I was extremely dismayed to see Cotton Exchange die. I would be ecstatic to see this one die...I would even rather keep this site as the quintessential "what if..." site in OKC (every city has one of those) rather than have to look at this travesty that Johnson arm-wrestled the BUDC to approve.

I'm with you spartan. I would rather see them round up all the painted bisons and turn the spot into a permanent corral, and I only kinda sorta liked the painted critters.

How about a quick and easy beer garden with a wide variety of sausages for this parcel?

That concept is red hot right now in L.A.; a modern take on an old-time idea.


Would make good use of that property until such time a REAL development can come together.

I am with you. A beer garden would be cool and it would be a great

I just drove through Bricktown and noticed a new, large "Land For Sale" sign has been put up on this lot.

What is it with this Chris Johnson guy? You would think the BUDC would have learned their lesson the first time....

I know a while back someone mentioned that a group approached him about building a 10 story hotel on that site, but he turned them down, but now it looks like we might get a hotel here if that group is still interested.

From Steve's last chat:


Robert 10:29 a.m.
House of Bedlam in Bricktown, what happened?

Steve Lackmeyer 10:31 a.m.
I'm digging into this question today. But it is not moving forward. For now, read this blog post from last year: http://blog.newsok.com/okccentral/2011/11/09/unfulfilled-dreams-and-questioned-motives/

Read more: http://newsok.com/unedited-transcript-of-okc-central-chat-with-steve-lackmeyer-august-24-2012/article/3703781#ixzz253uOcq00

I heard the Friends For A Better Use of This Spot got to him.

:LolLolLol

What is it with this Chris Johnson guy? You would think the BUDC would have learned their lesson the first time....

Yeah, this guy is a strange character and it's hard to understand his angle.

Why go through all this trouble just to drop his plans? Bizarre, but certainly a higher and better use will be the result.

Yeah, this guy is a strange character and it's hard to understand his angle.

Why go through all this trouble just to drop his plans? Bizarre, but certainly a higher and better use will be the result.

He spent a lot of time and money on this... A lot.

He spent a lot of time and money on this... A lot.

Any insight as to what happened and what his motivations are?

Sid ..... Bravo!

Thank God this proposal is dead (per the Oklahoman).

Perhaps it always was about parking and the House of Bedlam was a weak excuse to build more surface parking. Or, since he's had that temporary shop in Lower Bricktown, perhaps he found there wasn't that much demand for OU and OSU t-shirts in Bricktown. I think the burger concept would definitely fly in Bricktown. It's too bad we don't have a Tucker's or S&B there. But perhaps POPS will figure out how to get their food right and that will be our burger option.

Though it's never been my goto place in Bricktown, I've never had a bad burger from Coach's.

If you are hungry during lunch, Bricktown Burgers is excellent..

If you are hungry during lunch, Bricktown Burgers is excellent..

I have never found it open. So, it's just open during lunchtime? That's the one time of the day when I'm unlikely to eat in the area.

They close at 3 but generally hostile if anyone comes in after 2 I think, and no weekends...but the burgers and fries are damn good. Very similar to Nic's..not health food

Chris Johnson bought this building at 229 E. Sheridan just a few months ago.

Perhaps he will use this for shirt sales now that the canal property is up for sale:


I heard he wanted to turn it into parking (including digging out below to put in underground parking). Not joking.

I noticed on the way to work this morning that the lot at the SW corner of Perry and NE 1st, directly across from the Hill's empty lot had a sold sign up. Hoping it gets something built up as well.

I noticed on the way to work this morning that the lot at the SW corner of Perry and NE 1st, directly across from the Hill's empty lot had a sold sign up. Hoping it gets something built up as well.

http://www.okctalk.com/other-urban-development/31674-three-more-hotels-deep-deuce-bricktown.html

I noticed on the way to work this morning that the lot at the SW corner of Perry and NE 1st, directly across from the Hill's empty lot had a sold sign up. Hoping it gets something built up as well.

6 to 8 story hotel coming soon.

I moved all the posts about the City Manager and related issues here:

http://www.okctalk.com/general-civic-issues/31697-city-manger-planning-project-management.html

Just thought I'd pop in and express my excitement that this project is dead in the water. Now if we can just get someone to revive the Cotton Exchange. The plans are already drawn up!!

Looks like this project might not be dead yet...

From the Bricktown Design Committee agenda for 6/12:


Chris E. Johnson of USA Property Management, LLC will
make a presentation to the Committee, for informational
purposes only, on a proposed two-story addition to the
previously approved House of Bedlam project on the street
side of the canal at 101 Mickey Mantle Dr.

Looks like this project might not be dead yet...

From the Bricktown Design Committee agenda for 6/12:

Perhaps for a hotel?

Perhaps for a hotel?

Doubtful... interested to see what they mean by "two-story addition to the previously approved House of Bedlam project on the street side of the canal at 101 Mickey Mantle Dr." Does this mean that the currently proposed building will be taller, or that the parking spaces south of the building will be developed into an additional two story building (ala Lower Bricktown type smaller development with one story facing the street and two stories facing the Canal)???

Doubtful... interested to see what they mean by "two-story addition to the previously approved House of Bedlam project on the street side of the canal at 101 Mickey Mantle Dr." Does this mean that the currently proposed building will be taller, or that the parking spaces south of the building will be developed into an additional two story building (ala Lower Bricktown type smaller development with one story facing the street and two stories facing the Canal)???

That would just be one additional level because I seem to recall there was already canal-front retail there?

I am going to give this the benefit of the doubt until 6/12 but this development needs a lot more than 2 additional levels of building to be a legitimate use for this site.

We should see more details soon.

I bet this is in response to the fact he could not find anyone to buy the land for what he was asking.

We should see more details soon.

I bet this is in response to the fact he could not find anyone to buy the land for what he was asking.

I get the feeling this is going to garner as much enthusiasm as the SpringHill Suites proposal. Why can't we get an 7-8 story building built to the corner here with a hotel on top or apartments or something along those lines? It really shouldn't be that hard to do this right.

I get the feeling this is going to garner as much enthusiasm as the SpringHill Suites proposal. Why can't we get an 7-8 story building built to the corner here with a hotel on top or apartments or something along those lines? It really shouldn't be that hard to do this right.

No. It shouldn't. The location is fantastic.

I get the feeling this is going to garner as much enthusiasm as the SpringHill Suites proposal. Why can't we get an 7-8 story building built to the corner here with a hotel on top or apartments or something along those lines? It really shouldn't be that hard to do this right.

Something like this was proposed by a previous owner but he claimed he couldn't make the numbers work.

However, things have changed since then and there is much more demand for housing and hotel rooms. And the lending market has definitely loosened up a bit.

Pete, that was during the crash.

True, but the basis in the land has gone up considerably due to the flipping.

Residential mid rise with rooftop restaraunt/bar and this underneath.

http://www.perfectparkusa.com/images/underground-cross-section.jpg


Where are you Cotton!?

Residential mid rise with rooftop restaraunt/bar and this underneath.

http://www.perfectparkusa.com/images/underground-cross-section.jpg


Where are you Cotton!?

That would kick so much ass, but I just don't see Johnson as they guy that gets it done here.

I just checked and Chris Johnson paid $2.4 million for this property, which is about .75 acres.

That's really not terrible, especially if you compare it to what Chesapeake was routinely paying for tons of properties in the 63rd & Western area.

Or to put it another way: Chesapeake bought hundreds of industrial and residential properties for about the same price per acre as one of the most prime pieces of real estate in all of downtown OKC.

Was the planning meeting for this today? Any new info?

Yes, it was this morning at 9AM.

Haven't heard from those who said they planned to attend.

Steve posted an article on the new plans.

Parking planned near Bricktown Canal to be less visible | News OK (http://newsok.com/parking-planned-near-bricktown-canal-to-be-less-visible/article/3845993)

Site plan?

I am having difficulty understanding the changes..

I think the plan is to extend the building (the one shown here with the sign) south into what was previously shown as a surface parking lot on the east side of the canal:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/wikiphotos/bedlam2.jpg

I posted this on the other thread:



We've got to get out of this mentality. The city has invested tens of millions of dollars. It's not just there to trash with parking lots. Yeah, we must be able to rule against designated use in Bricktown. Plain and simple.

Taxpayers expect that money to be used for quality investment. My biggest gripe with Bricktown is that the city continues to allow mediocre projects. If the land use laws are not in place, they need to be. We are behind the planning curve if we are not allowed to stop a parking lot from locating along what is one of the largest public amenities projects in our city's history.

City of Oklahoma City, get a grip and fire the people who are telling you 'you can't do that' and/or change some laws.TBH, it really doesn't look like this place should need parking at all. Bass Pro has a huge parking lot that is hardly half way full ever.

I think the plan is to extend the building (the one shown here with the sign) south into what was previously shown as a surface parking lot on the east side of the canal

Yep. The building closest to the street will now extend closer to Reno. Some sort of DandB's concept. I'm not holding my breath.

So, the blurry rendering below (cropped and enhanced from the Oklahoman) shows the east elevation, which runs along Mickey Mantle Drive.

As I previously stated, it's basically taking the two-level structure and bringing it further south in place of the surface lot:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/bedlam6133.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/wikiphotos/bedlam2.jpg

I thought it would be advantageous to build taller because it's going to be pretty narrow, but it is what it is.

I'm more curious as to what he's going to try and do for the west lot. I'm confident that whatever he tries will underwhelm.

I don't think there were any proposed changes for the parcel west of the canal.

I don't think there were any proposed changes for the parcel west of the canal.

Correct. There was a plan at one time, but he told someone that it wasn't happening for whatever reason. I was just speaking to future possibilities.

I don't think it replaces the whole surface lot, does it. I thought they said the far south end would be a drop-off/pick up drive.

It appears the first floor of the south end of that building is not enclosed based on that elevation.

It appears the first floor of the south end of that building is not enclosed based on that elevation.

Yes, in Steve's article it talks about a drop-off for cars; so the first level of the far south end is probably for that purpose.

I guess I just had a lot bigger hopes for this property. It could be a game changer for brick town, the canal, and okc. On one hand I am glad things are happening, but seeing shots from the river walk in SA during the game tonight makes you realize how under utilized ours is. Is this proposal even big enough for a d and b type place? The whole thing seems weak to me.

It looks like we have a whole host of developers who don't actually want to develop. Is this basically just going to be a parking garage?

I guess I just had a lot bigger hopes for this property. It could be a game changer for brick town, the canal, and okc. On one hand I am glad things are happening, but seeing shots from the river walk in SA during the game tonight makes you realize how under utilized ours is. Is this proposal even big enough for a d and b type place? The whole thing seems weak to me.
Agree 100%. This whole things just has minor league written all over it. No matter what changes have been made, it is still pathetic for that location. You can put lipstick on a pig, but, it is still a pig. Something magnificant and special should be in that spot. Unfortunately this type of thing is apparently what OKC settles for in many cases.

Perhaps we need more public shame and ridicule.

Part of the reason there were skyscraper competitions back in the 20s and 30s was because of the adulation people received. You'd be celebrated. You'd get into the best parties. The mayor shakes your hand and gives you a ribbon. Maybe there should be some Bricktown Property Owners Association parties with lots of cool people there. Wayne Coyne is there, Kevin Durant, etc. Then when Chris Johnson shows up you turn him away at the door. "Sorry, your name is not on the list." "But I own this land here." "Not on the list." He should get his picture in the paper, along with a scathing article about the kind of crap he wants to build on an important piece of property.

Shame him into something better.

Perhaps we need more public shame and ridicule.

Part of the reason there were skyscraper competitions back in the 20s and 30s was because of the adulation people received. You'd be celebrated. You'd get into the best parties. The mayor shakes your hand and gives you a ribbon. Maybe there should be some Bricktown Property Owners Association parties with lots of cool people there. Wayne Coyne is there, Kevin Durant, etc. Then when Chris Johnson shows up you turn him away at the door. "Sorry, your name is not on the list." "But I own this land here." "Not on the list." He should get his picture in the paper, along with a scathing article about the kind of crap he wants to build on an important piece of property.

Shame him into something better.

Many people wish the Oklahoman had an architecture critic. Maybe something like that would help liven up his proposals a la the public shaming you've proposed here.

Yes, in Steve's article it talks about a drop-off for cars; so the first level of the far south end is probably for that purpose.

Why does his House of Bedlam store need a kiss-and-ride? I don't understand it..

Maybe he can build this crap on Meridian...

This guy should stick to stamping T-shirts.