address=146 S EK Gaylord (http://g.co/maps/kpz7d)
owner=City of OKC
Conversion to intermodal transit hub est. $128 million
architect= TAP
sq. feet=9,226 (station); 11,060 (retail)

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/santafewiki1.jpg
Information & Latest News
1/16/13: City to acquire station for $4.5 million (http://m.newsok.com/oklahoma-city-to-acquire-santa-fe-depot-after-objections-dropped/article/3924607)
Tenants

Amtrak (http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/HomePage)
Pinkitzel - Downtown

Links
County Assessor Record (http://www.oklahomacounty.org/assessor/Searches/AN-R.asp?ACCOUNTNO=R133563000)
Gallery

I saw it also on the way to the Thunder game. They looked horrible (quality wise). I had the same question...

This was discussed when it came before the Downtown Design Review committee a few months ago.

Not sure why they approved it but they did.

A ban on electronic signs in the CBD? That is crazy.

^^Yea, wth is wrong with electric signs?

Not electric but electronic displays...I.E. huge TV's.

^^gotcha',just certain sizes or all sizes?

Not sure....Pete?

Not electric but electronic displays...I.E. huge TV's.

Still crazy. Devon is building an 843' video board that can be seen for 22 miles and they are concerned about a video screen at ground level. Electronic displays should be encouraged.

The signs were approved about the same time as the arena sign. Size and brightness is regulated. Use is also regulated. Commercial signs have more restrictions. The arena sign required an exception because it has some commercial uses and is oversized for that purpose.

I'm not arguing with you. There is a difference between Devon though and what is on the Santa Fe site...Devon's use is for mood, not for displaying "DEVON" all the way up the side of it. This cheap billboard is used for advertising, looks like they maybe spent $2,000 a piece on each one. And the quality of the picture is bad. If you are going to do it, do it right.

I remember seeing the renderings and thinking it looked really, really cheap and also occupies the gateway between downtown and Bricktown.

What are the video boards displaying? If they are just billboards I could see banning them but if content is consistent with buildings tennants or function then they should be able to have at it. Santa Fe station should be able to advertise Amtrak, train schedules, up coming on-site events, and event space for rent. They shouldn't run ads for other businesses. They could also advertise City sponsors events and functions in the immediate area that are open to the public (ie the OKC memorial marathon).

I agree with catch22, I noticed the boards right away and was shocked they used such low resolution boards. The graphics and lettering look terrible in most instances and totally detract from the architecture in the area. The local Sonic drive-thrus have better quality electronic boards.

Any pictures of how bad they are? I'll be honest - I don't know how you can put a sign on Santa Fe Station and have it look good.

Any pictures of how bad they are? I'll be honest - I don't know how you can put a sign on Santa Fe Station and have it look good.


They are on freestanding poles. The one at Sheridan is slightly smaller than the one at Reno.

I for one am completely bewildered that they would invest in such signs with the very publicized knowledge that the property is likely slated for acquisition for the Intermodal Transit Hub. Very surprising to me...

Okay, I found the background documentation on this.

The project was submitted to the Downtown Design Review committee on 6/16/11 and not only was it approved, they also recommended that it pass the Board of Adjustment.

The Board of Adjustment also approved the application.

This was all done by Tyler Sign Company but I'm sure it was to benefit the Brewers who own this property. Also, Allied Arts wrote a letter of support because the sign company promised to give them 8 seconds for every 48 rotations.

You'll see that the purpose is just for general advertising and nothing to do with the property on which they are located; just electronic billboards.

Application (http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/tylersign.pdf)

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/tylersign3.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/tylersign1.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/tylersign2.jpg

They must not be worth a darn..I drove right by them twice this past tuesday night and didn't even notice.

The rendering shows a solid structure supporting it. However, unless my eyes deceived me, it's just a few black poles holding the whole thing up.

That does look pretty worthless. At first I was like "so what?" but I imagined something totally different...

I drove by the Santa Fe Station tonight on my way to pick up my Dad from the Bus Station and these are shameful honestly. I looked for them specifically and I still have yet to figure out what they were advertising because the quality is SO BAD.

They are probably trying to jack-up the purchase price for the hub.

I drove by again tonight and it was a lot brighter and clearer compared to last week.

They are probably trying to jack-up the purchase price for the hub.

By making it look worse. Lol. Strange strategy.

..

By making it look worse. Lol. Strange strategy.

No - by being able to say it has another revenue stream that they must be compensated for.

Building permit today to prepare 6,000 vacant square feet at the Santa Fe station (I presume the space south of the depot) for something called Soloman & Sheba.

Seems very odd given the City is in active negotiations to buy the property for the future transit hub.

Sounds like a cat food company

It is probably a biblical store, though probably a bad name if you want to sell anything online since most everything a google searches pull up for that name is about film interpretations of the story.

interesting ... i wonder what lease terms they are signing ....

i will say even with the city (maps 3 dollars) buying this property we are still a ways away from making changes to the building (unless we get the tiger IV grant)

An obvious name for a biblical store here would have been "Jesus Junction."

6,000 square feet is a lot of space, whatever it is.

This was also posted in the streetcar thread:

Urban Renewal prepares eminent domain action against owners of Santa Fe train depot in Oklahoma City (http://newsok.com/urban-renewal-prepares-eminent-domain-action-against-owners-of-santa-fe-train-depot-in-okc/article/3761735)

The Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority is preparing to pursue eminent domain against the owners of downtown's Santa Fe train depot after the city's $2.5 million offer was rejected and countered with an asking price of $23.5 million.

“We've been down here for so long, we just want it to be fair,” Brewer said. “This property is important to our family. These kinds of investments are starting to make a return for us, and at the end of the day, we want to be able to support our children.”

http://cdn2.newsok.biz/cache/r620-0d5f7d88125fda40cc494ab8094d7df4.jpg

aahahahaha!

What a crock of crap. I do think the city lowballed the Brewers, but they want to support their children by extorting the city? Why can't they just come to a reasonable price in the middle? The Brewers make money and the city gets to work on the transit hub. Honest to god, why does this stuff have to be so hard?

Wow.

What a crock of crap. I do think the city lowballed the Brewers, but they want to support their children by extorting the city? Why can't they just come to a reasonable price in the middle? The Brewers make money and the city gets to work on the transit hub. Honest to god, why does this stuff have to be so hard?

Yep, make a slightly higher offer, but the Brewers have made a TON off the city. Feed their children................LOL

Yep, make a slightly higher offer, but the Brewers have made a TON off the city. Feed their children................LOL

Must be with golden spoons ???

This was also posted in the Streetcard thread:

Urban Renewal prepares eminent domain action against owners of Santa Fe train depot in Oklahoma City (http://newsok.com/urban-renewal-prepares-eminent-domain-action-against-owners-of-santa-fe-train-depot-in-okc/article/3761735)

The Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority is preparing to pursue eminent domain against the owners of downtown's Santa Fe train depot after the city's $2.5 million offer was rejected and countered with an asking price of $23.5 million.

“We've been down here for so long, we just want it to be fair,” Brewer said. “This property is important to our family. These kinds of investments are starting to make a return for us, and at the end of the day, we want to be able to support our children.”

http://cdn2.newsok.biz/cache/r620-0d5f7d88125fda40cc494ab8094d7df4.jpg

I wonder if they realize how supremely ridiculous they sound when they say things like that.

No - by being able to say it has another revenue stream that they must be compensated for.

This turned out to be very prophetic. There will be no sympathy for the Brewers after their outrageous sale price. They come off as petty extortionists as a previous poster pointed out.

And we probably wouldn't see a whole lot of their outrageous asking price go toward their holdings in Bricktown that continue to sit underutilized.

I have no sympathy for the Brewers. Nor do the Brewers seem to have any sense of civic pride. Screw 'em.

I have no sympathy for the Brewers. Nor do the Brewers seem to have any sense of civic pride. Screw 'em.

Post of the week!

I have no sympathy for the Brewers. Nor do the Brewers seem to have any sense of civic pride. Screw 'em.

Only fair, that's what they are tying to do to the people of OKC.

I have no sympathy for the Brewers. Nor do the Brewers seem to have any sense of civic pride. Screw 'em.

I couldn't agree more!

Re: Posts 41 thru 44: Amen, Brothers/Sisters.
Usually I cringe at the phrase "eminent domain" on account of the bad press it often gets . . . but in THIS case . . .

I have no sympathy for the Brewers. Nor do the Brewers seem to have any sense of civic pride. Screw 'em.


Post of the week!


I couldn't agree more!

This. They really need a good PR firm, and a realistic negotiator. I volunteer. LOL

Re: Posts 41 thru 44: Amen, Brothers/Sisters.
Usually I cringe at the phrase "eminent domain" on account of the bad press it often gets . . . but in THIS case . . .

There aren't that many places that you can put a train station indeed. It is the perfect example as to why imminent domain capabilities should exist.

Maybe it wasn't greed or even unrealistic expectations. Maybe they just thought Chesapeake would buy it for the city.

Maybe the Hub should be moved one block South, accross from the hotel..? Or one block North ? Either would work.

according to the assessor's site, bricktown real estate llc paid $374,667 for the property in 1998. i'm not sure how much they've spent in restoring the building since then, but i'm positive $23.5m would give them an insane return on their investment. -M

according to the assessor's site, bricktown real estate llc paid $374,667 for the property in 1998. i'm not sure how much they've spent in restoring the building since then, but i'm positive $23.5m would give them an insane return on their investment. -M

I think it was reported they had received a 1 million dollar federal grant, which was applied to restoration.

I have no sympathy for the Brewers. Nor do the Brewers seem to have any sense of civic pride. Screw 'em.

I agree they are low degenerates that cannot assume room temperature soon enough. Their daddy was a crook thru and thru. The apple landed right at the base of the tree.

I honestly don't see how the Santa Fe Station could be the central hub for a metro lightrail system. It seems to me that the rails and the station itself is way too small to accommodate the amount of traffic that could potentially pass through there.

What a crock of crap. I do think the city lowballed the Brewers, but they want to support their children by extorting the city? Why can't they just come to a reasonable price in the middle? The Brewers make money and the city gets to work on the transit hub. Honest to god, why does this stuff have to be so hard?

It is the starting point of the negotiations...both sides go back and forth and meet somewhere in the middle to a mutually acceptable number...or go into the eminent domain thing...


There aren't that many places that you can put a train station indeed. It is the perfect example as to why imminent domain capabilities should exist.
But there ARE other places though, right? Just as with the COnvention Center/Cotton Mill, if the asking price is unacceptable, move on. I am against I.D. in general, especially when you are talking about government coming in and using it for a public want as opposed to a public need. Especially true when governments use it to buy property not for a public purpose (government buildings, parks etc) but turn around and sell it to private investors for development (like they might do on the properties surrounding the MAPS 3 Park). If you need to use I.D. for the Park land, that is one thing, but the properties surrounding it? NO.


I think it was reported they had received a 1 million dollar federal grant, which was applied to restoration.
And they put in $1 million of their own money for that too. The City's offer doesn't amount to that much of a profit. Have to factor in the amount of time they have owned the property, property value increases etc etc. When you do that, are they asking too much? Is the City low-balling? I don't know.

The city needs to file an eminent domain case and just run with it.

There aren't that many places that you can put a train station indeed. It is the perfect example as to why imminent domain capabilities should exist.

yeah. and eminent domain too! =)
this type of anti-communial BS crosses all "party lines" . . .

(metaphorically speakin', o' course):
Here's what should be just over the imminent virtual horizon of these pathetic money-grubbers' efforts to join the One-Percenters: They should be tarred, feathered, and run out of town ON A RAIL!!!!

(the irony itself is nearly overwhelming. is that a real train whistle that i hear in the distance? yes it is. =)

Say! Before Willam H. Macy leaves town, maybe someone could pitch him the concept of a Reality TV Show revolving around this issue! Loosely based on American Pickers . . . it could be called . . . American Dickers!

(btw: the photos of that lobby are beautiful. when someone got off the train, back in the day, they would have had a GREAT first impression of Oklahoma (city).)

Radical: I agree, the interior shots are great...would never guess from the outside, that that was on the inside.

I honestly don't see how the Santa Fe Station could be the central hub for a metro lightrail system. It seems to me that the rails and the station itself is way too small to accommodate the amount of traffic that could potentially pass through there.

read this http://www.acogok.org/Programs_and_Services/Transportation_and_Data_Services/hubstudy.asp

clearly enough room .. and it wouldn't be light rail it would be used for commuter rail

The $2 million the city offered was clearly a lowball. The property is worth a lot more than that. Just because the Brewers invested wisely and bought a key piece of property early for a good price is no reason to screw them over. Of course the $23 million they countered with is just as crazy the other way.

They should get what the property is really worth. Eminent domain isn't intended to screw people out of their land, or to just give them back the money they invested. The Brewers should get fair market value. Both sides should negotiate in good faith. If the city starts screaming about eminent domain, that will reflect badly on them if this case goes on to court, especially if the Brewers can show that the property is much more valuable than the $2 million the city was initially offering. Then it looks like the city is using their power unjustly, and we might end up paying a lot more for it because of that.