Looks like they have a construction trailer on site and are starting work.

Don't think so Pete, it is still the site that the folks building the East end of the boulevard is using. I noticed several orange trucks by the construction trailers, and there are several more orange trucks over by bass Pro where they are building the road.

Don't think so Pete, it is still the site that the folks building the East end of the boulevard is using. I noticed several orange trucks by the construction trailers, and there are several more orange trucks over by bass Pro where they are building the road.

Ah, that makes sense.

They have submitted their building application but it's yet to be approved.

8190

Some very minor design changes to this project coming before design review on 11/12.

Sounds like they are getting close to starting construction.

Everytime I forget this joke is actually being built, this thread is rebumped. Dam! :Smiley103

Is the spot on the map correct for this? Isn't the crosstown bridge going through that site?

No, it's just north of Reno. I-40 is south of Reno.

http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/development-buildings/5237d1386955422-staybridge-suites-staybridge6.jpg

I thought they cut the barrier wall on I-235 and have the supports up for the new offramp? That goes right through this location.

That map is correct.

This is the latest site plan:

http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/development-buildings/5303d1387050147-staybridge-suites-staybridge12.jpg

Nice setback and site layout

Wouldn't it have made more sense to have the building nearer the Reno/Lincoln intersection, as there's going to be some serious road noise from 235?

Man.........man.

*facepalm*

Ball...dropped.

Gateway into Bricktown is... parking lots.

Was there some type of drainage problem or something that forced them to situate the building that way? Looks terrible.

Rights of way they can't build on top of with the building as it's currently designed. No reason they couldn't redesign the building though and be right up on the corner with the parking lot in the back and rights of way still clear...

This is the worst.

Still awful.

Maybe someone can plant some really tall shrubs?

As long as not one precious parking space is not affected, then yes.

Or maybe someone can erect some fake cardboard facades next to the sidewalk so that it looks like the building is situated near the sidewalk.

:p :o

As long as not one precious parking space is not affected, then yes.You don't want obstructions either so you can travel through the parking lot at 40MPH minimum speeds. Any shrub might impede that.

LOL you're becoming a caricature of yourself...well played!

This site has a boxed and covered creek flowing through it that should have been day-lighted and turned into the center piece of the hotel property. Such a waste. It would probably good public policy that any new construction on property with a cover creek should require daylighting.

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Gateway into Bricktown is... parking lots.

It was already ruined by that visual disaster some call a "boulevard". I consider those few blocks a lost cause anyway, so it's hard to get too excited either way. What a great way to welcome people to the Boathouse district.....not.

There would be no problem with this if the hotel was up against Reno with the parking behind it instead of set back. Is there really no way it can be changed at this point?

There is really no way that it can be changed at this point.

I don't get this. If it's about money and developers wanting to go cheap, it would be no more expensive to orient this to Lincoln for instance than it would to do it in the proposed suburban style.

So, what would it take to full on fire anyone associated with approving designs like this?

Edit: Or is the problem that the committees in question have no teeth?

I would argue that development like this and an unwillingness to ask for/offer better is an overall cultural thing in Oklahoma.

I would add there is an overwhelming leniency for big business in Oklahoma City in particular.

Whatever they want to do, we are all supposed to be grateful. And it's certainly no one's place to question people with money.

I would argue that development like this and an unwillingness to ask for/offer better is an overall cultural thing in Oklahoma.

A lot of it has to do with the overall isolation of OKC (and other cities) here in the heartland. I know for me it wasn't until my first trip to Houston where I really got to explore in 2007 that I realized that there was more to urban development than the miles of strip malls and chain stores that dominate much of NW OKC, Tulsa, Little Rock, and other cities I was familiar with. Growing up I went to Phoenix a lot to visit family so my concept of "big city" was based on that. If anybody has spend much time there you know Phoenix is no urban mecca. I had no concept of urbanism at all outside of the perception that urban = blight and suburban = nice. When I started spending more time in Memphis and then lived in Charlotte and become accustomed to development practices there, my entire perspective changed.

Isn't the issue here that there are easements in the east and southeast areas of this wedge shaped property which they can not build the structure over (but apparently can pave a p-lot over the same easements?)

I think so, but you'd think they could just build a more compact/tall structure on the corner and still have the lot in the back over the easements.

I would argue that development like this and an unwillingness to ask for/offer better is an overall cultural thing in Oklahoma.



I would add there is an overwhelming leniency for big business in Oklahoma City in particular.

Whatever they want to do, we are all supposed to be grateful. And it's certainly no one's place to question people with money.

This is probably the most discouraging thing about OKC.

Here is the revised timeline for this project. They have been delayed due to ODOT using their property for boulevard construction staging:

http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/development-buildings/11375d1440540160-staybridge-suites-staybridge082515.jpg

I suspect they're not particularly broken up about waiting a bit longer under current market conditions.

I talked to a Bricktown hotel operator yesterday and he said their business is plenty strong.

Occupancy rates downtown in general remain robust.

I meant from a financing standpoint with the markets what they are.

I guess will shall soon see given their new timeline.

This is one project I am hoping does end up falling through. Bricktown doesn't need any new suburban style development.

If they could take the time to give it a street presence at the corner of Lincoln and Reno, and put the parking behind the building, this could turn out pretty okay - like the Holiday Inn Express did. As it is, though... Yikes. :/ I don't want to see this fall through, but I definitely would rather not see it built as currently designed.

There is a big railroad easement that runs through the south part of the property which is why they had to position the building as they did.

How big is Union Pacific's easement? I know their rails follow the south-eastern property line as depicted above, but I thought they (or their predecessors) had legally abandoned the two former spurs that cut through the property lines here. Unless there's an easement that cuts through the property, or issues with the storm drains/capped creeks prevented development, I'm pretty sure they could have put this up against the corner (with the majority of the building fronting Lincoln). Make the building L-shaped, with parking and the pool and such between the building and 235.

There is also an existing sewer line which would be very expensive to move that runs right through the middle of the property.

This is really the only way they could lay out the site plan.

Ah... I didn't think about that. So it is indeed site issues that forced their hand. Still disappointing... but that is more understandable.

If they can't build anything because of easements and sewage, I'd rather they just built a small park or something in this corner (some green space for people in the new Steelyard or Deep Deuce, albeit loud area), or some small monument marking entrance into downtown, instead of this. This is almost counterproductive.

I would be content with them finally doing the deep deuce to boathouse walking trail/path for starters.

This project has still not started. Is it still on? I'm guessing they're waiting for the BLVD. ramps to completed?

Or maybe someone can erect some fake cardboard facades next to the sidewalk so that it looks like the building is situated near the sidewalk.

:p :o

You could probably ask some of the homeless population that lives over under the 235/40 exchange for some cardboard...

This project has still not started. Is it still on? I'm guessing they're waiting for the BLVD. ramps to completed?

Yes, still on.

They should be starting soon.

At OCURA's meeting today they will vote to finalize the sales agreement to the group that is developing this property.

Hopefully, we'll see construction start soon.

Hopefully??

We have how many hotels underway? It's to our advantage that the worst one proposed just stays out there on the boards for as long as possible. The music will stop on this hotel expansion at some point. Once we build this hotel, there will never again be an opportunity to frame Lincoln Blvd in Bricktown. Also, at a certain point (when likely half of these hotels actually get built), a bad hotel moving forward comes at the expense of a good hotel.

The development company I work for nowadays moves easements all the time. "Oh, well that's ODOT." So? We also employ air rights construction when we can't move things. We also encounter local resistance that can actually kill a project if they so chose. This is an incompetent development that just doesn't want to go up to the street, which is shocking in 2016. The longer the list of excuses, the more it looks like everyone is complicit with "better than crappy makes us happy."

Except this hotel actually is crappy, and comes at the expense of better.

Hopefully??

We have how many hotels underway? It's to our advantage that the worst one proposed just stays out there on the boards for as long as possible. The music will stop on this hotel expansion at some point. Once we build this hotel, there will never again be an opportunity to frame Lincoln Blvd in Bricktown. Also, at a certain point (when likely half of these hotels actually get built), a bad hotel moving forward comes at the expense of a good hotel.

The development company I work for nowadays moves easements all the time. "Oh, well that's ODOT." So? We also employ air rights construction when we can't move things. We also encounter local resistance that can actually kill a project if they so chose. This is an incompetent development that just doesn't want to go up to the street, which is shocking in 2016. The longer the list of excuses, the more it looks like everyone is complicit with "better than crappy makes us happy."

Except this hotel actually is crappy, and comes at the expense of better.+1

As been explained multiple times, there is a large easement running through the middle of this property which necessitates the setbacks.

Waiting is not going to improve the situation.

The easement should be moved by the developers. Or they should utilize air rights construction. The city doesn't have to issue a "hardship waiver" to the code.

The easement should be moved by the developers. Or they should utilize air rights construction. The city doesn't have to issue a "hardship waiver" to the code.

Why do you assume they have not checked into alternatives?

Have they? You tell me. I can't answer an open ended possibility. I just know that no respectable developer would have their name associated with this awful project and the BUDC/City has no duty to grant it a hardship waiver.

Next we WILL have a duty to grant hardship waivers for suburban strip malls on the blvd, God forbid an old easement be discovered there. We move forward with no regard for the precedent we set. We put ourselves in the position of just hoping to god developers see the urban necessity in higher and better use. Should anyone consider higher and better use to be suburban style Lower Canal pads, Residence Inn, Bass Pro, Staybridge, event parking... We are toast. We capitulate.

It's hilarious how we all bemoan how bad Lower Bricktown is. Then we KEEP doing it bc we don't know any different. Why should I care about an easement in the big picture? It's movable. Move it. Build over it if the expense of moving it is too high. Too expensive to build a crappy Staybridge over an easement? Then don't build a crappy Staybridge over an easement.

We don't owe anything to these people. City code is more than fair to someone looking to build a hotel in Bricktown. Why are we doing this?

I know the easement issue was discussed in great detail with OCURA (who is selling them part of this property) and the DDRC when they approved their plans.

I remember this too but that's not yielding any answers or solutions. We've been discussing this for five years, so I think the strategy is one of waiting it out and seeing who blinks first. The developer wants to get an easy project into Bricktown. Anyone remember that Bricktown Inn & Suites at I-35 and SE 15? The only problem with it was that it wasn't in Bricktown. So here we go.

Who owns this easement? It's ODOT, isn't it? Somserset (original Deep Deuce Apts developer) negotiated w ODOT and was supposed to fill in that easement.