Not only a higher rent, but a more stable one, without the headache of keeping up with 30 different tenants and their respective billing and payments, deposits, complaints, and maintenance requests.

And then if they go under or move out there goes everything...

Interesting. Maybe someone will look at converting upper floors in a different building into housing.

Spaghetti Warehouse!

That is quickly becoming the biggest empty space downtown.

Did the building owner(forgot his name) ever sell those floors to the developers or was he still holding them? If he hadn't sold, maybe he was having second thoughts.

Did the building owner(forgot his name) ever sell those floors to the developers or was he still holding them? If he hadn't sold, maybe he was having second thoughts.

I believe the floors sold and that the Tapstone deal is being done through the purchasers (Andy Burnett, el al).

I love it - that is going to put a lot of people in the area and suspect a number of them are going to want to live near by.

There are many places you could live and walk to work, definitely. Heck, on occasion I walk to work at the Health Sciences Center. And grumble about the lack of sidewalks all the way. The last time I did, one of my co-workers stopped to pick me up as she thought there was some sort of problem.

Well, I don't necessarily this use as better, but I can see it being easier. But hey, they own the building and kudos to them for bringing some life back to it.

Hopefully Tapstone does well. Pete, any word on what the snag was with the Rock Island Plow Building? Is there another tenant lined up for it?

And then if they go under or move out there goes everything...

Or grows bigger and wants the owner to build them a large place. Underestimating them may be like underestimating Aubrey.

The main issue I have with Tapstone going in this space is that it is unreasonable to think they will be there long due to growth, so maybe in a couple years this is vacant office space. I'm sure it gets filled, but I suspect the housing would always be full (until we reach residential critical mass, which won't be for awhile) whereas the office space may experience periods of vacancy. I liked the idea of Tapstone going into the Journal Record building better.

Actually, I just heard today that Tapstone signed a ten year lease. If that's true, and it was a pretty reliable source, that would be hard to turn down.

Remember, the developers of this project only bought the top three floors; I confirmed this through the County Assessor site.

Gary Berlin still owns the first two but in one of Steve's articles he mentioned this group was also trying to purchase the first two floors as well.

So, the plan may be to lease them the top 3 floors then give them an option to expand to the bottom two if and when needed.

And then if they go under or move out there goes everything...

If they go under you have a completed Class A office space in Bricktown immediately ready to lease out again.

Well if no one will be allowed to develop the top floors of spaghetti warehouse, maybe tom will make them an offer they can't refuse. That would certainly provide a ton of additional office space. Tapstone doesn't appear to be on the same insane trajectory as AEP. If tom sticks to financing from within as he stated he would for awhile, their growth will be limited. I say that in a relative sense as they will probably grow much faster then your average E&P company, but what's going on at AEP is just short of nuts. I, like everyone else, would probably prefer both to be housing but given how great tom has done with historic properties that he hasn't torn down, it certainly wouldn't be the worst situation in the world


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Remember, the developers of this project only bought the top three floors; I confirmed this through the County Assessor site.

Gary Berlin still owns the first two but in one of Steve's articles he mentioned this group was also trying to purchase the first two floors as well.

So, the plan may be to lease them the top 3 floors then give them an option to expand to the bottom two if and when needed.

Not that I'm a fan of it, but would this push City Walk out of the building?

I think for the time being, nothing will change on the first two floors.

I'm not sure that Tapstone will fill even the top three at this point.

Or grows bigger and wants the owner to build them a large place. Underestimating them may be like underestimating Aubrey.

Come on, Tom Ward is not Aubrey, the latter who I've never underestimated.

Come on, Tom Ward is not Aubrey, the latter who I've never underestimated.

He's not Aubrey, but he is about as close as you're going to get in OKC.

I think for the time being, nothing will change on the first two floors.

I'm not sure that Tapstone will fill even the top three at this point.

Right now they would barely fill one floor.

Steve pretty clearly stated in his chat this morning that reports of Tapstone going into this building are incorrect.

He's not Aubrey, but he is about as close as you're going to get in OKC.

Well that's an ingenuous way of putting it.

He's not Aubrey, but he is about as close as you're going to get in OKC.

I think Aubrey is as close as you'll get to Aubrey in OKC.

Steve pretty clearly stated in his chat this morning that reports of Tapstone going into this building are incorrect.

What he said is no lease is signed, which is technically true.

But they are actively working on trying to cut a deal on this space and that is why the redevelopment group decided to drop their plans for housing.


They are deep into this; it's not like this is just a rumor

The cool door on the north side of this building:

http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/development-buildings/6962d1394557934-mideke-building-mideke031114.jpg

From Steve:

http://www.oklahoman.com/article/3950555?embargo=1


Tapstone Energy, a company founded in October by former SandRidge Energy CEO Tom Ward, is preparing to establish its permanent headquarters at the Mideke Building in Bricktown.

The move is expected to conclude within one year following renovations to the building, which was built in 1919 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The company’s initial occupancy will be in the top three floors, which have been empty since Mideke Supply Co. closed its operations in Bricktown more than 30 years ago.

Cool, new low-rise spec office space within the year... should we start a mystery spec low-rise thread?

Glad to see this confirmed in the press, just as we first reported exactly one month ago.

Also excited to see they will be using the same architect that did the Braniff Building.

BTW, it's my understanding that the Andy Burnett group now has (or will have very shortly) control of all five floors of the Mideke.

The original plan was to buy the upper three floors for housing but when the Tapstone deal presented itself, they decided to acquire the entire building.

Pretty sure City Walk will be going away; not sure about Coco Flow.

I am excited to see more office. Bricktown has no shortage of evening foot traffic, but during the morning and day it doesn't hurt to have more. Bricktown is slowly becoming more of a mixed use district; and that is great.

Bricktown is very office heavy believe it or not.

Bricktown is very office heavy believe it or not.

And it will be good to see that trend continue.

Hopefully the first floor will still be retail or restaurant space


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^^^^^^^

I approve of the last four posts.

BTW, it's my understanding that the Andy Burnett group now has (or will have very shortly) control of all five floors of the Mideke.

The original plan was to buy the upper three floors for housing but when the Tapstone deal presented itself, they decided to acquire the entire building.

Pretty sure City Walk will be going away; not sure about Coco Flow.

City walk would move to another building, correct? That club has always been a pretty hot spot for the youngsters. Seems like it would be done for Bricktown to allow it to leave, correct?

Bricktown is very office heavy believe it or not.

I wouldn't call Sonic HQ and a few small offices on the canal and on Main St. "office heavy". Sure they're may be more than people realize, but I doubt more than 500 office workers in Bricktown, which is small peanuts compared to rest of downtown.

metro, I don't think anyone is suggesting that Bricktown office use will approach the CBD. LOL
The amount of office use is becoming significant, however.

I wouldn't call Sonic HQ and a few small offices on the canal and on Main St. "office heavy". Sure they're may be more than people realize, but I doubt more than 500 office workers in Bricktown, which is small peanuts compared to rest of downtown.

As a Bricktown officer, I will agree that there is a decent contingent of us but 500 sounds about right. I'm going to get roasted for this, but parking is becoming an issue with our growing firm. We've got employees in 4 separate lots through Bricktown. Putting the employees into lots is not that big of a deal (they are increasingly farther away from the office), but bringing in clients and getting them parking is also becoming an issue. We are starting to weigh our options in Bricktown as well as other areas around downtown, we are not sure our future is there...

As a Bricktown officer, I will agree that there is a decent contingent of us but 500 sounds about right. I'm going to get roasted for this, but parking is becoming an issue with our growing firm. We've got employees in 4 separate lots through Bricktown. Putting the employees into lots is not that big of a deal (they are increasingly farther away from the office), but bringing in clients and getting them parking is also becoming an issue. We are starting to weigh our options in Bricktown as well as other areas around downtown, we are not sure our future is there...

I had the opportunity to move to Bricktown several years ago and that is exactly why we didn't. Even though landlord was able to show us some parking solutions for staff, the public still perceives there to be a parking problem and was concerned of losing potential new clients because of it. You would be amazed the number of potential new clients we have now one that are concerned about parking in the downtown area in general. Not saying right or wrong.....just that there is a perception of parking being problem. Being able to offer free parking is a huge bonus for any company that relies upon customers visiting their location.

I wish I could find it now but a few days ago StrongTowns sent out an article about the true cost of 'free parking'. The cost to the cities in the study was staggering and it would actually be better for the average business to have no customers and instead the City just write the business a check for NOT having them. In some cases it was upwards of $50,000 per parking space. There were 6 cities in the study but the only one I remember was Hartford, CT. Based on how they arrived at the true cost OKC would have faired very poorly if they had been included. I'll keep looking to see if I can find it.

Pretty sure City Walk will be going away; not sure about Coco Flow.

That sucks. It's one of the better clubs in Bricktown and in OKC. Will it be closing for good?

I wish I could find it now but a few days ago StrongTowns sent out an article about the true cost of 'free parking'. The cost to the cities in the study was staggering and it would actually be better for the average business to have no customers and instead the City just write the business a check for NOT having them. In some cases it was upwards of $50,000 per parking space. There were 6 cities in the study but the only one I remember was Hartford, CT. Based on how they arrived at the true cost OKC would have faired very poorly if they had been included. I'll keep looking to see if I can find it.

I wasn't really talking about free parking paid for by the city. I offer free parking to my clients now but I rent the parking from a private entity. My new space will have on site parking behind the building. I have no problems with parking meters on public spaces. It keeps the local workers from parking all day which frees up space for customers to come and go.

I wouldn't call Sonic HQ and a few small offices on the canal and on Main St. "office heavy". Sure they're may be more than people realize, but I doubt more than 500 office workers in Bricktown, which is small peanuts compared to rest of downtown.

But metro that's not an accurate assessment at all. I'm not representing the district has thousands of workers or is somehow overpopulated by office, but most people unfortunately believe it has what you just represented (or less), and that is simply untrue.

Bricktown has offices in the Sonic HQ of course, and also (as you mention) along the canal (though between multiple floors of offices in JDM, Miller-Jackson, Kingman, Harding-Shelton I think "a few small offices" is an unfair characterization; Longwave in M-J by itself has dozens of employees). I would also include ACM@UCO as an office use, for discussion purposes.

But you neglect to mention a string of buildings along Sheridan (Glass/Confectionary houses ADG, law firms and others), Bunte Candy (Chickasaw Tourism, Advanced Academics, Johnson & Associates, others). There are also the several buildings along Main east of Walnut, a couple of newly-remodeled new beautiful buildings along main WEST of Walnut, plus the building which has housed ACOG and others for years at Main and Oklahoma Ave.

All told, I suspect (but don't know for a fact) that the number of office employees in the district is north of 500 but probably less than a thousand. The market will obviously change dramatically again when the Rock Island Plow building and this building come online, but I would suspect that Bricktown already has the largest population of office workers of any district other than the CBD, with the possible exception of Automobile Alley.

When you say small peanuts compared to the rest of downtown hopefully you understand that comparing it to the CBD or to downtown as a whole is not fair. Comparisons should be done at a district level, and if you do it that way Bricktown fares nicely.

I wish I could find it now but a few days ago StrongTowns sent out an article about the true cost of 'free parking'. The cost to the cities in the study was staggering and it would actually be better for the average business to have no customers and instead the City just write the business a check for NOT having them. In some cases it was upwards of $50,000 per parking space. There were 6 cities in the study but the only one I remember was Hartford, CT. Based on how they arrived at the true cost OKC would have faired very poorly if they had been included. I'll keep looking to see if I can find it.

I'm a big fan of Freakonomics. They "investigated" free parking (Freakonomics » Parking Is Hell: Full Transcript (http://freakonomics.com/2013/03/13/parking-is-hell-full-transcript/)) and interviewed Donald Shoup (a very interesting guy in his own right: Donald Shoup (http://shoup.bol.ucla.edu/)) who says we pay more for parking (and the minimum required "free parking" models most cities use) then we can possibly imagine.

Conceptual plans presented for Mideke Building makeover (http://newsok.com/article/3953741)


Conceptual plans for a $17 million makeover of the Mideke Building to become the home of Tapstone Energy won near-unanimous praise Wednesday from the Bricktown Urban Design Committee members.

I especially like this part:

“My goal is a great mixed-used building that has good interaction with the street, brings life to the district, and more importantly, to that corner,” Burnett said. “We want to see the same life that Kitchen No. 324 brought to the Braniff building and its surrounding area."


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It doesn't sound like there will be any type of rooftop patio, which was to be included in the residential design.

That's a shame, as people that have been up there say it's pretty incredible.

I hope this effort helps push the Spaghetti Warehouse people to do something with their building. BT is starting to run thin on office/residential space will a lot of the top floors of buildings being renovated. Now, with the Rock Island Plow building starting construction soon, that open space on the upper floors of buildings is only going to get smaller.

This will be a huge help to that corner. Right now the only street interactions will really be the Holiday Inn Express on the corner. We need a restaraunt right on this corner with an outdoor entertainment/eating area. This corner and Main st overall has so much untapped potential.

Also, I am guessing this means CityWalk is going away?

Coco Flow is there now and is open 10-10.

There has also been some talk about a Brazilian steakhouse.

While I'm not a big fan of City Walk personally (nothing against it, just indifferent), it seems like the idea of a business moving into an occupied buildings upper floors, only to eventually push out the original business on the lower floors, might actually deter other business/building owners from finding ways to open up their upper floors...

I doubt that. The removal of City Walk is not due to the fact that the new tenant doesn't want a business on the ground floor. It's that they don't want a club in their building.

I doubt that. The removal of City Walk is not due to the fact that the new tenant doesn't want a business on the ground floor. It's that they don't want a club in their building.

Have you heard they are for sure being forced out?

Well, I haven't heard it directly from Andy or from the City Walk guys, but I've now heard it from enough people generally in the know to accept that it will almost certainly happen.

Yeah, I was just looking over my notes and remembered that Ward really wanted City Walk out and even though they have a couple of years to run on their lease, some sort of buyout arrangement was part of the Tapstone deal.

Oh. The fact that the building owner wanted the club out was not clear to me. Since they leased it out to the club to begin with.


Edit: Read what you said wrong. Not the owners. But still if an upstairs business doesn't want a particular downstairs business they get to dictate? (Obvs an energy company that may be a future Fortune XXXX company will have sway, but should they?)

That was two owners ago. I'm sure the owner enjoyed the revenue when that was (practically) the only thing in the building, but to have a long-term first-rate tenant for the upper floors - who will probably help lure a first-rate ground floor tenant or tenants to replace most if not all of the first-floor revenue - is a no-brainer. You go with the full building.

Good point of course.

I guess the demise of dance clubs is part of the maturation of a neighborhood from an emerging entertainment district to a truly mixed use district. Dance clubs are an important part of a city's nightlife scene, but they are also NIMBY and don't work well in a mature, gentrified neighborhood with the exception of the upscale and exclusive ones. Hopefully Bricktown will be able to retain ones like Club One15.

Night clubs are hard on buildings and other tenants. City Walk has had its share of problems the last few years.

I understood that the City Walk people are the ones that opened Candy (I'm not positive on that) and had shifted their main focus to that. City Walk was only going to be around until the end of their lease anyway

The City Walk people are being compensated with a buyout. It might be a win-win for both parties

With the hotel coming opening soon and now this, its probably time for that corner to move away from a night club. I don't think Coco Flow will have any issues staying

I guess the demise of dance clubs is part of the maturation of a neighborhood from an emerging entertainment district to a truly mixed use district. Dance clubs are an important part of a city's nightlife scene, but they are also NIMBY and don't work well in a mature, gentrified neighborhood with the exception of the upscale and exclusive ones. Hopefully Bricktown will be able to retain ones like Club One15.

My observation is that they don't work well massed together. Nightclubs help add time-diversity to any neighborhood but problems seem to start when a neighborhood has more than 1. This is what Bricktown is experiencing now as it transition from Bricktown Entertainment District to Bricktown Neighborhood.