Thanks for the info Pete. If I had to guess, the announcement will only concern the purchase and demolition and will not reveal the design plans for the new tower.

It would be best to have a rendering at the point of announcing the demolishion of the Stage Center, if only to quell some of the preservationists who will be up in arms about it.

Thanks for the info Pete. If I had to guess, the announcement will only concern the purchase and demolition and will not reveal the design plans for the new tower.

Boo! Hiss! I hope you're wrong about that.

Thanks for the info Pete. If I had to guess, the announcement will only concern the purchase and demolition and will not reveal the design plans for the new tower.

I think it would be unwise, and bad PR, for a company to announce purchase and demolition without also revealing their plan to replace the demolished structure with something special. I think this is a highly unlikely scenario.

It would be best to have a rendering at the point of announcing the demolishion of the Stage Center, if only to quell some of the preservationists who will be up in arms about it.


The time for being up in arms is long past. To get all pithy and preachy now would be beyond futile. Those who want the structure saved, and this at one time included me, have had years to act.

It's not like SC flooded out a month ago and someone jumped fast to raze it rather than examine how to save it. SC has (admittedly somewhat sadly) been a dead dormant and neglected carcass for many years. We just weren't kind enough to bury it in a more timely manner.

It would be best to have a rendering at the point of announcing the demolishion of the Stage Center, if only to quell some of the preservationists who will be up in arms about it.

I completely agree....just trying to keep my hopes in check before the actual announcement considering what we've all witnessed in this thread during the mystery tower process. :)

Let me clarify my previous post: I am hearing from more than one source that an announcement regarding the Stage Center site and proposed tower will likely happen next week.

Probably not Monday; more likely the second half of the week.

Could you be more specific? As in, the exact day and time of day -- I don't want to be caught off guard, out doing some silly real world activity and miss this. I need to plan my life around this announcement, you know.

Also need to make sure that I have plenty of Kleenex tissues handy in preparation for when the tears of joy start flowing...

:wink:

Interesting.....

11:39
Comment From Guest
Within the next year, how many towers do you envision being under construction? Stage Center site? Preftakes block? Other?
11:40
Steve Lackmeyer: Next year? Probably none. But the years after? Up to three or more.

Interesting.....

11:39
Comment From Guest
Within the next year, how many towers do you envision being under construction? Stage Center site? Preftakes block? Other?
11:40
Steve Lackmeyer: Next year? Probably none. But the years after? Up to three or more.

I predict the thread that the Stage Center tower will be in will break 5,000 replies before construction even starts in 2015.

Pete, do you know what company is behind the Stage Center site? I'm not necessarily asking you to tell me, but I'm just curious.

Pete, do you know what company is behind the Stage Center site? I'm not necessarily asking you to tell me, but I'm just curious.

LOL. Nice try.

Steve also said that even after an announcement that people will go right into the next "mystery tower" rumors. This thread isn't going anywhere any time soon.

Could you be more specific? As in, the exact day and time of day -- I don't want to be caught off guard, out doing some silly real world activity and miss this. I need to plan my life around this announcement, you know.

Also need to make sure that I have plenty of Kleenex tissues handy in preparation for when the tears of joy start flowing...

:wink: This thread is getting very interesting. Kinda weird, and a little depraved, but very interesting

Steve also said that even after an announcement that people will go right into the next "mystery tower" rumors. This thread isn't going anywhere any time soon.

Yeah, that to me, says its not OGE/Centerpoint that will be building there. I think that we will hear something from them in August about their plans for the MLP. It is in their timeline for the MLP..... They will say if it will be in OKC or Houston... then if its here a tower announcement I hope.

Then we will have to wait until after September to hear about more news of the Devon MLP... That could result in a tower... I don't think this year, but if successful, which all of them have been... maybe an announcement in early 2015.

Another guest on the chat said that their Devon friends were saying they'd heard ConocoPhillips was the Mystery Tower ...?

We've passed that rumor around before.

Interesting.....

11:39
Comment From Guest
Within the next year, how many towers do you envision being under construction? Stage Center site? Preftakes block? Other?
11:40
Steve Lackmeyer: Next year? Probably none. But the years after? Up to three or more.

I don't think Steve really knows when construction will start on Stage Center tower, just pure speculation on his part probably. I could see them starting Summer of 2014, but Devon Tower did take over a year to start construction after it was announced, so who knows, we will all know more very soon.

Wow! I'm surprised all of the speculation on this still! Pete Delaney will be making an announcement before the end of the year but right now they're working on the contract for the SC site and trying to work out a contract for the land to the south. They hope to start construction end of 2014 or beginning of 2015. All of the speculation about it being an outside company relocating a HQ here is wishful thinking.

i don't think this is the oge site

i don't think this is the oge site

Okay, talk to Pete Delaney and get back to me.

Wow! I'm surprised all of the speculation on this still! Pete Delaney will be making an announcement before the end of the year but right now they're working on the contract for the SC site and trying to work out a contract for the land to the south. They hope to start construction end of 2014 or beginning of 2015. All of the speculation about it being an outside company relocating a HQ here is wishful thinking.

Steve and Pete have both said they believe an announcement is coming within a week or two, so "making an announcement before the end of the year" is a little obvious.

Steve also said that back in March!! At that time there were still 3 bids on the property.

Wow! I'm surprised all of the speculation on this still! Pete Delaney will be making an announcement before the end of the year but right now they're working on the contract for the SC site and trying to work out a contract for the land to the south. They hope to start construction end of 2014 or beginning of 2015. All of the speculation about it being an outside company relocating a HQ here is wishful thinking.

You shouldn't be surprised. We don't have your inside info, and in lieu of anything tangible, speculation is all we have. It's also the very purpose of this thread!

Keep in mind that Pete believes (via his sources) that the Stage Center site will be developed by a local company that is consolidating. And OGE is the best guess on that. Most of us here go along with that. A lot of the other wild speculation is just people having fun (or they just haven't been paying attention).

Patrick, :banned2:

Patrick, :banned2:

Your banned what?

Steve also said that back in March!! At that time there were still 3 bids on the property.

So are you saying there will not be an announcement latter half of next week? I'll take Pete's sources any day over yours.

So are you saying there will not be an announcement latter half of next week? I'll take Pete's sources any day over yours.

I'm not here to prove a point. I'm just saying what I know. I'm a local physician and am part of the chamber...I hang out with these guys all the time. That's all I'm saying.

For those that may not remember I also announced here that Aubrey bought naming rights to the arena about a year before it was announced, but no one believed it.

Anyways, proceed on.

Patrick, the out of state company will likely be the Centerpoint MLP if it does end up in OKC.

You know, this might turn out better than any of us ever dreamed possible.......

Pardon Patrick, his medical practice has consumed a lot of his time, he is still 6 months behind, time to catch up Patrick.

Patrick, I'm extremely glad that someone with your knowledge is participating on this board. I'm very interested in anything you have to say. And I hope that you're not put off by some of the humorous jabs we sometimes fling around.

But I also hope that you're wrong as heck about the SC announcement being months away.

I'm not here to prove a point. I'm just saying what I know. I'm a local physician and am part of the chamber...I hang out with these guys all the time. That's all I'm saying.

For those that may not remember I also announced here that Aubrey bought naming rights to the arena about a year before it was announced, but no one believed it.

Anyways, proceed on.

Patrick! Long time no see! Welcome back and it's good to see you again.

This was posted today on Steve's chat:


Comment From Guest
Steve, the Bank of America drive in on Robert S Kerr between Hudson and Walker officially closes today. Is this the next site a tower could pop up?

Can anyone confirm this closure?

This whole block is prime for redevelopment:

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

Okay, talk to Pete Delaney and get back to me.

I'm not so sure of OG&E either. Steve's chat last week said to imagine what it'd look like if 2 towers were built a few blocks North of the SC site.....

This was posted today on Steve's chat:



Can anyone confirm this closure?

This whole block is prime for redevelopment:

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

Steve did mention in the past, that this site could be a possibility for a new tower, wow, too much going on right now to keep up with!

That building on the corner of McGee & Hudson is a windowless storage facility for B of A, and directly west of there is a Goodyear tire place.

Then you have the B of A drive-thru (highlighted) and a surface parking lot to the east of that.

Wow! I'm surprised all of the speculation on this still! Pete Delaney will be making an announcement before the end of the year but right now they're working on the contract for the SC site and trying to work out a contract for the land to the south. They hope to start construction end of 2014 or beginning of 2015. All of the speculation about it being an outside company relocating a HQ here is wishful thinking.

Why would they still be negotiating the contract but have completed soil sample testing and having the tenants kicked out?

You shouldn't be surprised. We don't have your inside info, and in lieu of anything tangible, speculation is all we have. It's also the very purpose of this thread!

Keep in mind that Pete believes (via his sources) that the Stage Center site will be developed by a local company that is consolidating. And OGE is the best guess on that. Most of us here go along with that. A lot of the other wild speculation is just people having fun (or they just haven't been paying attention).

I understand. And I understand that most of the threads here are speculative. I was one of the first 10 people on this website when it started in 2004, and one of the original 3 moderators, so I understand how it works. Specualtion has always been part of the fun of this site.

I could have swore I read a thread from Patrick that stated he was in Pete's Men's Bible Study Group, but Pete lives in California, just curious? lol....

Pardon Patrick, his medical practice has consumed a lot of his time, he is still 6 months behind, time to catch up Patrick.

I've been reading. I've been on this site since 2004, but have posted off and on. At times, people do get burned out on message boards, so of course my posting hasn't been consistent. Even my user account isn't the original. As you can probably see, I started the roll call thread back in 2004, but that account is no longer active, as I left for a time.

Pete....that BofA closing has been planned for a couple of months. I used to go there to make my deposits for work, and it is indeed closing.

Pardon Patrick, his medical practice has consumed a lot of his time, he is still 6 months behind, time to catch up Patrick.

Probably best to not be rude with someone who actually has sources. His information, whether it fits what we know or believe, should be just as welcomed as others. We can debate the merits and whether we find it likely, but no need to demean him.

Let me just sum up some things here. I will admit that the last time I talked with Pete Delaney was in May. At that time he had a good bid on the SC site. But, as with all developments, OGE was also looking at other sites. Someone mentioned the site just north of the OKC MOA. Delaney has also looked at that site, as it is just west of their existing building. The thing to consider is that when corporations consider moving to new buildings and consider building new buildings, they look at a lot of options. And their are many proposals put forth. And sometimes plans are cancelled depending on economic conditions or feasibility studies or environmental studies or what not. I can say for sure that OGE is looking at building a new tower and that they're pretty far a long in the process. I know for a fact that they put forth a bid for the SC site and were narrowed down to the last 3 bidders. I also know that American Fidelity considered many options, and were strongly looking at downtown, but instead opted to go with an offer that was a little too good to be true. I know MidFirst has explored their options.

So, I don't think we can say anything for certain. That's just the way the business world is. Just look at Steve. He told us back in March that an announcement would occur in the next few days. Well, here we are now at July, and still no announcement. Many factors have to come together before an announcement is made. And the announcement is usually made after most of the i's have been dotted and t's have been crossed.

Probably best to not be rude with someone who actually has sources. His information, whether it fits what we know or believe, should be just as welcomed as others. We can debate the merits and whether we find it likely, but no need to demean him.

I don't know, this dude comes on here saying all this stuff, after being gone for a while, I for one don't think he is a good source. And he is downplaying Steve as a source, so it goes both ways.

I could have swore I read a thread from Patrick that stated he was in Pete's Men's Bible Study Group, but Pete lives in California, just curious? lol....

Pete Delaney. Sorry, I edited it because I didn't want toi divulge too much private information about him or me.

I don't know, this dude comes on here saying all this stuff, after being gone for a while, I for one don't think he is a good source. And he is downplaying Steve as a source, so it goes both ways.

I didn't say take his information at face value, just that posters need to lose the rudeness. Seems be infilitrating these boards more and more lately.

So Pete Delaney is in your Men's Bible Study Group, but you haven't spoke to him since May? Yeaaaaaaaaaaaa, keep digging that hole....

So Pete Delaney is in your Men's Bible Study Group, but you haven't spoke to him since May? Yeaaaaaaaaaaaa, keep digging that hole....

:love_bed:

Patrick, I'm extremely glad that someone with your knowledge is participating on this board. I'm very interested in anything you have to say. And I hope that you're not put off by some of the humorous jabs we sometimes fling around.

But I also hope that you're wrong as heck about the SC announcement being months away.

I hope I'm wrong too. I'm just a little more pessimistic on stuff like this than some others.

Why would they still be negotiating the contract but have completed soil sample testing and having the tenants kicked out?

A contract is not completed until the property is officially sold.

A contract is not completed until the property is officially sold.

when the contract is signed the property is sold ... it can be completed well before

A contract is not completed until the property is officially sold.

I'm still hopeful it's Midfirst bank building the tower on the stage center site, or some unknown nonoil and gas company....

So Pete Delaney is in your Men's Bible Study Group, but you haven't spoke to him since May? Yeaaaaaaaaaaaa, keep digging that hole....

I feel like this is just becoming an attack per se and is straying away from the topic at hand, so I'll just end it with this, so we can get back on topic. He and I were involved in a men's Bible study group at Crossings, but that study ended at the end of May, as it did not continue into the summer session. It will be restarting in the fall.

when the contract is signed the property is sold ... it can be completed well before

That's what I meant. Geesh. By negotiating the contract, I meant details still need to be worked out, like surveying, assessing, soil tests, etc.

I hope I'm wrong too. I'm just a little more pessimistic on stuff like this than some others.

I agree that it is better to be pessimistic than optimistic cause people who are way optimistic get crushed when the bubble bursts :-)

Patrick I hate you and Just kidding. Haha I thought I'd join in.

I don't know, this dude comes on here saying all this stuff, after being gone for a while, I for one don't think he is a good source. And he is downplaying Steve as a source, so it goes both ways.

Steve and I have known each other for many years, back to the days when this forum started with a small crew of members on the OKC City Hall website, then known as the "Talkback forum" and run by city webmaster Mark Gilmore, later "The oklahoman MAPS forum", and pror to this site, Brian Bates' Oklahomasown forum message board. I have nothing against Steve. Steve and I have a lot of the same sources, even at this point. I think he's just a little more optomistic than I am. And I have been gone from posting for awhile, mostly because I've had no need to come here, as I'm now in business myself and regularly work with our local business leaders. But, I still have a lot of friends here, so occasionally I'll return to read and post from time to time.

Just to provide some credentials, here's a NewsOk article link from when I was a moderator on this site. I got together with then owner of this site, Steve, and Mick, and we organized an OKC Talk tour of the Colcord Hotel before it opened.

http://www.okctalk.com/general-civic-issues/6686-okctalk-mentioned-todays-oklahoman.html

Back to topic.

Anyways, to get us back to topic (and to leave this thread on good terms), here are some of the proposals I know are in the works for a tower downtown:

1. OGE Corp (Enogex, OGE, CenterPoint, etc.) - complete within the next 2

2. Midfirst (still a possibility)

3. Residential tower - a good possibility in the next 5 years

4. Continental - a good possibility in the next 5 years.

5. Devon - completion in 10 years

6. Sandridge - not happening

devon will almost 100% build a new tower in the next 10 years

Clearly there are pieces in motion. Patrick has a very good source with OG&E and his basing his predictions off of what he has been told by that source. This does not mean that Pete Delaney has solid information on what companies other than OG&E are doing. We don't have enough information to accurately gauge Mr. Delaney's sources re: outside companies.

We could have an announcement next week about a Midfirst Bank tower on the Stage Center site. Or an Enogex/OG&E MLP on the Stage Center site. Apparently there have been 3 companies bidding on that piece of land, and my guess is that all 3 want to build something tall there. Exactly what will take place is unknown. Even if Patrick had rock-solid information at the end of May, we don't know that that information is still accurate.

Clearly there are pieces in motion. Patrick has a very good source with OG&E and his basing his predictions off of what he has been told by that source. This does not mean that Pete Delaney has solid information on what companies other than OG&E are doing. We don't have enough information to accurately gauge Mr. Delaney's sources re: outside companies.

We could have an announcement next week about a Midfirst Bank tower on the Stage Center site. Or an Enogex/OG&E MLP on the Stage Center site. Apparently there have been 3 companies bidding on that piece of land, and my guess is that all 3 want to build something tall there. Exactly what will take place is unknown. Even if Patrick had rock-solid information at the end of May, we don't know that that information is still accurate.

Exactly.