Guys, this is how big projects usually come to fruition. Soft announcement first, just stating what is going to take place, then a hard announcement usually follows a few months later with more details, renderings, etc. Remember, Devon Tower had a soft announcement first, in March of 2008 with no renderings, etc., but then in August we were all amazed on the final outcome. We are not used to this, people in Austin and Houston are probably laughing at us right now, this is an everyday thing for them, lol.

Don't discount what I said. I joined this site in March of 2008 when that Devon announcement was made. I know it is a long process. Re-read what I wrote.

Has anyone actually seen a press release that was supposed to be going out today?

Has anyone actually seen a press release that was supposed to be going out today?

The only story that went out today was the one that Lackmeyer wrote which came out on newsok.com late last night. It was linked at least 5 times one page back.

The Journal Record had a little bit of a story also.

Yeah, the JR basically discussed the rumors circulating here. My opinion is that they were trying to beat Steve to the punch.

Yeah, the JR basically discussed the rumors circulating here. My opinion is that they were trying to beat Steve to the punch.

I think you're right. I'll give you some credit, I think your prediction of OG&E possibly announcing later this year was spot on.

So, to understand this right, the "press release", was just an announcement from Steve????? Not discrediting him in any way, but what the hell????????? I thought we were going to get an actually press release from the builder or the company building their new HQ.

Was this how the Devon story was announced? Either way, I really do appreciate Steve and Pete's involvement in trying to get solid info and bringing this forward, though.

If I remember correctly, this is how Devon made their announcement. No big press release or media gathering until they unveiled the renderings and models.

I thought you were told along with everyone else on the forum that an official announcement would be made early next week.yeah, I looked back at the previous posts and neither Pete nor Steve said anything about a press release, just a major announcement. I'm not sure where I got that from, probably just got over excited and "saw" it somewhere.

The press release will come "before the end of the year" or rather more specifically, within the next 90 days. In other words, once the anchor tenant is sign and its determined exactly how much space they'll need to dictate the size of the tower.

What happened to this thread, I had to google search it to find it? Did it move? What is the most up to date news on this tower

Talk on it has moved to the Stage Center Tower thread since we now have a location

There is some discussion about another Mystery Tower (#2), however, directly south of the now less-mysterious tower or at the Preftakes block directly west of the Devon Tower.

I hear from a good source that mystery tower #2 is in the work. We're looking at an announcement in 8 months.

I hear from a good source that mystery tower #2 is in the work. We're looking at an announcement in 8 months.

Any idea of a location ?

I hear from a good source that mystery tower #2 is in the work. We're looking at an announcement in 8 months.

And if its not 8 months exactly or doesn't happen, don't have a meltdown. Lol.

I hear from a good source that mystery tower #2 is in the work. We're looking at an announcement in 8 months.

That's very cool. But I have to say... 8 months is an eternity. So much could change in that time (plans altered, shifted, aborted, postponed). We saw how fluid things were (are) in the Mystery Tower #1.

Still, I'll take solace in the fact that so many are hearing rumors of a second tower firming up. And no doubt -- that kind of timeline would be awesome. That would put the announcement of tower #2 only about six months after the details of tower #1 were released. Now that would be exciting!

If I remember correctly, Steve did say we could hear about a second tower before the end of the year.

If I remember correctly, Steve did say we could hear about a second tower before the end of the year.

I have a feeling the year ends in 4 1/2 months. Maybe he meant "within a year" from the time he stated that.

Hudson and Kerr looks talks heating up...

Hudson and Kerr looks talks heating up...

Mystery Tower III

Hey,
Did you hear this about Mystery Tower II (Preftakes site) from LRSooner?:


My cousin (works at Devon) had a discussion with one of the site managers of the Devon Tower construction a couple of weeks back and is very clued in to the downtown happenings. Take it for what it's worth, he was told the Stage Center tower would be 20-25 stories in height, but didn't share who the main tenant would be. It got interesting when discussing the Preftakes (spelling) site, he confirmed a deal is very much in the closing stages and MIGHT be announced this winter (said the info is very delicate, wouldn't want to mess up a possible deal this late in the game). Believe it or not, the source told him it was a bank (currently without a footprint in state) wanting to set up shop with a new 40 story tower (he gave me a possible name, but again, said it's apparently highly classified..ugh) they would inhabit the upper half floors while leasing out the bottom. Again, this is third hand info, so it might be safe to to take with a grain of salt, but my cousin said this guy knows his stuff. We shall see.

Hey,
Did you hear about this about Mystery Tower II (Preftakes site) from LRSooner?:

Definite interesting speculation. I won't bank on it though until it comes from Steve. It would definitely be huge for OKC's economy to get the presence of a major financial institution here. While the financial industry is far more dependent on the national economy than energy, it does drive huge white collar job growth which would help take OKC to the next level.

Definite interesting speculation. I won't bank on it though until it comes from Steve. It would definitely be huge for OKC's economy to get the presence of a major financial institution here. While the financial industry is far more dependent on the national economy than energy, it does drive huge white collar job growth which would help take OKC to the next level.

I am hoping its an international bank like UBS. That would be great!

I won't say this can't happen but it just really seems far out that a bank with no previous presence here would come in and build a tower.

If I had to guess, it would be Chase, BoA, or Citi. Not unreasonable to think that either Chase or BoA could benefit from more presence in OKC, since it is an expanding market.

My guess is that they aren't building a tower, but would be an anchor tenant for another spec building. According to the rumor, anyway.

what about Wells Fargo?

If I had to guess, it would be Chase, BoA, or Citi. Not unreasonable to think that either Chase or BoA could benefit from more presence in OKC, since it is an expanding market.

I was at a tailgate party at the OU game on Saturday wirh several people from Chase. We were discussing the possibility of a new tower and who it could be. they all agreed that it could very well be them but did not know. They told me that their corporate leadership came in recently and did not like thier offices ata ll. They also said that they are now on a month to month lease with Cotter Ranch tower and are looking for a new location. This could possibly be the new Chase tower.

I was at a tailgate party at the OU game on Saturday wirh several people from Chase. We were discussing the possibility of a new tower and who it could be. they all agreed that it could very well be them but did not know. They told me that their corporate leadership came in recently and did not like thier offices ata ll. They also said that they are now on a month to month lease with Cotter Ranch tower and are looking for a new location. This could possibly be the new Chase tower.

Somebody slap me!
:cool:

Something we haven't talked about...

If we get more 2-3 new towers will a decent amount of spec space, you can bet that lots of existing tenants at Chase and other middling buildings will jump to the new, sexy digs.

This is exactly what happened when Leadership Square opened, as very few new companies were expanding or moving downtown; they merely moved in a bunch of companies that were already officing in the CBD -- I worked for one of them.

This will certainly happen to some degree and may be a kick in the pants to the other building owners to invest in their properties and up their game to compete.

Something we haven't talked about...

If we get more 2-3 new towers will a decent amount of spec space, you can bet that lots of existing tenants at Chase and other middling buildings will jump to the new, sexy digs.

This is exactly what happened when Leadership Square opened, as very few new companies were expanding or moving downtown; they merely moved in a bunch of companies that were already officing in the CBD -- I worked for one of them.

This will certainly happen to some degree and may be a kick in the pants to the other building owners to invest in their properties and up their game to compete.

As much as I would like to see major business growth downtown accompanied by new towers, I think you may be right, especially with the wave of bad economic news our area has received recently. I hope we get at least one solid corporate tower out of this when all is said and done.

Maybe, just maybe, the Stage Center site is connected with Chase ?

Maybe, just maybe, the Stage Center site is connected with Chase ?

Skybridge? :wink:

We've been fortunate so far in that as space was freed up by Devon, that we had someone to come in and take it back (mostly from Continental). The same is true for Kerr McGee being filled by Sandridge. Those are not the typical scenarios for such large spaces being vacated. It appears that Cotter has actually tried to do some renovations with the building though. The lobby has been renovated, which is more than has been done to the place with the previous 3 owners. So while, at least at first, it seemed he wasn't going to do much to the place, it does appear that he's at least making an effort....you have to start somewhere.

So even if Chase Corp. doesn't like the current office space, do they really occupy enough of the building to warranty the construction of a new one? I don't think so. In most instances, the regional offices like this one occupy space in a tower that they put a sign up on...not that they build new so they can lease out space. Remember, they're a bank, not a real estate developer. They supply capital to those companies, they are not that company. My point here is that if by some weird happenstance Chase moved out and built something, we're going to need to fill that space in order to keep downtown growing.

If your occupancy rate is low, prices are low, and there is little chance of investment in facilities because the ROI from the low rent is so much longer. We've trimmed off a lot of B and C space by converting it to residential and that's helped a LOT in the rates. But it's a bit of a false positive since it is a conversion. The need for tha A space to not be super cheap is what's required to keep NEW developments coming in. A high occupancy rate means downtown is attractive and there might be more market to add space and make money from. A low rate means it's not attractive, and you won't see anyone buildling.

So before we get too excited about what might be coming, we need to be just as excited and ENCOURAGING (dont dog them just because they didn't build something new) of the companies that come in and fill the void. They are just as important as the new construction folks. And don't forget, Sandridge's Amenities building is now going to be the first available Class A generally leasable building built downtown in how many decades? Since Leadership Square? Since it's converted to being leaseable, it's a whole new world that we haven't seen in quite a long time....it's really been almost 30 years folks. You can't count Devon since it was purpose-built. The bread and butter of downtown is genearlly leasable space with the onsie twosie tenants. We NEED that place to be successful before we can even hope to see something major go in at Preftakes or Stage Center.

I know we all want it to happen, but honestly, when was the last time a corporation moved several thousand employees anywhere in the U.S. to warrant the construction of an entirely brand new 30+ floor tower? Steve jumped too quickly on his video report about these two blocks and gave a lot of non-information...mostly just said what has been said here, not actual data from a corporate source. And keep in mind, you'll see data flow in large amounts and quickly should someone decide to build. Remember we saw the blurprints for Devon loaded to the permit office and available online more than a year before groundbreaking....and all we've seen with these two sites has been piecemeal preftakes land grabs and a defunt stage center change hands again.

I'm not a pessimist, im just a realist.

Bomber,

What you need to consider is that it would more than likely be a spec tower by a developer, like Rainey Williams, not the bank itself that would build.
I remember when Boatmans Bank building hopped shortly after they arrived.
Also, Continental is taking up more space in the Chase tower than we could have expected. So it would not put that much space out on the market at any given time.

We've been fortunate so far in that as space was freed up by Devon, that we had someone to come in and take it back (mostly from Continental). The same is true for Kerr McGee being filled by Sandridge. Those are not the typical scenarios for such large spaces being vacated. It appears that Cotter has actually tried to do some renovations with the building though. The lobby has been renovated, which is more than has been done to the place with the previous 3 owners. So while, at least at first, it seemed he wasn't going to do much to the place, it does appear that he's at least making an effort....you have to start somewhere.

So even if Chase Corp. doesn't like the current office space, do they really occupy enough of the building to warranty the construction of a new one? I don't think so. In most instances, the regional offices like this one occupy space in a tower that they put a sign up on...not that they build new so they can lease out space. Remember, they're a bank, not a real estate developer. They supply capital to those companies, they are not that company. My point here is that if by some weird happenstance Chase moved out and built something, we're going to need to fill that space in order to keep downtown growing.

If your occupancy rate is low, prices are low, and there is little chance of investment in facilities because the ROI from the low rent is so much longer. We've trimmed off a lot of B and C space by converting it to residential and that's helped a LOT in the rates. But it's a bit of a false positive since it is a conversion. The need for tha A space to not be super cheap is what's required to keep NEW developments coming in. A high occupancy rate means downtown is attractive and there might be more market to add space and make money from. A low rate means it's not attractive, and you won't see anyone buildling.

So before we get too excited about what might be coming, we need to be just as excited and ENCOURAGING (dont dog them just because they didn't build something new) of the companies that come in and fill the void. They are just as important as the new construction folks. And don't forget, Sandridge's Amenities building is now going to be the first available Class A generally leasable building built downtown in how many decades? Since Leadership Square? Since it's converted to being leaseable, it's a whole new world that we haven't seen in quite a long time....it's really been almost 30 years folks. You can't count Devon since it was purpose-built. The bread and butter of downtown is genearlly leasable space with the onsie twosie tenants. We NEED that place to be successful before we can even hope to see something major go in at Preftakes or Stage Center.

I know we all want it to happen, but honestly, when was the last time a corporation moved several thousand employees anywhere in the U.S. to warrant the construction of an entirely brand new 30+ floor tower? Steve jumped too quickly on his video report about these two blocks and gave a lot of non-information...mostly just said what has been said here, not actual data from a corporate source. And keep in mind, you'll see data flow in large amounts and quickly should someone decide to build. Remember we saw the blurprints for Devon loaded to the permit office and available online more than a year before groundbreaking....and all we've seen with these two sites has been piecemeal preftakes land grabs and a defunt stage center change hands again.

I'm not a pessimist, im just a realist.

This is after all Mystery Tower( SPECULATION, news and ideas) not Mystery Tower( REALISM, news and ideas)

This is after all Mystery Tower( SPECULATION, news and ideas) not Mystery Tower( REALISM, news and ideas)
I would presume that most on here would prefer that those not be mutually exclusive — i.e. they would prefer realistic / reality-based speculation rather than hopes-and-dreams speculation.

Do you not care whether or not any speculation is based in some reality? If that's the case, then we can make up anything and guise it as "speculation."

I would presume that most on here would prefer that those not be mutually exclusive — i.e. they would prefer realistic / reality-based speculation rather than hopes-and-dreams speculation.

Do you not care whether or not any speculation is based in some reality? If that's the case, then we can make up anything and guise it as "speculation."

Don't tirn my reply into something that it is not. Simply put. that was his opinion just like a lot of others. To the posters they are as realistic as anyone else. His reality may not be mine and mine not his or yours. I do not think that anyone on here is making things up but if you look at the history of this thread it mosty all speculation.

We need a nice 30 story multipurpose Class A space that isn't entirely devoted to one company. Its hard to diversify our econonmy when a few energy companys is taking up all the good space.

It is true, this is a venue for all opinions. But i believe the INTENT of this thread is to discuss the PROBABLE tower more than sky dreams. If I'm wrong on that, then by all means, dream away. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that! I remember back in the early 2000's talking to people about hoping someone would build a 50 floor tower downtown....and lookie now!!! WOOT!

But when we do dream HERE, we should also keep some practicality in mind. That's all i was trying to say. We can dream of an NFL stadium or 5 more 40+ floor towers, or a totally urban core. But whilst we dream our big dreams, lets not abandon the practical conversations as well. As jn1780 just said, Class A needs to be able to survive on more than a single tenant. Single tenant buildings also leave you vulnerable. When (and eventually they all do) that company falters either in downsizing or a change in the use of its product, that building suddenly has to find a new purpose for itself. How do you think every single one of the buildings downton got to where they are today? Braniff, First National, countless I.M. Pei razed structures. So how survivable is that structure later as a multi-tenant building and are there going to be businesses that even want to occupy that space?

Dream high, but keep your feet planted.

It is true, this is a venue for all opinions. But i believe the INTENT of this thread is to discuss the PROBABLE tower more than sky dreams. If I'm wrong on that, then by all means, dream away. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that! I remember back in the early 2000's talking to people about hoping someone would build a 50 floor tower downtown....and lookie now!!! WOOT!

But when we do dream HERE, we should also keep some practicality in mind. That's all i was trying to say. We can dream of an NFL stadium or 5 more 40+ floor towers, or a totally urban core. But whilst we dream our big dreams, lets not abandon the practical conversations as well. As jn1780 just said, Class A needs to be able to survive on more than a single tenant. Single tenant buildings also leave you vulnerable. When (and eventually they all do) that company falters either in downsizing or a change in the use of its product, that building suddenly has to find a new purpose for itself. How do you think every single one of the buildings downton got to where they are today? Braniff, First National, countless I.M. Pei razed structures. So how survivable is that structure later as a multi-tenant building and are there going to be businesses that even want to occupy that space?

Dream high, but keep your feet planted.

I agree. Personally, I think all the OKC skyline really needs is at least one more tower, taller than Chase but shorter than Devon to balance it out. Beyond that, I think OKC should focus more on street-level density than building towers. However, as much as I love the Devon Tower it does dwarf the remainder of the skyline and another tower should really help it. I really don't like comparing OKC to Portland but Portland is one of America's greatest cities because of its streetscape, not its skyline. Louisville, a city comparable to OKC, doesn't have that impressive of a skyline but their downtown streetscape is a good deal ahead of OKC's.

Two towers...one between the heights of Chase and Devon and one outside and to the southwest of Devon so that it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb on the edge (which will most likely happen).

So with Devon's new MLP deciding to locate its headquarters in Dallas, what becomes of the mystery tower speculation for the Preftakes block?

So with Devon's new MLP deciding to locate its headquarters in Dallas, what becomes of the mystery tower speculation for the Preftakes block?

We are slowly but surely losing possible mystery towers. It wouldn't surprise me when all is said and done, the only thing that gets built is the 20 story Stage Center Tower. Other cities that have seen huge skyline booms in the past decade have seen mostly residential towers. If OKC was to see the 2-3 possible towers Steve was originally tracking, that would be unprecedented for a city this size. OKC is growing but I don't think its growing that fast.

Just because we're losing potential matches for Mystery Towers does not mean we're losing Mystery Towers.

At one point, we probably had 5 to 8 different entities we were tracking as possible tenants, but we were never thinking that we'd hit 5 towers.

Still on the table:

Continental
Devon Tower Part 2 (It didn't have to be an MLP thing...Devon is still huge and growing)
Enable
OGE
Bank
Residential
Spec

and though I don't personally believe at this point it's part of any of the mystery tower discussion, were a company like Shell to buy out SD, they may decide to have offices in OKC.

We are slowly but surely losing possible mystery towers. It wouldn't surprise me when all is said and done, the only thing that gets built is the 20 story Stage Center Tower. Other cities that have seen huge skyline booms in the past decade have seen mostly residential towers. If OKC was to see the 2-3 possible towers Steve was originally tracking, that would be unprecedented for a city this size. OKC is growing but I don't think its growing that fast.

We haven't lost any towers. If you read the article a few months ago about the Devon MLP, it said that the new MLP wouldn't have any employees. I imagine that crosstex has partnered with Devon to operate their midstream assets in conjunction with Devon employees. If the MLP wasn't going to have any employees, then this was not tied to a tower rumor.

AHHHHHHHHHH! The sky is falling and there won't be any new towers to catch it! Woe is us.

In related news, The Gorton's Fisherman company announced they are not relocating to OKC as I had previously thought. So there's another tower that's not coming. (I guess my uncle's friend's nephew's cousin who worked in construction 15 years ago, doesn't actually know what he's talking about)

We'll probably end up with Devon moving to Houston and then demolishing their tower.

#CalmDownFolks #CanyouHashtageOnOKCTalk #GoingToAnyway

#thisthreadisridiculous

AHHHHHHHHHH! The sky is falling and there won't be any new towers to catch it! Woe is us.

In related news, The Gorton's Fisherman company announced they are not relocating to OKC as I had previously thought. So there's another tower that's not coming. (I guess my uncle's friend's nephew's cousin who worked in construction 15 years ago, doesn't actually know what he's talking about)

We'll probably end up with Devon moving to Houston and then demolishing their tower.

#CalmDownFolks #CanyouHashtageOnOKCTalk #GoingToAnyway

Dammit!!! And I had been so anticipating their new tower downtown in the shape of a giant fish stick. :(
:)

AHHHHHHHHHH! The sky is falling and there won't be any new towers to catch it! Woe is us.

In related news, The Gorton's Fisherman company announced they are not relocating to OKC as I had previously thought. So there's another tower that's not coming. (I guess my uncle's friend's nephew's cousin who worked in construction 15 years ago, doesn't actually know what he's talking about)


I'm sure they would have come if we had more than 1 Whole Foods. Everyone knows that a city that has fewer than 5 Whole Foods is a ****hole. And every city our size has 20 new skyscrapers under construction. What's your excuse, OKC?

Seriously, everyone here should just give up and move to Dallas.

I've heard from multiple people that Harold Hamm will not be building a tower for Continental in the near future(10+years). He is just way too conservative and will fill up every vacant building in downtown before he does that. Take it for what it's worth, but this is what I've heard from some very trusted people I know.

I've heard from multiple people that Harold Hamm will not be building a tower for Continental in the near future(10+years). He is just way too conservative and will fill up every vacant building in downtown before he does that. Take it for what it's worth, but this is what I've heard from some very trusted people I know.

My brother worked at Continental and said the same thing. He said the technology for viewing documents over there was so outdated, it was probably losing them money since only one person at a time could see a well report of title. This is due to nothing being digital and there were only hard copies. My brother brought up several times that Continental needed to invest in the technology and it was shot down about five times. It would increase productivity as well.

I've heard from multiple people that Harold Hamm will not be building a tower for Continental in the near future(10+years). He is just way too conservative and will fill up every vacant building in downtown before he does that. Take it for what it's worth, but this is what I've heard from some very trusted people I know.

He's certainly conservative, but if the company grows as fast as he wants it to, then he's going to probably change his mind when he's got 1,000 employees occupying 15 buildings downtown.

That, or he can buy other towers already in existence and someone else will build a spec tower.

He's certainly conservative, but if the company grows as fast as he wants it to, then he's going to probably change his mind when he's got 1,000 employees occupying 15 buildings downtown.

That, or he can buy other towers already in existence and someone else will build a spec tower.Yeah, I'm sure they eventually will, it will just be down the road. I would love for this to happen, but it just doesn't look very likely in the near future unfortunately(from what I've heard).

Hamm isn't so conservative that it stopped him from paying $3 million for a house in Nichols Hills when his business was still in Enid.

He also donated $10 million to the OU Diabetes Center.

$3 million personal house versus new $500+ million company tower. I'm not trying to be negative here, just looking at realities. I hope this this happens and I would love to be wrong on this.

He also just bought the building they are in (20 N. Broadway) for $22 million.


Hamm loves to play up the I-eat-at-Sonic image but he's splashed out plenty of cash and has personal net worth of over $12 billion; it grew by over $2 billion just last year.

Well, then I don't know what to say other than what I've heard from various people about the matter. Really would love to see a new one built though!

CLR is worth billions. Some day it will be necessary for them to expand as long as they are still growing.