JTF, I agree, this move was totally advantage OPUBCO, I'm not seeing any net positive for AF, unless they wanted lots of land in a boring corridor of the city.

My guess is that OPUBCO employees as a whole are much happier moving downtown than AF employees are at moving to the 'sticks' but that is totally unsubstantiated and 100% conjucture on my part. Sure some AF employees will now have a view, but a view of what?


JTF, I agree, this move was totally advantage OPUBCO, I'm not seeing any net positive for AF, unless they wanted lots of land in a boring corridor of the city.

You guys are funny. I would bet there are fewer people at AF that are upset at this move as there are on this message board. lol.

My guess is that OPUBCO employees as a whole are much happier moving downtown than AF employees are at moving to the 'sticks' but that is totally unsubstantiated and 100% conjucture on my part. Sure some AF employees will now have a view, but a view of what?

I live in mesta park and work down the street from OPUBCO. The drive takes 10-12 minutes max due to going the opposite direction of rush hour both ways, it's not that bad. I drive a large suv and it takes me 2 weeks to burn a tank of gas. We have a cafeteria, but as far as being close to restaurants, western is 5 minutes away and memorial/Edmond and downtown are 10. If you live in Edmond, where im guessing many of their middleage/older employees do, this location is much more convenient than downtown.

Would I rather be in a new tower downtown? Sure, but working up here is not by any means "in the sticks" and is not anywhere near the hell that all of you divine urbanists are making it out to be. I also would have preferred AF move downtown but it wasn't in the cards. If they are going to be up here anyway, they might as well improve their facility/campus.

Without someone purchasing OPUBCO's building, OPUBCO would be unable to move downtown, which might slow efforts to renovate the century center. This deal is still going to help bring a long dead/ugly block back to life and add another 200-300 employees to downtown. While it is not the slam dunk that a new AF tower would've been, it is still a net positive for downtown. It could also be argued that OPUBCO wanted to move downtown and sell their complex anyway. In that scenario, someone would still purchase their building and all of you that are complaining now would be complaining that whatever company bought it wasn't moving downtown. Vacant Class A office space is going to attract new tenants if it is in anywhere near a decent area of town, if your complaint is with anyone, it should be with OPUBCO for building it in the first place (which they likely had to do in order to build the printing press).

Forgot to mention the view. That whole area is on a hill. There isn't much to see to the north, but from the 2nd floor of my building, facing south, I can see the downtown skyline, the Capitol area, the CHK campus, and the NW expressway skyline. At least half of the OPUBCO building will have all or part of that view, most from a higher vantage point than mine. Its probably one of the better views of the whole city.

I found this conceptual rendering on the TAP Architecture site under American Fidelity Master Plan.


The existing structures are shown in pink (shading added by me); everything else would be new.

Looks like the two structures on either side of the existing parking garage would be more parking. The buildings along the north side of the lake would no doubt be office buildings. The other low-rise buildings near the lakes could be conference or recreational.



http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/development-buildings/7364d1397162665-american-fidelity-buys-opubco-properties-af2.jpg



http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/development-buildings/7363d1397162665-american-fidelity-buys-opubco-properties-af.jpg



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

Looks like it could be a nice campus if it ever gets built out. They probably would have built a nice skyscraper downtown as well though. :)

This is awesome! I love the location and hope they build the campus out. It would also be nice to see 3-4 new 20+ story towers along here one day.

Wonder if they might collaborate with Aubrey McClendon to have shared recreational facilities surrounding the lakes.

Wouldn't be surprised to see AF sell that square property south of the lakes to McClendon for his AEP campus.

American Fidelity is starting to branch out into other areas instead of just insurance including banking and investments. If they continue to do so, they'll inevitably need more space.

It's against the law for an insurance company to own a bank, so anything in that arena would have to be owned by Bill Cameron, like First Fidelity. From what my wife has said they are currently surveying employees on what they'd like to see on campus. A lot of people want surface parking rather than another garage, which is what was originally planned. If this changes it could really impact what goes around the current structures. Also as I've stated before AFA would really love it if Opubco left early so they could turn the current paper plant into a conference center and cafeteria.

It's against the law for an insurance company to own a bank, so anything in that arena would have to be owned by Bill Cameron, like First Fidelity. From what my wife has said they are currently surveying employees on what they'd like to see on campus. A lot of people want surface parking rather than another garage, which is what was originally planned. If this changes it could really impact what goes around the current structures. Also as I've stated before AFA would really love it if Opubco left early so they could turn the current paper plant into a conference center and cafeteria.What do you mean "another garage"? The majority of parking is surface parking??? A parking garage is the best option for this type of development. That will suck if it ends up with a massive parking lot like Dells.

What do you mean "another garage"? The majority of parking is surface parking??? A parking garage is the best option for this type of development. That will suck if it ends up with a massive parking lot like Dells.

No kidding. How does someone actually prefer a surface lot to a garage? Garages can actually protect your car from the elements. What the hell are they thinking?

No kidding. How does someone actually prefer a surface lot to a garage? Garages can actually protect your car from the elements. What the hell are they thinking?Agreed. No hail threat, no ice build-up, no heat build-up, etc......

The only real downside to garages are the choke points of getting in and out, especially when everyone is trying to come and go at the same time.

The only real downside to garages are the choke points of getting in and out, especially when everyone is trying to come and go at the same time.A lot of parking lots have that including the massive Dell parking lot.

A lot of parking lots have that including the massive Dell parking lot.

Yeah, most parking lots don't have any more entry/exit points than a parking garage.

Yeah, most parking lots don't have any more entry/exit points than a parking garage.Yeah, except the ones in Edmond that literally have a curb every five feet. I swear, Edmond has the worst parking lots I've ever seen.... ANYWHERE! lol

But yeah most parking lots I've seen have the same amount of entry/exit points as most parking garages I've seen

The OPUBCO building has one parking garage already, but it's nowhere near big enough for all the American Fidelity employees, even though a number are going to be working from home when the transfer to Britton Rd is complete in a few years. American Fidelity Group, which is owned by Cameron encompasses American Fidelity Assurance, Cameron Enterprises, First Fidelity Bank, and a number of other smaller companies. I don't see Cameron leaving AFA anytime soon, so you know they'll probably continue to grow the company.

What do you mean "another garage"? The majority of parking is surface parking??? A parking garage is the best option for this type of development. That will suck if it ends up with a massive parking lot like Dells.

There is currently a parking garage on their new campus. The gripe is a lot of them have their big Tahoes and it's a pain to navigate. It's been talked about tearing the current one down and yes, doing exactly like Dell's lot essentially.

There is currently a parking garage on their new campus. The gripe is a lot of them have their big Tahoes and it's a pain to navigate. It's been talked about tearing the current one down and yes, doing exactly like Dell's lot essentially.

I wonder how long it'll be before they demand a shuttle because "that's just too far to walk."

OKC would have been better off if Dark Tower would have never been built, and they would have stayed downtown

I wonder how long it'll be before they demand a shuttle because "that's just too far to walk."

Yeah it's really dumb IMO. I get maybe adding some expanded lots but they got to keep the garage. It's just so convenient.

There is currently a parking garage on their new campus. The gripe is a lot of them have their big Tahoes and it's a pain to navigate. It's been talked about tearing the current one down and yes, doing exactly like Dell's lot essentially.Wow. That sucks. I bet newer garages are a little bigger and have more room than the older ones. I really hope they don't do it and think it will be a big mistake if they do.

Wow. That sucks. I bet newer garages are a little bigger and have more room than the older ones. I really hope they don't do it and think it will be a big mistake if they do.

I have a quad cab Sierra, which I think is basically the same size as most full size SUV's and I admit I did have to backup once, but once you figure out you have to take the corners wide, it's manageable. I'd personally rather have a garage, that way I know my vehicle is protected from bad weather and it stays out of the sun.

Wow. That sucks. I bet newer garages are a little bigger and have more room than the older ones. I really hope they don't do it and think it will be a big mistake if they do.
You pretty much have a span limit of 56 feet (18-20-18) instead of 62 feet (19-24-19) without going to a major increase in cost of construction for heavier structure and in some case bumping into height problems because the structure gets deeper. Cost is usually the item that drives it, structured parking is 5-8 times more in cost on average.

In Austin and San Antonio we typically did garages for suburban office buildings, usually due to impervious cover restrictions. The companies financing the developments usually wanted them as well. The whole time that I worked in Austin I parked in a garage, it was nice getting into a car that had been parked in the shade. I would have loved one across the street when I was working at Benham.

Wow. That sucks. I bet newer garages are a little bigger and have more room than the older ones. I really hope they don't do it and think it will be a big mistake if they do.

Yeah, old garages are pretty tight. My buddy and I went to Philly a couple months ago and we drove his Tahoe, and let me tell you I was getting pretty nervous as we were driving through the garage. It wasn't so much that the spots themselves were small, but the aisles were tight and the ceilings on all the floors were so low that every time we started going up a ramp to the next level we thought we were going to catch the edge of the ceiling on the roof of his Tahoe. I would imagine this is the same situation that the AF employees are talking about.

That garage was built in 1991 so I'm sure it's better than a lot of older ones

For example, the huge majority of the garages downtown were built well before then.

I worked some on the tower project, not sure about the garage since I didn't work on that one.

Some of the ones here in LoDo in the 70's are definitely tighter.

At their old location, AF employees only had surface parking so this is probably a simple matter of them adjusting.

A garage built in 1991 shouldn't be that big of a problem, they probably just don't like garages in general. Even the new ones are somewhat tight as there are cost considerations.

I've been in the parking garage at OPUBCO building before, it's got more than enough space to maneuver SUVs. Hell, I've seen big pickups in it before.

So more info here. At an AFA meeting yesterday it was stated they are sticking with building another garage. This time it's going to be between the building and Broadway. AFA is wanting to make it look nice, so they are considering putting a screen on it similar to Windstar's garage, for those that are familiar. At some point in the future they also plan to build another building on campus. For those that haven't ventured into the AEP thread, they also highly implied AEP will be building a tower on Aubrey's land. Because of this, the space between AFA and AEP will be developed into restaurants because of the high volume of employees in the area. I would say because of this it pretty much tells you exactly what is going to happen. Also AFA now doesn't expect all employees to be on the new campus until 2018.

Awesome man!

I was told that the land Aubry owns, as stated in this thread and the AEP thread is actually owned by the Cameron family. Is this correct or did a transaction take place very recently?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I was told that the land Aubry owns, as stated in this thread and the AEP thread is actually owned by the Cameron family. Is this correct or did a transaction take place very recently?

The Cameron's / AF own the OPUBCO property and land south of Wilshire.

Aubrey's Arcadia Farms owns the land inbetween.

That's what I figured as per your map on the other thread but I was told by my someone "in the know" last night that your information was false AND , trust me, I backed you up stating that you thoroughly research these things using the county assessor website and what not. So basically, he's wrong.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

^

Probably just confused over exactly which properties are which.

So more info here. At an AFA meeting yesterday it was stated they are sticking with building another garage. This time it's going to be between the building and Broadway. AFA is wanting to make it look nice, so they are considering putting a screen on it similar to Windstar's garage, for those that are familiar. At some point in the future they also plan to build another building on campus. For those that haven't ventured into the AEP thread, they also highly implied AEP will be building a tower on Aubrey's land. Because of this, the space between AFA and AEP will be developed into restaurants because of the high volume of employees in the area. I would say because of this it pretty much tells you exactly what is going to happen. Also AFA now doesn't expect all employees to be on the new campus until 2018.

I have heard the same on the parking garage and location.

Perhaps the new garage will be very similar to the one show here just west of the constructed (pink) buildings:

http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/development-buildings/7364d1397162665-american-fidelity-buys-opubco-properties-af2.jpg

I couldn't tell if in that rendering it was a garage or another building, but now that you mention it, that's probably exactly what it is. Will be cool if they put a screen on it.

OPUBCO lettering coming down (from https://twitter.com/grahambrewer):

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/af071414.jpg

@Pete

Not sure if you saw my post in the transportation forum, about using the PikePass, but AFA is going to start using the PikePass so employees no longer have to swipe their badges to get onto campus and into the garage.

Dirt is moving on the parking garage.

12/27/2014

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7528/16121921322_da0ac8101c_b.jpg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7578/15936903767_00508c8065_b.jpg

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8605/15500328534_41a8f1aea2_b.jpg

So...I am not very well educated on this but I am curious as to where the rest of the Oklahoman workers are going. OPUBCO had huge office space...and all I've seen is them move into the Century Center. So my question is...where are all the other workers going, because there has to be more

So...I am not very well educated on this but I am curious as to where the rest of the Oklahoman workers are going. OPUBCO had huge office space...and all I've seen is them move into the Century Center. So my question is...where are all the other workers going, because there has to be more

They were only occupying a fraction of that tower after many layoffs.

Some employees will stay at the plant (where they print the papers) but all the rest will fit into their space at the Century Center.

So my question is...where are all the other workers going, because there has to be moreUnlike in olden times, a fair proportion of the editorial material in the current much-smaller editions of the Oklahoman is now generated by freelance writers, who do not office with the full-time staff. If you pay careful attention to the bylines, you can tell the difference. If the writer is identified as "staff" they're in the office. If it says "For the Oklahoman" then it's freelance work. There's a freelance organization called "EByLine" with which OPubCo works (along with dozens of other media around the country); an occasional ad for it appears in the paper. I get almost daily emails from it with potential assignments, but haven't yet seen any for which I feel qualified to bid.

Unlike in olden times, a fair proportion of the editorial material in the current much-smaller editions of the Oklahoman is now generated by freelance writers, who do not office with the full-time staff. If you pay careful attention to the bylines, you can tell the difference. If the writer is identified as "staff" they're in the office. If it says "For the Oklahoman" then it's freelance work. There's a freelance organization called "EByLine" with which OPubCo works (along with dozens of other media around the country); an occasional ad for it appears in the paper. I get almost daily emails from it with potential assignments, but haven't yet seen any for which I feel qualified to bid.

I didn't know any of that, thank you!

Unlike in olden times, a fair proportion of the editorial material in the current much-smaller editions of the Oklahoman is now generated by freelance writers, who do not office with the full-time staff. If you pay careful attention to the bylines, you can tell the difference. If the writer is identified as "staff" they're in the office. If it says "For the Oklahoman" then it's freelance work. There's a freelance organization called "EByLine" with which OPubCo works (along with dozens of other media around the country); an occasional ad for it appears in the paper. I get almost daily emails from it with potential assignments, but haven't yet seen any for which I feel qualified to bid.
Since OPUBCO is part of a media conglomerate now couldn't some of those be written by people in the corporate office and sent out to all their papers? Kind of like the effect Clear Channel had on radio but now on print media.

Possible, but on the editorial page when they do exactly that, the byline credits the Washington paper rather than 'For the Oklahoman." I would expect them to treat other material the same way -- but expecting consistency from any source these days may be a bit much... .

Here is how the new parking garage currently under construction will fit in with their campus and future plans:



http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/development-buildings/9947d1420739125-american-fidelity-buys-opubco-properties-afgarage4.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/development-buildings/9948d1420739126-american-fidelity-buys-opubco-properties-afgarage3.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/development-buildings/9946d1420739125-american-fidelity-buys-opubco-properties-afgarage1.jpg

American Fidelity just filed paperwork for a Planned Unit Development.

Looks like they are planning a hotel, some restaurants and a lot of office space.

Also, lots of surface parking at the southern end which will abut the future American Energy Partners campus.



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

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/af052215b.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/development-buildings/9947d1420739125-american-fidelity-buys-opubco-properties-afgarage4.jpg

Any timeline for all of that development. I know their workforce is going to be kind of scattered around the city at other offices they own, so I imagine they would want to get as much of that built as quickly as they can.

This is awesome. This could be such a neat area. Sort of like the lakeside area of Lake Hefner. Add in Kimray moving to Britton, there will soon be a lot going on on Britton.

Yeah I was talking to my wife about this the other day. A big reason for the additional office buildings is due to the poor planning on AFA's part. They wanted whole departments on a single floor, well when they start to get everyone over there they realize, we don't have enough space. Apparently it's been a big mess and they continue to re arrange and shift. On top of all that the remodeling is constantly behind schedule. Also they were have supposed to rebuilt the day care or remodeled, and still have yet to do any of that.

Was with my wife today while she ran up to work. Took a few photos from her office looking south and then one of the new garage that is getting close to being done.

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii122/zuplar/IMG_2199_zpsgvbkjdio.jpg (http://s263.photobucket.com/user/zuplar/media/IMG_2199_zpsgvbkjdio.jpg.html)

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii122/zuplar/IMG_2197_zpso4czlhrp.jpg (http://s263.photobucket.com/user/zuplar/media/IMG_2197_zpso4czlhrp.jpg.html)

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii122/zuplar/IMG_2196_zpscvbje1wd.jpg (http://s263.photobucket.com/user/zuplar/media/IMG_2196_zpscvbje1wd.jpg.html)

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii122/zuplar/FullSizeRender_zpszgk6pcrz.jpg (http://s263.photobucket.com/user/zuplar/media/FullSizeRender_zpszgk6pcrz.jpg.html)

^

Thank you.


I wonder where AF stands on doing more work to their campus?

I don't think they can fit all their employees being relocated from 2000 Classen in the Dark Tower.

No, they have another building somewhere that essentially everyone else that won't be at the tower is going to. They are still working a lot on the inside of the building. Level 3 where we went in is completely gutted right now and even on Sunday there are contractors there. They had been working on the ponds so those are just recently refilled with water. Lots of stuff been going on. Wife also said new expanded cafeteria is now open as well as doctors clinic they have there. I know a lot of the development to the south was supposed to be in conjunction with Aubrey and now I think that's very much in jeopardy.

They finally finished the facade on the garage and got signage up so you finally know who owns the building.

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii122/zuplar/IMG_2268_zpsviywgxi8.jpg (http://s263.photobucket.com/user/zuplar/media/IMG_2268_zpsviywgxi8.jpg.html)

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii122/zuplar/IMG_2269_zpsuch6t3ll.jpg (http://s263.photobucket.com/user/zuplar/media/IMG_2269_zpsuch6t3ll.jpg.html)

Yeah I was talking to my wife about this the other day. A big reason for the additional office buildings is due to the poor planning on AFA's part. They wanted whole departments on a single floor, well when they start to get everyone over there they realize, we don't have enough space. Apparently it's been a big mess and they continue to re arrange and shift. On top of all that the remodeling is constantly behind schedule. Also they were have supposed to rebuilt the day care or remodeled, and still have yet to do any of that.

Yep. The law department isn't even in the tower, they're in a building south of Wilshire on Santa Fe. It's just an open room with a bunch of cubicles and everyone is pissed about it lol. It's definitely a downgrade from where they were. We'll see how "temporary" it is...

Yep. The law department isn't even in the tower, they're in a building south of Wilshire on Santa Fe. It's just an open room with a bunch of cubicles and everyone is pissed about it lol. It's definitely a downgrade from where they were. We'll see how "temporary" it is...

Yeah I wouldn't be surprised if it's permanent. There are some people who work from home half the time that don't even have desks anymore. I just don't think I could work in the environment that they do.

http://www.thelostogle.com/2016/06/08/the-oklahoman-is-having-mandatory-staff-meetings-today/

Wonder what this is all about.......