKC to see Lebron or Bricktown and then take your ass home.

We might have a slight edge when it comes to companies from outside OK choosing a new OK address, but I don't see any migration from TUL to OKC happening.

I do agree that some smaller companies may move to OKC from Tulsa just not the larger ones and definitely not the huge ones. Even then....if the smaller company decides to move....they'll probably just stop in OKC for gas on their way to Dallas.

Back to topic for me.

I hope that this new building has a crown.:cool18:

I would not be surprised at all to have George Kaiser build his own "BOK Tower". One that is not actually the owned by and the headquarters of another company (Williams). BOK owns a full block of land right next to the BOK Center, my guess is that will someday be the new headquarters of BOK. Oklahoma's largest company is the privately held Semgroup, and they might also want their own tower as well someday, they are currently located at Warren Place in south Tulsa. Oneok is also growing and might want to finish their building at some point. That building was started as a 60 floor tower taller than the BOK, but was capped off at 16 floors.

How do you feel about the prospect of BOK vacating that building? Is there anyone to fill that space in BOK Tower if they build a new one? That's a lot of space. While Tulsa overall is doing pretty well (better than 5 year ago), I personally don't see a draw to downtown per se. Even OKC, with all that's going on downtown, has a hard time drawing companies downtown as opposed to the suburban office parks.

If the building goes where they say it will then the Colcord Hotel should BANK off thi$. Imagine staying next door to your 8A conference.

Im sorry if I missed it, but what is the construction time on the building?

Regarding the timing, they said they want to start as soon as they can work out a deal with the city and get their architectural and engineering plans squared away. Nichols said they were hoping to occupy no later than 2012.

How do you feel about the prospect of BOK vacating that building? Is there anyone to fill that space in BOK Tower if they build a new one? That's a lot of space. While Tulsa overall is doing pretty well (better than 5 year ago), I personally don't see a draw to downtown per se. Even OKC, with all that's going on downtown, has a hard time drawing companies downtown as opposed to the suburban office parks.


BOK is not the major tenant in the building, Williams is. BOK has a number of floors but most of the building is Williams, and other companies.

BOK also has at least two other major offices in Tulsa, one is at 61st and Yale in a rather shabby office center and then the other is the former Telex headquarters at 41st and Sheridan. I would guess that less than a third of BOK’s non-branch employees are in the tower now, and BOK Financial is growing all the time, they own a lot more than just Bank of Oklahoma, there’s Bank Of Arizona, Bank of Texas, Bank of Arkansas etc.

If BOK were to build a new building it would have a much smaller impact on downtown vacancy rates than Devon’s will. Devon building a new building would be like Williams building one, which is just what they did do in 2002. The addition of a new 14 floor 750,000 square foot building in 2002 for Williams Communications had a big impact on downtown and that was made even bigger when Williams Communications went belly up not long after and almost took Williams overall with it. The result now is that the Williams Communications “Borg Cube” is Tulsa’s new city hall.

They also have Bank of Albuquerque.

So why is it the BOK Center if Williams still occupies the majority of the building?

Regarding the timing, they said they want to start as soon as they can work out a deal with the city and get their architectural and engineering plans squared away. Nichols said they were hoping to occupy no later than 2012.


Man, 2012 is going to be a great year. The tower and crosstown will be completed, and by then we'll have the Native American Cultural Center, some more projects finished in Midtown, the NBA will be a huge success, on and on! The momentum is incredible!

Thats assuming the world doesn't end in 2012.

Will the world end in 2012? The Mayan Calendar says yes (http://survive2012.com/why_2012_maya.php)

Thats assuming the world doesn't end in 2012.

Will the world end in 2012? The Mayan Calendar says yes (http://survive2012.com/why_2012_maya.php)

Took the words right out of my mouth!

I've got my blog post started ... thanks, Pete, for permission to use one of your aerials. Before it's all done, I intend to get into a bit of history of Okc's other "tall" buildings, but that part is yet to come.

Here are some pics I took this morning and their doctored version this afternoon. Of course these aren't true renderings ... they have not been done yet ... just me playing around and not all that well. But, perhaps they give an idea of how the skyline might change, viewed from Myriad Gardens.

Click a link for a larger image ...

The Front Page today

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/devon_tower/march13oklahoman.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/devon_tower/march13oklahomans.jpg

Looking north from Reno

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/devon_tower/devonview1.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/devon_tower/devonview1s.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/devon_tower/devonview1a.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/devon_tower/devonview1as.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/devon_tower/devonview2.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/devon_tower/devonview2s.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/devon_tower/devonview2a.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/devon_tower/devonview2as.jpg

From inside Myriad Gardens

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/devon_tower/devonview3.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/devon_tower/devonview3s.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/devon_tower/devonview3a.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/devon_tower/devonview3as.jpg

Near Sheridan

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/devon_tower/devonview4.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/devon_tower/devonview4s.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/devon_tower/devonview4a.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/devon_tower/devonview4as.jpg

Like you know, I ain't no architect! So there you are! :sofa:

Thats assuming the world doesn't end in 2012.

Will the world end in 2012? The Mayan Calendar says yes (http://survive2012.com/why_2012_maya.php)

Hehe, it's possible something big could happen. A lot of the major religions have predicted for centuries something big will happen in 2012. Some Christians, Muslims, Nostradamus, some pagans, fortune tellers/psychics have all predicted something major for this year. I think it's the only time the universe is entirely in line with the sun or something is perfectly in alignment in the cosmos. I guess we'll find out. Either way, I'd still insert the word HOPEFULLY these things will happen in or by 2012. With the history of ODOT and other projected projects and setbacks in construction, many of these projects might not happen or get delayed a few years, just look at how many times the I-40 realignment got pushed back.

I will say that ODOT is moving along nicely with the I-235 expansion, so I have high hopes with the I-40 as I see them working on 235 everyday and it is moving along nicely too.

But like you said anything is possible.

The son of Cesar Pelli has designed some great buildings in New York.

This is a LEED certified condo tower by Rafael Pelli

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2229/1560182164_9ce3b428f2.jpg

Cesar Pelli would be an excellent choice, and it would give him two signature projects in Oklahoma with the BOk Center in Tulsa finishing up this year. I did this quick Photoshop showing the scale of the tower in relation to the rest of downtown, and needless to say, it will make quite an impact if it ends up being 38+ stories...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/bg918/IMG_3128.jpg

I have not read every post in this thread, so I apologize if this question was already asked.

Does Devon plan on making this building more eco-friendly (examples: grass roof-top, geo-thermal heating and air, etc)?

I am very excited to see it going up. At the same time I would be even more ecstatic if they were planning some major eco-friendly technologies that would help set a footprint for future eco growth.

Please don't take this as I am green crazy, cause I am no were close. However, I think Oklahoma City needs to start tax incentives to help prevent long-term effects that we have been able to watch other major cities face. It is just my opinion but having a energy company looking at cost-effective building implements would help us progress even further.

Glennn, check out today's Oklahoman (NewsOK (http://www.newsok.com)) and you can read a story by Richard Mize about how this building will be designed to meet one of the highest rankings for a "green building."

Questions and Answers with Kim Kimker Devon Energy aims for LEED certification in new plans | NewsOK.com (http://newsok.com/article/3216045)

Q: Devon Energy's new headquarters will be constructed to attain LEED certification — Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design — by the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED certification is costly. Why add that to an already costly project?

A: We do not believe the certification is costly considering the energy cost savings we will achieve. When you consider the contributions we will be making to the environment, the measures are well worth the investment. The building will operate more efficiently, will allow us to substantially reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, reduce our water consumption and reduce the volume of waste we send to the landfill.

Q: What specific kinds of things will Devon do to make its new headquarters "green”?

A: We will use state-of-the-art heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems to create a cleaner, healthier environment for our employees. Our plans also include use of the latest technology in curtain wall glass that will save energy while allowing more natural light into the building's core area for our employees. The building's design will include water conservation systems as well.

Q: Devon is in the energy business. Why build a building that is energy-efficient? You have energy to burn, so to speak.

A: Even energy producers have a responsibility to conserve energy. It also is our responsibility as a corporate citizen to reduce our emissions and conserve natural resources such as water and landfill space. It is in our best interest as a company to promote a healthy environment because that in turn is good for our community.

Q: How might Devon's adherence to green building principals enhance the idea of green building in the public eye?

A: As Oklahoma's largest company, we recognize the leadership role we play in Oklahoma City. It is our responsibility to make decisions that are in the best interest of our community. By building an office tower that is certified under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design system, we can establish a positive standard within our community.

Q: Do you have anything to add?

A: There are financial benefits in construction of a LEED-certified tower. Even if there were no financial benefits, however, it would still be worth it because of the benefits to our employees. The building's natural light will create a more pleasant work environment, air within the building will be cleaner and easier to breath and the overall work environment will make our employees more comfortable and happier. We work hard to recruit the best and brightest people in order to accomplish our objectives as an energy company. We owe it to them to provide the best work environment possible.

SWEET!!!!!!!! Very exciting for OKC! It will be exciting to watch the construction.

I've updated my blog post, Doug Dawgz Blog: March Madness (http://dougdawg.blogspot.com/2008/03/march-madness.html) , to reflect the following calculations. I've assumed an average floor height of 13 feet, taking a number similar to the Oklahoma Tower's average. The calculations reflect 1,000,000 (Steve reported this to be "the minimum"), 1,100,000, and 1,200,000 (which Swake said was the Tulsa BOK main building size) total square feet, with the "footprints" which vary beginning with the Oklahoma Tower floor size. I think that Swake or someone said that the Tulsa BOK average floor was 22,000 square feet. Of course, this assumes a "box" structure which an "iconic" structure may well not be.

Anyway, here's the calculated data ... please let me know if I've got anything wrong ... Steve reported he'd figured a minimum of 37 floors ... which would require an average square ft. per floor greater than 25,000, which I wouldn't suppose to be likely. How did you do your math, Steve?

[On edit having received Steve's reply, below, I've added average square feet floors of 26,000 and 27,000, which does indeed reflect 37 floors at the 1,000,000 square feet building size.]

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/devon_tower/devonextrapolations.jpg

Things to keep in mind: this will be a longer footprint than most of the current highrises. The floorplans currently are looking to be about 27,000 square feet. We also don't know floor to ceiling heights, though in this day and age they are likely to be higher than construction called for 20-30 years ago due to telecommunications needs. We also do not know how the atrium and public space will effect the height. Also keep in mind the 1 million square feet represents what Devon will need for the workforce they expect to move into the tower when it opens. My understanding is it does not include space to grow, and Larry Nichols was clear that we're talking about a minimum of 1 million feet, and likely it will significantly more than that.
Final note - keep in mind Nichols seems pretty genuine when he says he's not interested in building the tallest building, but rather one that will be icononic. The fact it will almost certainly be the tallest in Oklahoma City, for Nichols, is simply just how it ends up space wise.

Steve, good points to reiterate. I think Nichols would be foolish not to have extra floors for anticipated growth. If he's expecting to use 1 million sq. feet by the time of move-in, it wouldn't make sense to have a sizeable chunk of extra space.

I really wish he'd add several additional floors for mixed-use, say for leasing office space, hotel, condos, etc. As everyone has mentioned, we really are in a shortage of downtown Class A space. I think if someone built some spec Class A space, it would get filled up quickly. I was just in Dallas and TONS of high rise Class A space is being built, much of it on speculation. I know we're not Dallas, but I'm sure they'll have no problem getting tenants for the spec space. I'm not saying we build many multiple towers, but one built on spec (perhaps make it multi-use and get a contract from a hotel first), I think would be a realistic goal for OKC.


BG, nice rendering. Any chance you could put the "red bar builiding" in the picture where the tower will actually be. From that south angle, the building will be blocking part or all of Leadership Square and part of the SandRidge building.

Thanks, Steve, I've updated my chart to reflect average square feet sizes of 26,000 and 27,000, and there's you're 37 floors in the largest average floor size and I guess we're both assuming a "box" structure for purposes of the computations. You may need to press your "refresh" (F5) key for the updated chart to appear, above.

They also have Bank of Albuquerque.

So why is it the BOK Center if Williams still occupies the majority of the building?

The building was originally called “One Williams Center”, I don’t know how the name came to be changed, but the tower is just one part of The Williams Center.

The Williams Center is a multi-use complex that includes five high rise buildings (52, 21, 17, 15 and 14 floors) including the new (2001) 750,000 square foot, 15 floor Williams Communications Building which the city has purchased and will soon be Tulsa’s City Hall. The complex has 2.9 million square feet of class “A” office space, a 450 room hotel, the Tulsa Performing Arts Center and includes the former Williams Center Forum Mall which is now office space called the Williams Resource Center. In terms of square footage The Williams Center is equal to more than half the total space in downtown Oklahoma City in twelve city blocks. As for the name of the tower, maybe with BOK moving in Williams didn’t feel the need to keep the “Williams” name on absolutely everything.

Here’s Williams’ real estate brochure on the part they own

http://www.twc.com/who_we_are/real_estate/docs/brochure.pdf

I recently read somewhere that Tulsa's total downtown office space was on the order of 9.5 million square feet. I was surprised at how much greater that was than in Oklahoma City.

Here's one of Steve's articles today. And he mentions OKCTalk. Thanks for putting us in your articles Steve and trying to bring some credibility to this website. I know some city officials scoff at it, but that's just because they are ignorant and clueless on internet matters.

Devon plans have many abuzz in city
By Steve Lackmeyer
Business Writer
At 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, Kevin Walker, 21, was surfing the headlines at NewsOK (http://www.NewsOK.com) when he saw a just-posted story about Devon Energy's new downtown tower.



His reaction? One word: "Amazing.”

The prospect of a new downtown skyscraper — the tallest in the city at more than 37 stories — kept people talking Thursday whether they were at their keyboards like Walker or at The Buzz coffee shop in the heart of the central business district.

Alison and Tim Sisson started the day trying to grasp two big downtown announcements — the new Devon Tower and the previous night's unveiling of renovations planned for First National, where they've operated The Buzz for 11 years.

Tim Sisson said both projects were discussed at his shop — but he and his customers were most shocked by the Devon Tower announcement.

"This was one tight-lipped secret,” Sisson said. "I don't think anyone really knew this was going to happen.(Maybe he would have it he read OKCTalk every now and then) Everyone this morning was really positive — and there really are a lot of positive things going on downtown.”

Craig Brooks, who works at First National Tower, was himself shocked as he heard about the Devon Tower while ordering a drink at The Buzz.

"It's surprising — I didn't know they were experiencing that kind of growth,” Brooks said. "I thought we were through with this sort of thing for downtown ... but downtown Oklahoma City is really having some life come back to it.”

Jason Sanger, enjoying spring temperatures outside Chase Tower, admitted he had spent his entire morning doing anything but work.

"I can't stop reading the message boards (online),” Sanger said. "I want to know more — I want to see what it will look like, I want to see the construction cranes out tomorrow.”

Sanger even took a detour on his way to work to survey the proposed site of the tower on Sheridan Avenue, across from the Myriad Gardens.

"I never thought about what a cool block that really is,” Sanger said. "Having an office with a view like that — why isn't there a building there now?”

Walker, a geography major at the University of Oklahoma, was the first person to post a response to the story at NewsOK (http://www.newsok.com) and at the popular city online forum www.okctalk.com. Within 12 hours his post drew more than 1,500 views and more than 70 responses.

"There has always been talk about Devon maybe in the future having a skyscraper downtown, but I've always had my doubts,” Walker said. "It was a shock, but I wasn't totally surprised either.”


What do citizens think?
Walker, who is studying city planning, said the project was discussed in his class Thursday. He also heard from friends who e-mailed and called him asking if he had seen the announcement.
"It's a big topic for people my age,” Walker said. "Without a doubt, I'm sticking around. We're going up and up, with the tax for the Ford Center, Core to Shore, and really, what I'm looking forward to the most is the river development. I think it may end up being one of the best moves made with MAPS.”

The city's 1993 Metropolitan Area Projects initiative was also on the mind of Devon Energy Chief Executive Larry Nichols as he fielded questions at a news conference Thursday.

He recalled how downtown was in decline prior to passage of the five-year sales tax, which paid for construction of several improvements including Ford Center, the Bricktown Canal and the AT&T Bricktown Ballpark.

"Without all the activity in Oklahoma City that has happened since MAPS I, we wouldn't even be in Oklahoma City,” Nichols said. "We wouldn't have been able to attract the people we have here ... this is a pretty different place, and the entire MAPS I process, MAPS for Kids and the Ford Center vote helps companies like Devon stay in Oklahoma City and have employees move here and live here.”

Doug,

Bump that floor-to-floor height to 15 ft. That is about the minimum for new contruction office buildings.

BG, nice rendering. Any chance you could put the "red bar builiding" in the picture where the tower will actually be. From that south angle, the building will be blocking part or all of Leadership Square and part of the SandRidge building.

No, it should be just to the right of Oklahoma Tower and blocking most of Chase Tower. That's from the west, not the south.

Doug,

Bump that floor-to-floor height to 15 ft. That is about the minimum for new contruction office buildings.
Thanks! I've added a 2nd version of the same chart, with credit to you, using 15' ...

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/devon_tower/devonextrapolations2.jpg

Hey Metro, be nice to Tim now. His Internet time is limited. He's got two youngster and a great coffee shop to run with his wife!
:)
-Steve

I wasn't mean, all I said is that if he or others read the internet a little more, than perhaps they would have heard some of the inside info on OKCTalk. The article made him sound as if he was completely shocked this was possible.

Here's a cool pic of the new NY Times building:

http://www.treehugger.com/stai-new-york-times.jpg

BTW, Steve tried to arrange a phone interview with me yesterday so he could add comments about OKCTalk and the general reaction to the Devon announcement, but we couldn't connect before his deadline.

The way he talks about natural light, I'm sure it will be a lot of clear glass like in that NY Times building.

exactly why I posted it jbrown, and the possibility that this building sounds like it's going to be more wide and less in depth, very similar to the NY Times.

I know this has already been said, but "AWESOME NEWS!" Continue the Renaissance!

exactly why I posted it jbrown, and the possibility that this building sounds like it's going to be more wide and less in depth, very similar to the NY Times.
Although this is just a guesstimate, to have 27,000 feet per floor it has to have both depth AND width ... here's what I came up with, again, just as a guess ... I did it in units of 10 feet so that's why the numbers are slightly off ...

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/devon_tower/devonfloor.jpg

By the way ... congratulations are in order! My daughter just delivered her baby Sophia on the day that the interim Sonics agreement was submitted to and approved by the city! :welcome55 Sophia! :welcome55

I agree with the 15' recommendation. By the time you fit all the structure in and a few feet for HVAC, this is about right for a decent ceiling height. Telecom will really not have anything to do with the ceiling height. Fitting their stuff in is easy.

You will be hard pressed to have "clear glass" and have any chance of getting LEED certified IMO. There will have to be natural lighting, and insulated low-e tinted glazing to get significant energy conservation points.

The water conservation remarks concern me. Sounds like alot of waterless urinals. I feel sorry for the maintenance and custodial staff.

In terms of square footage, remember that in tall buildings a good part of the central core is taken by elevator shafts, stairwells and structural elements.

When Devon says 1 million square feet, I'm sure they mean usable space for their employees. To get a building that averages more than 20,000 rentable square feet per floor, you are talking about a thick structure, one way or another.

I just can't see how this building is going to end up being much less than 50 floors.


And congratulations to Doug and his daughter!

I recently read somewhere that Tulsa's total downtown office space was on the order of 9.5 million square feet. I was surprised at how much greater that was than in Oklahoma City.

that's leasible space. Im sure OKC has more owner occupied towers downtown than Tulsa does, for instance KMG is not included in OKC's total because it is owner occupies (Devon wont be included either). One look at the two downtowns and you realize that OKC's is actually bigger and much more dense (Tulsa's is taller overall).

Therefore this lowers downtown OKC to about 6m square feet. I do hope that eventually soon downtown OKC can get above the 10m square feet (leasible) mark; that is sort of a magic sign of a major city's downtown. And it doesn't have to all be in the CBD

- since downtown OKC has many districts (CBD, AAlley, Arts D, Bricktown, C2S, DDeuce, Flatiron, Triangle, WestTown, Film Row - all of these can and should have some office space [though only the CBD and perhaps C2S should have the tallest and most iconic presence].

By the way, congratulations to Oklahoma City (from Seattle)!!! :bow:

A new arena, a new major league team (on the way), a new tallest skyscraper! A complete downtown experience on the way.

CONTINUE THE RENAISSANCE!!!

I just noticed this in Steve Lackmeyer's blog, where he was discussing Devon Tower and other big movements in downtown office space:


And when I last spoke to Bill Cameron, CEO of American Fidelity, he was surveying architectural students’ ideas and plans for Core to Shore.

Perhaps American Fidelity can kick of Core to Shore in earnest, occupying (or building/owning) the twin towers shown just south of the Myriad Gardens and north of the proposed Central Park.

That would bring another 1,000+ employees to the CBD.

I just noticed this in Steve Lackmeyer's blog, where he was discussing Devon Tower and other big movements in downtown office space:



Perhaps American Fidelity can kick of Core to Shore in earnest, occupying (or building/owning) the twin towers shown just south of the Myriad Gardens and north of the proposed Central Park.

That would bring another 1,000+ employees to the CBD.

I noticed that the other night when I read it too. I thought those two towers (if actually built) would be meant for retail (street level) and then residential. I thought it'd be pretty sweet if Sir Cameron were looking at a future corporate site.

WOW! I have been waiting for this announcement for about 33 years! I remember when I was a teenager during the last stages of demolition of the "old" downtown, (I witnessed the implosion of the Hotel Oklahoma) and thinking even then: "A new tallest skyscraper should be right around the corner". One oil bust later and after permanently leaving the city for Europe in 1985 I still am really proud that OKC is moving forward with this new tower. It will always be the hometown, and the developments now are... well exciting!!

As far as height and style are concerned, I really admire the studies that others on this blog are doing regarding height possibilites. Whatever is built, I believe it will be "of this time", meaning lots of glass and higher floor to ceiling ratios. I DO hope, as promised that it will be "Iconic". For me that does not necessarily mean a building with a spire, although one that also respects the general vernacular of OKC would also be good. Height-wise I believe that around 700 feet would be great. That would be iconic in its own right, even without a spire.

Congratulations OKC. You have LONG deserved this and the only way is up from now on!

Either that, or if Tulsa leaders don't get their act together, some of these companies might consider downtown OKC as a relocation option.

I don't think you can blame the city leaders. You would have to blame the voters.

This is really great! It should be a really neat skyscarper. I was drving in downtown today and tried to envision what the tower will look like. I hope its a building with plenty of glass and a skylight on the tower to make it shine brightly at night. Just imagine what the tower will look at street level.

My own hope is that Devon is able to engage a 1st class architect like SOM. Any news about this?

I have been looking into the scenario of “Devon Tower” taking BOK/Williams Towers status as the states tallest. We all know that the chances of “Devon Tower” being OKC tallest are really high, but not much is said about being the states tallest. BOK/Williams Tower has a pretty unique title. From Dallas (south) to Minneapolis (north) to Denver (west) and to Indianapolis (east) it is the tallest building. However if you look at OKC’s five tallest buildings, there is only 107ft that separate them. If Devon wanted to take BOK/Williams status they would have to reach higher than 667ft. That’s 167ft taller than the Chase Tower. I know the chances are slim to none but do we really want this to happen? Would it stick out like a sore thumb? I personally think it would be nice to have a signature tower. for this part of the country, located in OKC. What do you guys think?

Well, someone has to be the first.


Something like the Trans America Tower in San Francisco would look great.

Sooner, I think Chicago has 60 skyscrapers taller than Tulsa's BOK. So I think you need to exclude the 2nd city from that range you gave Tulsa credit for.. But I digress.

170 feet taller than Chase is not that much taller. especially given the elevation differences that might exist (I think the galleria site is a few feet lower than the elevation Chase is on. Basically, take the Mid America (Devon current) tower and add it to chase - and voila, you get a 750 foot tower, roughly; not too much taller/outofplace than the existing skyline if done right (as in not too massive at the top).

Take Tulsa for example. BOK is 667 feet whereas the next tallest is what 530 feet. Yet from most angles, the two dont look too far off.

Oklahoma City has a much more dense skyline than Tulsa so I suspect the tower to fit in as long as it's not too much taller than 750 feet. And certainly such a skyscraper is deserved by OKC and would give it the title to the tallest building in the Great Plains region: east of Denver, West and South of Chicago, North of Dallas -

As it should be (since OKC is the largest city proper population in that same said region, 3rd largest metro)!

In fact, a 750 foot tower might be taller than Denver's Republic Tower, which would totally be a coup for OKC!

I say/hope 750 is the mark!

(assuming a SFR of 16, that would be a 47 storey tower and would definitely accomodate 1.3m sq feet in 26.7k sq ft per floor assuming a box (1m sq feet gives us 21.4k sq ft). SFR of 15 gives a 50 storey tower, 1.3m sq feet translates into 26k floorplates/1m sq feet = 20k floorplates)