development
|category1=Office Buildings
|category2=Classen
|category3=Uptown
|category4=
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|project=
|address=2000 N Classen Blvd. (http://g.co/maps/ae4za)
|status=
|owner=Eaton Enterprises
|cost=
|architect=
|start=
|finish=1962
|contractor=
|height=
|sq. feet= 315,980
|acerage=12.54
|other=
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|image=http://www.okctalk.com/images/wikiphotos/af1.jpg
|

Information & Latest News
North Building: 7 stories; 89,376 sq. ft.
Middle Building: 10 stories; 127,440 sq. ft.
South Building: 7 stories; 83,300 sq. ft.
Center Building: 2 stories; 15,864 sq. ft.
Tenants

American Fidelity Assurance Co‎
American Fidelity International Holding‎
First Fidelity Bank‎

Links
North Building and parking lot:
County Assessor Record 1 (http://www.oklahomacounty.org/assessor/Searches/AN-R.asp?ACCOUNTNO=R045003879)
3 other buildings:
County Assessor Record 2 (http://www.oklahomacounty.org/assessor/Searches/AN-R.asp?ACCOUNTNO=R045004644)
Parking Lots:
County Assessor Record 3 (http://www.oklahomacounty.org/assessor/Searches/AN-R.asp?ACCOUNTNO=R045003762)
County Assessor Record 4 (http://www.oklahomacounty.org/assessor/Searches/AN-R.asp?ACCOUNTNO=R045003762)
County Assessor Record 5 (http://www.oklahomacounty.org/assessor/Searches/AN-R.asp?ACCOUNTNO=R045004716)
County Assessor Record 6 (http://www.oklahomacounty.org/assessor/Searches/AN-R.asp?ACCOUNTNO=R045004716)
County Assessor Record 7 (http://www.oklahomacounty.org/assessor/Searches/AN-R.asp?ACCOUNTNO=R045006255)
County Assessor Record 8 (http://www.oklahomacounty.org/assessor/Searches/AN-R.asp?ACCOUNTNO=R045006327)

Gallery

I heard that they were waiting for the Devon tower to be done, so they could announce their tower that will be taller.

American Fidelity moving to a new location would leave a big hole in the NW 23 & Classen area.

American Fidelity moving to a new location would leave a big hole in the NW 23 & Classen area.

Chinatown will still be Chinatown. What's so great about this area? A bunch of old houses? Cuppies and Joe? What else?

Its not just Classen and 23rd. American Fidelity is probably the largest concentration of workers in midtown/uptown area after St. Anthony. They are a big customer base for a lot of the midtown restaraunts (Stella, McNellies, etc.)

Didn't they indicate a while back that they are happy where they are?

American Fidelity moving to a new location would leave a big hole in the NW 23 & Classen area.

If AF were to move, I believe their buildings @23rd & Classen, would fill up fairly quick. Probably not with a primary tenant taking up all 3 buildings but many smaller companies, doctors, dentist, law firms, etc.

These buildings could also be converted over to residences similar to the Classen.

Its not just Classen and 23rd. American Fidelity is probably the largest concentration of workers in midtown/uptown area after St. Anthony. They are a big customer base for a lot of the midtown restaraunts (Stella, McNellies, etc.)

Didn't they indicate a while back that they are happy where they are?

i don't think they have anything to do with the customer base of stella or mcnellies or any where in midtown ..

and if the move down town they would actually be closer to midtown

They currently take up space in those 3 towers on Classen/Western and 19th, even if they were to move downtown, they can still provide business to restaurants in the Uptown area, as its not that far from downtown. Also, those buildings would make great high-rise apartments in that area. So has Steve or anyone followed up with American Fidelity to see what there plans are?

What's so great about this area?

A lot.


A bunch of old houses?

Yes. Some of the best in the city.


Cuppies and Joe?

For starters.

Basically, you have a good mix of unique and locally owned businesses and it is less generic and homogenized than almost anywhere in the city. A lot of investment and rejuvenation going on and almost all of it is locally driven. Plus, you have great access to a lot of things that really are unique to the area.

Certainly a lot people are not looking for something different. Actually many are just looking for whatever is familiar. But for those that aren't, it is one of the best places in the state to live and/or work.

Would AF moving create a hole anywhere near the size of the hole just created in Enid? AF moving downtown would be huge! Continental Resources has 250 employees, AF has a 1,000. MidFirst Bank would also be huge.

The more skyscrapers in downtown the better as far as I am concerned.

They currently take up space in those 3 towers on Classen/Western and 19th, even if they were to move downtown, they can still provide business to restaurants in the Uptown area, as its not that far from downtown. Also, those buildings would make great high-rise apartments in that area. So has Steve or anyone followed up with American Fidelity to see what there plans are?

I could be wrong, but I think they only take up space in 1 and a half of those towers. The far north tower has been up for lease for quite awhile.

If AF were to move, I believe their buildings @23rd & Classen, would fill up fairly quick. Probably not with a primary tenant taking up all 3 buildings but many smaller companies, doctors, dentist, law firms, etc.

These buildings could also be converted over to residences similar to the Classen.
I interned for a summer (1985) at an MEP firm as a draftsman (the pencil kind) that was in those buildings. I spent a bunch of that time at Fort Polk (Leesville, Louisiana) doing a natural gas survey so my time in those buildings was short. I think not too long after American Fidelity started taking over more and more of the building.

Are they seriously considering moving downtown.

And if the above is yes, are they seriously considering building a tower?

Are they seriously considering moving downtown.

And if the above is yes, are they seriously considering building a tower?

I think they were one of the groups interested in the old Kerr McGee Tower. The Continental Resources building wouldn't be big enough for them. They would need 30 floors.

I'm all for new businesses downtown, but 23rd and Classen needs density, employment and excitement as well. I would prefer they stay where they are as they are a big anchor for that inner city neighborhood and their withdrawl would be detrimental. Moving the vacancy problem from one part of the inner core to another isn't terribly helpful. I'm far more interested in the rumors of new-to-state businesses that were hinted at for possible buyers of the Devon bldg.

I heard that they were waiting for the Devon tower to be done, so they could announce their tower that will be taller.

:P You left out the part where you say, "And you heard it here first, on OKC Talk, from met.., I mean lasomeday."

Why would they need something that tall though? We're only talking about 1000 people. Heck, the OKC office for my company has 500 of us, and we would only take up 10 floors MAX in something like the old Devon Tower. It's about how dense your office space is. We mostly are a cubicle company, so we fit a lot in not a lot of space. It's all about sq. ft., not how many bodies. So at most, you might see something like Chase (which is still freaking cool anyway), but i don't think they are in "danger" of overtaking Devon in height if they were to build.

I wouldn't be surprised AF announcing something after the spotlight on Devon Tower goes out...

Don't count on it anytime soon.

I concur with metro. I don't think you'll see American Fidelity move any time soon, if at all.

Even if they did move, there will be plenty of other space vacated by Devon in Chase Tower and First National. If they were to move, I'd personally rather see American Fidelity buy First National and make it a first class mix of office, residential, and retail space. I'd rather see First National brought back to its former glory before we see another tower built. Use what we have first. Not saying I'm opposed to another tower being built, because I'd love to see that, but I'd also like to see something done with First National.

They are currently occupying about 300,000 square feet at 2000 N. Classen but it has long been rumored they are interested in moving downtown.

AF is a family-owned company that routinely shows up on lots of "best places to work" lists and have been in that location for decades. They owned that group of four buildings which were sold about 15 years ago to Eaton Enterprises. Not sure if that is just another family entity or if it's an outside investor.


While re-reading a bunch of SandRidge articles, one of them reported American Fidelity had actually placed a bid on the old Kerr McGee tower, but that Chesapeake ended up getting as a part of a larger deal with Anadarko Petroleum.

But that's a very, very interesting fact: they tried to buy a downtown office tower and I'm sure their intention was to move into it. I don't doubt they may have maxed out at their current location.

They may be our best hope for the next downtown office tower. If they were smart, they'd build something like Devon Tower and lease out the additional space until such time as they may need it.

How many are employed by AF in OKC?

They have about 1,500 employees nationwide and about 1,000 at the OKC location on Classen.

The company CEO, Bill Cameron, is a part-owner of the Thunder and American Fidelity is very generous with numerous local philanthropies. A recent Oklahoma article reported they give at least $750,000 a year to OKC-area causes.

Here's an interesting quote from a 2003 Journal Record article... Seems AF has been thinking about building a new location for quite a while:


Members of a downtown improvement group are concerned that American Fidelity may move from its current location on Classen Boulevard in favor of building a new office campus in north Oklahoma City.

Nick Preftakes, president of Precor Realty and developer of several properties in the Automobile Alley area, said during the monthly meeting of Downtown OKC's Business Improvement District advisory board on Wednesday that the insurance company is planning to build a new office campus at the intersection of Broadway Extension and Wilshire Boulevard and will most likely vacate its existing facility by 2007.

And here's something Steve Lackmeyer wrote in March 2008 right after SandRidge acquired the KMc Tower and Devon announced their plans:


Sandridge Petroleum now owns the old Kerr-McGee campus, is renovating the tower and is moving in. The lawsuit was settled. Devon Energy announced today the company plans to build a new corporate headquarters across the street from the Myriad Gardens. And when I last spoke to Bill Cameron, CEO of American Fidelity, he was surveying architectural students’ ideas and plans for Core to Shore.

The parking lot on the east side of Western is always completely full during business time. They would have to buy up a block or two or mesta park to create more surface lots.

I think its time for a follow up with Bill Cameron, to see what their intentions are now...with all that's going on downtown, I don't see why they wouldn't want to move downtown, even more now then back in 2008...

What location downtown would be best for a new office tower,and how tall/big would one have to be for 1,000 workers?

If I were Bill Cameron, I would buy portion of Preftakes lots, and build there, to help revitalize west downtown, 40 stories, 600-700ft

Cameron is tight with Tom Ward, Aubrey McClendon and Larry Nichols and they have all worked together to make sure downtown thrives, not only through investment but by brokering deals (McClendon getting KMc for Ward; Nichols bringing in Continental, etc.) that guaranteed there were no big holes when these various moves were ultimately made.

Now that Continental has announced it's intentions and we know the old Devon building won't hit the market with tons of space, I'm sure Cameron is biding his time and looking for the best opportunity. There are no existing buildings big enough for them downtown.

They are growing quickly and have been for a while. If they were to build, they'd probably want space for at least 1,500 employees and maybe even 2,000. That puts them in Devon territory.

I'd like to see them go south of the Myriad Gardens where the convention center is being proposed.

That would be awesome! I would prefer they build a tower south of downtown area to stretch downtown towards the new I-40. 40 floors south of the Ford Center, then we'll have the Convention Center hotel to kind of fill in the hole between the American Fidelity tower and Devon tower. Just trying to get a vision in my head of where a new tower should be placed...

It begs the question of what becomes of AFA's current Classen headquarters. Personally, I think it's bland to the point of being almost an eyesore.

I also wonder if Someplace Else Deli, Café Antigua and some of the other n'hood businesses would survive without AFA there.

It begs the question of what becomes of AFA's current Classen headquarters. Personally, I think it's bland to the point of being almost an eyesore.***
Bornhere, that is as close as I've ever seen for being a totally indefensible statement to make. "Personally, I think it's bland to the point of being almost an eyesore." If anything, the 3-building mix gives Classen Blvd. south of NW 23rd its most beneficial project, the one which you'd claim to be an eyesore.

Does anyone else than you think that this 3-building complex on Classen is an "eyesore?" I doubt it. If so, let them chime in here, one way or another.

The 3-building campus is kept up very well, and its office spaces are very nice (should you have never been inside the premises ... I have).

Where do you get off making disparaging remarks like you just said without some tangible explanation?

What's to defend? It's three generic white boxes. Visually, it's the least interesting thing on Classen between 10th and 23rd. And on the east side, it's the least interesting thing on Western.

What's to defend? It's three generic white boxes. Visually, it's the least interesting thing on Classen between 10th and 23rd. And on the east side, it's the least interesting thing on Western.

You've given your opinion. Evidently not everyone is in agreement with you.

They rarely are.

suburban campus from the ground up vs. downtown

what would they gain from going downtown?

what wouldn't they gain from going downtown?

Ask Sandridge and Continental if you need to. ...

There was a rumor going around earlier on the devon topic that there would be a big announcement coming soon regarding another tower to be under construction. Could this be the one?

The only two logical companies that may be building a corporate tower downtown would be American Fidelity and MidFirst. Both are out-growing their current, older locations and have leaders with strong ties to the Thunder and downtown. They also have lots of capital to make it happen.

In the current financial market, the odds are very low a substantial office building could get off the ground without a large anchor tenant already on the dotted line.


From the OKC Chamber, here is a list of the area's top employers. I've highlighted the only ones that are true headquarters (as opposed to a branch operation) and are not government, education, health care, manufacturing, distribution or call centers.

The only other obvious candidate is OG&E but they abandoned the idea of new construction in the 80's after drawing up plans for a 16-story structure due west of their current downtown HQ -- that site has since been developed into a parking structure. And while Hobby Lobby employs lots of people, they are mainly in the massive warehouse complex at SW 44th & Council, and have new adjoining corporate office there as well.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/okcemployers2.jpg

Steve, any updates on their downtown presence?

Several years ago AF was mildy investigating building a campus like setting somewhere within the CTS area, possibly fronting the new boulevard or closer to the river with low to mid-rise type structures. At the time, there was no interest in buying or bulding a highrise, but that was obviously before all the momentum we are enjoying today. At the time, they opted to remodel a lot of their current space which started by creating a space program to identify thier needs at the time, and in the future. I would imagine since that time and given everything else going on downtown, they are once again seriously looking at a variety of options to possibly move downtown. I know there was some concern from many of their employees who were not too keen on the idea of moving DT due to parking, commute time, etc. Considering their constant high ranking in employee friendly places, I'm sure they will take that into account at some level.

As I said, this might be different today with all the excitement downtown. They were also sensitive to the bulk of their cusomter base, which are teachers. Therefore, it's not likely they would build too oppulant of a facility as it might alienate their customers. I don't think they would want to create the public perception that teachers dollars were funding a new high rise. Therefore, my guess is if they were to ever move south, it might be adjacent or near the park to help anchor CTS heading south, or, possibly closer to the river. Either way, they would never make a move like that without the proper due diligence and behind the door input with a lot of other powerful CEO's whose names we all know, as well as City officials. You can bet decisions like the park, transit, and the CC all have an impact on any decisions they might make, so it's my guess they are pateintly watching and waiting for the right timing and situation, assuming they can afford to do so before busting at the seams in their current facility.

I would rather them build a mid rise type campus in core to shore area adjacent to park, it would add diversity and dynamic to that area and kick start demand for housing and retail...

I think their buildings on Classen are fairly ugly, but not "eyesores". It will be interesting to see what happens. Surely something is in the works.

It begs the question of what becomes of AFA's current Classen headquarters. Personally, I think it's bland to the point of being almost an eyesore.

I'm going to stick up with bornhere by agreeing with him. I'm not impressed with their current headquarters. I recognize that it's good for Classen to have them there, but I almost avert my eyes when driving by. Personal tastes differ. I don't like LED lighting on things like the botanical tube either, which I suppose is tantamount to heresy.

Perhaps a partnership can be made where AF and Midfirst can build a new DT tower and both tenants occupy it. I would guess that to be 35-40 stories and would add to the OKC skyline and density to the CBD. Food for thought?

If I were Bill Cameron, I would buy portion of Preftakes lots, and build there, to help revitalize west downtown, 40 stories, 600-700ft

No horrible location, I think the corner of reno and walker is better

I would rather them build a mid rise type campus in core to shore area adjacent to park, it would add diversity and dynamic to that area and kick start demand for housing and retail...

I disagree. My preference for most property adjacent to the park is residential with some retail thrown in.

The problem I see with AFA moving downtown is selling their current buildings. Who would move in? I could see Mid-First selling most of their buildings to Chesapeake.

I just don't see either doing it. It will be at least five years away and that is if the employees push for it, which I don't see them doing.

Lots of smaller firms could move into AFA space

An MEP firm that I worked for during the summer of 1985 had offices in there. There would be no problem finding a buyer or tenants for those buildings.

Could it be that AFA's best option is to redevelop the existing site? Seems to me they own a ton of land at that location, it's a prime spot, pretty urban with tons of upside potential. Improvements could consist of another tower and better integration with the surrounding neighborhoods via mixed-use. Also, they could probably increase their footprint right there fairly cheaply.

Just drove by and noticed how much surface level parking employees take up between 18th - 21st, its ludicrous! They need to build a parking garage at that location if they are not trying to relocate. If I were an employee there, I would be mad to have to walk two blocks in the below freezing wind just to go to work!

I find it somewhat ironic that people who want to urbanize our city think that walking 2 blocks is a major affront. LOL.

I find it somewhat ironic that people who want to urbanize our city think that walking 2 blocks is a major affront. LOL.

Tru dat - a better solution would be to build a parking garage on one lot and sell the other two lots to private developers to build apartments/condos that cater to AF employees. So instead of driving to work and having to walk 2 blocks, they can live next to work and not drive at all.

I find it somewhat ironic that people who want to urbanize our city think that walking 2 blocks is a major affront. LOL.

its not so much about walking, but walking in the cold, and given an icy and snowy day would make it very uncomfortable. Moreover, the surface area parking takes up a lot of space which can be used for other potential development.

Yes, we can't have any discomfort in our lives at all now......

I walk about a block to my office near Coors Field, yesterday's 3" of snow wasn't too bad. My walk from the Santa Fe parking garage to CityPlace was further and yeah it wasn't "pleasant" when the cold winds were whipping through the towers but it was never as bad as many, many other places who have to deal with it much more than I had to living in OKC for 34 years.

My walk from the Santa Fe parking garage to CityPlace was further and yeah it wasn't "pleasant" when the cold winds were whipping through the towers but it was never as bad as many, many other places who have to deal with it much more than I had to living in OKC for 34 years.

You could have used the underground concourse for much of that walk.

http://www.downtownokc.com/Portals/0/PDF/UnderGround%20brochure%202010.pdf

its not so much about walking, but walking in the cold, and given an icy and snowy day would make it very uncomfortable. Moreover, the surface area parking takes up a lot of space which can be used for other potential development.

My comment still stands. Most OKCitians want NO walking altogether. Urbanizing forces more walking and those living in highly urbanized areas take those inconveniences for granted. We drive around for 15 minutes to find a parking spot 10 ft closer to the front door. Heaven forbid if we actually have to carry a bag of groceries 100 ft. if you really want an urban area then doing the walking outside is just part of the deal.

...but they have no problem walking every aisle of a 150,000 sq foot WalMart. Go figure. Could it be that the average WalMart aisle is more appealing than the average OKC sidewalk?