Those crosswalks, though... :doh:

Yeah, pretty horrific.

Anyone know how much progress they've made in the re-painting project?

I'd say 75% of the P180 intersections have been redone at this point. The started with the intersections with the heaviest traffic. This one is notably untouched, as are most on Walker north of Sheridan.

Interestingly I've noticed that most the intersections done up in the northwest part of the city have had the exact same thing happen. One specifically at MacArthur and 150th has been done about two years and the intersection looks just as bad as that one.

As per Steve, this sounds like a great new addition to the culinary options in this area.

Downtown Oklahoma City apartments in Avana Arts District will include chef's dream restaurant | NewsOK.com (http://m.newsok.com/downtown-oklahoma-city-apartments-in-avana-arts-district-will-include-chefs-dream-restaurant/article/5379535)


When work wraps up on a makeover of an apartment complex that has long been considered one of downtown’s worst design misfires, it will also be anchored by a new upscale Italian restaurant being opened by two newcomers recruited to Oklahoma City.
Robert DeCoste, who moved to Oklahoma City with his wife, Amanda Yaun, will open his restaurant Patrono this spring – but only after extensive remodeling of the former Steak and Catfish space.
“It will be authentic Italian, not American Italian,” DeCoste said. “There will be a lot of pasta, dry and fresh that we will be making in-house, and only Italian wines.”

Excited about this. OKC definitely needs a serious expansion of the diversity of dinner options downtown and this is a great addition. Very interesting that they will be dinner only and upscale; should add an interesting touch to Avana and give the Arts District an identity that has long been missing IMO.

Hopefully this will lead to a few more upscale dining options in the Arts District so that it could become the defacto fine dining neighbourhood most big cities have and give AD a purpose instead of the elementary hodge-podge of trying to include MBG/Cox/the Peake (which is clearly CBD) in with the OCMOA and Civic Center campus.

Italian food is my second favorite cuisine so I am really looking forward to this, especially being that they are going for authentic Italian and not the Americanized version. Great news!

Does anyone know if all the apartment facades are being redone or just the building on the corner?

The entire complex is being re-faced.

Italian food is my second favorite cuisine so I am really looking forward to this, especially being that they are going for authentic Italian and not the Americanized version. Great news!

I wonder what "authentic" Italian they are going for. Northern? Southern? Tuscan? There are many regional food styles in Italy, and it isn't just pasta with sauce. I hope by authentic Italian they mean that they aren't just a pasta place but truly Italian cuisine.

could be a mix of regions but still authentic.

https://twitter.com/dtOKCbuilds/status/560464286297108481

Me and my girlfriend tried Hobby's Hoagies yesterday and I didn't get any photos myself.

They still have to work their way around the whole complex, but the area near the entrance is largely complete and looks miles better:


https://scontent-lax.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10978664_777918318953973_7991204394581120029_n.jpg ?oh=1a379f93edb91bf042ca27a98a4af613&oe=5559A3CB

http://www.okctalk.com/images/wikiphotos/legacy1.jpg

I'm not sure it looks that much better. The sketchup renderings looks considerably better than the actual finished product.

Now it looks like somebody TRIED to make it trendier, but had no idea what they were doing...

Come on Cuatro, its not up to Seattle standards but its good for OKC, especially since it was such horrid looking to begin with. I don't see a way they could have done any better without a complete redo that includes a new facade as well as changing the roof to a flat roof.

I'm actually going to agree with Cuatro on this. I'm not sure I really like it.

I think it is the peaked roof syndrome. For some reason it is very difficult to make them look modern and urban.

Also the grey sign or whatever that is, looks horrible.

I think the facade is dramatically improved. Whether one likes it or not is another story.

My thoughts...

http://www.okctalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=10192&stc=1

It's allright, and definitely an improvement on the old design, but it just looks like a traditional apartment building you could find anywhere over the past 20 years.

10193

Not the best pic, but another view of old vs. new.

From a distance, it looks good.

I like it waaaay better.

It's about the best they could do with what they started with.

Note they even square off the arches around the entrance. They are spending a bunch of money.

I know I've seen instructions somewhere before, but how do I post big pictures?

I know I've seen instructions somewhere before, but how do I post big pictures?

Post as usual, then click on the photo to enlarge it and copy the URL, then post that.

It's a pain, but it works.

It looks much better in person than the old stuff.

nm

Such a great improvement

I think it would look better if all the paint was the darker color.

The biggest improvement will be with the storefronts along Walker.

Those awnings with the huge, garish lettering were one of the worst design elements I've seen in new construction.

Those awnings with the huge, garish lettering were one of the worst design elements I've seen in new construction.

Oh gawd. Yes! Truly terrible.

Lest people forget, similar awnings were all along Walker:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3146/2664680695_fd0a549438.jpg?v=0

Went by this project and the renovation represents a massive improvement to the original design.

They've only completed one small section near the entrance because it looks like they are busy on the interior facing facades.

Clearly, the entire fake-stucco exterior has gone bad and they are completely replacing it.

Looking forward to the project being complete, especially the change-out of the retail signage.

The fact that they can afford to redo the entire exterior a fairly short time after opening shows that they are raking it in.

I went back to the beginning of the thread to see when this was completed, and I saw this (from 2006):


Ultimately, Henderson will have to face the competition of more imaginative developments that are planned, underway, or to come.

The sophisticated urban dweller is a much harder to please than the typical suburbanite.

Perhaps this development will serve the lower end, that is after rents are forced down by other projects.

The fact that rents haven't been forced down shows how much demand there is in downtown OKC. I think it is interesting to look at our expectations in 2006 and see how things have played out.

They still have a very long way to go with this ambitious exterior renovation but the parts they have done look way, way better.

In the last picture, you can an example of how cheaply the original project was finished. We all know the main facades were extremely plain, but that's a photo off Walker that gives you a peak into the areas that aren't as obvious but where they really cheaped out. Not sure how this may be addressed in the remodel.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/avana092415a.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/avana092415b.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/avana092415c.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/avana092415d.jpg

Which space did Patrono take up?

Which space did Patrono take up?

From a previous Oklahoman article.


The retail storefronts, meanwhile, will be anchored by an upscale restaurant set to open in a space previously home to a downtown location of Steak and Catfish.

Robert DeCoste, who moved to Oklahoma City with his wife, Amanda Yaun, will open his restaurant Patrono this spring – but only after extensive remodeling of the former Steak and Catfish space.

Before:


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3146/2664680695_fd0a549438.jpg?v=0


After:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/avana092415c.jpg

1000% better

The new awnings make a world of difference.

As do the new colors and materials on the façade. To think that a couple of years ago posters in this thread were actively calling for this complex to be demolished because they didn't like the way it looked. Nevermind the fact that it generally remains fully-leased and its retail space inclusion and street relationship are as good as any project built to date.

And the retail space is complete full as far as I can tell with about 5-7 tenants.

Wow a great renovation! I wonder if their apartment prices have gone up? We looked there when we lived downtown and the prices were pretty high and only included one parking spot.

yes, very nice improvement!!

As do the new colors and materials on the façade. To think that a couple of years ago posters in this thread were actively calling for this complex to be demolished because they didn't like the way it looked. Nevermind the fact that it generally remains fully-leased and its retail space inclusion and street relationship are as good as any project built to date.

It was ugly as all get out, but people were saying it should be demolished? Hmmm. Is this renovation ongoing?

It was ugly as all get out, but people were saying it should be demolished? Hmmm. Is this renovation ongoing?

I am wondering if they've just stopped the reno, or if it's occurring in a spot I can't see. It looks very odd only partially redone.

They haven't stopped, they moved to the SW corner of the complex.

There is a lot of ground to cover there and they are doing a bunch of work to every section.

Basically stripping off all the old stucco and completely rebuilding with new, more elaborate facades.

And, they have to do it without totally annoying the current tenants. That place stays well leased.

You can see they are working on a section on the back (west) side.

However, they have a very long way to go to complete the renovation; it looks like after a year of work they are only about 20% complete.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/avana122015.jpg

From Saturday.

12308

12309

I sure wish they would step up this renovation.

The parts that have been done look miles better but particularly along Walker, the old parts look especially bad contrasted with that which has been renovated.

I sure wish they would step up this renovation.

The parts that have been done look miles better but particularly along Walker, the old parts look especially bad contrasted with that which has been renovated.

Unless I missed it, I couldn't see any work being done. I think there was some equipment on the northwest side, but it didn't look like anything was happening... And I can't imagine why they'd work on the west side of the building before the visible, east side.

^

Yes, there is equipment in the back and they had done some work on the west side but I haven't seen anything happening there in quite a while.

They have re-started the exterior renovation on the NW corner of this complex.

Really wish they would complete the Walker frontage, as it's half done.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/avana062616.jpg

This thing has been ongoing for quite some time now.

They started on the southeast corner of the complex and have been working clockwise around the rectangle.

I noticed last night they have finally turned the corner and are working on the north end of the Walker side, so we should soon see the highly visible storefronts redone in the same manner as the far south end. That means removing those horrible gaudy awnings and the inclusion of more stone and metal awnings (see post #277 above).

I can't wait to see similar renovations done to the the second phase of the Maywood Apartments. ;)

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/avana090816.jpg

The last of the hideous green awnings are gone!

They are almost finished with this exterior renovation project. Looks miles better.


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/avana101616a.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/avana101616b.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/avana103016.jpg

Looks like they are finished with the exterior remodel and it looks 100% better (bottom picture for comparison).

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/avana112016b.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/avana112016.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/avana2.jpg