Will the hotel be lit up in LEDs like the one in Dallas?

I thought there was a basement level? Doesn't seem like it goes down far enough for that...

(I meant for this to be on the conv center thread)

There may be problems with basement levels and the water table. You're getting very close to the river.

Will the hotel be lit up in LEDs like the one in Dallas?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DRQhfelVAAEMnQu.jpg
Omni Hotel & Resort, Frisco, TX - 16 Floors, 300 rooms: Year built 2017. Half the total room count and one floor less than the proposed OKC Omni.

Quick Specs: Guest Rooms 300
Meeting Rooms 16
Total Meeting Capacity 1,440
Wi-fi Yes - Total Meeting Sq. Ft. 24,000

This pic may be a version of what you will see in OKC.

There may be problems with basement levels and the water table. You're getting very close to the river.

The Omni will have a basement level.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DRQhfelVAAEMnQu.jpg
Omni Hotel & Resort, Frisco, TX - 16 Floors, 300 rooms: Year built 2017. Half the total room count and one floor less than the proposed OKC Omni.

Quick Specs: Guest Rooms 300
Meeting Rooms 16
Total Meeting Capacity 1,440
Wi-fi Yes - Total Meeting Sq. Ft. 24,000

This pic may be a version of what you will see in OKC.

They are building an Omni for the PGA close to the size of the OKC one only 3 miles north of the Dallas Star Omni. My suspicion is that the new one will look very similar to OKC's Omni.

https://www.omnihotels.com/media-center/recent-news/pga-headquarters-to-frisco-omni-hotels-partnership

600 acres: Total campus

540 acres: Space for golf courses

$520 million: Estimated cost of total project

$163.8 million: Minimum potential state and local incentives

100,000 square feet: PGA of America headquarters

$30 million: Minimum cost of headquarters

127,000 square feet: Conference center owned by the city

500 rooms: Omni resort owned by Omni and investors

40,000 square feet: Retail space

35,000 square feet: Clubhouse

100: Minimum number of workers in new headquarters

2: 18-hole championship golf courses, open to the public, owned by the city

1: 9-hole course, open to the public, owned by the city

2022: Tentative opening date

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/omni122218.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/omni122218b.jpg

I can't seem to find the renderings, so pardon my ignorance: is the east/west street, SW 4th, staying open to the public or since it will be between the Omni/Parking garage and the convention center, will it be closed off only to be used for utilities, trash, etc?

The east half of SW 4th will be an open street (parking garage/mixed use project on the north, Fairfield Inn on the south) but the west portion will be pedestrians only (Omni on the north, convention center on the south).

Broadway between the Omni and garage will stay open.


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

The Omni is setting up a sales office in the old used car sales building on the REHCO land nearby the hotel construction site.

Will include 2 model guest rooms, sales offices, etc. Work has already commenced.


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/omni123118.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/omnimodel2.jpg


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

I'm curious cause I'm not very familiar with all this, but what is the purpose in doing this? I'm assuming this is temporary?

I'm curious cause I'm not very familiar with all this, but what is the purpose in doing this? I'm assuming this is temporary?

Yes, temporary.

It's a common practice when a larger hotel is under construction. Aloft had a similar office across the street from its Deep Deuce location before they opened.

It's so they can book events in advance of opening. They basically staff up and use the temp facility to bring in clients, show them the rooms and renderings of the meeting facilties, and get them to sign on the line which is dotted.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/omni010519a.jpg

Omni hotel to open sales office; confirms key restaurant tenant and other details (http://www.okctalk.com/content.php?r=567-Omni-hotel-to-open-sales-office-confirms-key-restaurant-tenant-and-other-details)

The city’s future convention center hotel will open in 2021, but officials have already hit the ground running. BY MIGUEL RIOS

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/bobs7.jpg


Oklahoma City and Omni Hotels & Resorts negotiated the convention hotel deal in 2017, though plans for the hotel stem back to 2008. Now the full-service, four-star hotel is just two years away.

Omni Oklahoma City Hotel is currently under construction at 100 W. Oklahoma City Boulevard, between SW Fourth and SW Seventh streets and S. Robinson Avenue and S. Shield Boulevard. The 17-story hotel will stand across the street from the future MAPS 3 convention center and the 70-acre Scissortail Park as well as caddy-corner to a streetcar stop.

The hotel is a $241 million investment and part of a public-private partnership with the city. Omni will pay for $157.5 million and hotel officials have asked the city to pay $85.4 million. Oklahoma City Council approved the deal during a 2017 council meeting to help support the convention center.

“Our partnership with Omni will support our investment in the MAPS 3 Convention Center and position it to become a resounding success,” said former city manager Jim Couch during the 2017 meeting. “Having a top-quality, full-service hotel next door to the convention center will maximize Oklahoma City’s return on an important investment in the increasingly competitive convention business. This is good for Oklahoma City and good for Oklahoma.”


Selling point

Omni officials are in the process of setting up a temporary sales office in an old building near the hotel construction site. The office will have two model guest rooms and house the Omni Oklahoma City sales and hotel staff.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/omni123118.jpg


“It’s a selling tool for us. We’ll have actual guest rooms built out,” said Mark Wykes, director of sales and marketing for Omni in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. “It’ll be a king room and a double double room. The design will be exact so we can show people firsthand what our guest rooms will look like in the hotel.”

The sales, construction and design teams for Omni Oklahoma City are expected to move into the sales office mid-February. They will work from the building and move into the hotel once construction is finished.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/bobs8.jpg


Dan Boyer was recently hired to be the director of sales and marketing for the Omni Oklahoma City Hotel. Boyer, who has held the same position in the past with Sheraton Grand, Marriott International and Renaissance Hotels, will manage, develop and implement strategies to drive more revenue for the convention center and hotel.

Boyer is already in Oklahoma City working to kick-start the hotel’s initiatives by interviewing sales candidates and creating business strategies. He and the sales team will work with the Oklahoma City Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) to help sell prospective clients on the hotel while it is under construction and once its complete.

“It takes a joint effort between a lot of different partners, and the CVB is a key one,” Wykes said. “Their job is to go out and uncover group opportunities, association meetings and corporate meetings and get them to come to Oklahoma City.”

CVB will help sell the hotel specifically to businesses and conventions. The CVB staff researches and spends time in cities like Chicago and New York, where major associations are headquartered and use the information to book hotels around the city, said CVB president Michael Carrier.

“The Omni specifically, because that’s the convention center hotel, would typically be the first hotel on the list that people would consider because of their proximity to the convention center,” he said.

There have been some letters of agreements signed for businesses booking the hotel, but Carrier said that information will not be released until contracts are signed and finalized. There are currently no individual reservations.

The Omni sales staff will be in charge of booking the hotel for social events like weddings, banquets and family reunions.

“There’s a lot of different markets that hotels serve; that’s why Omni will have their own sales office that will have a number of different people in it booking a variety of different types of activities in the hotel,” Carrier said.

CVB and the Omni sales staff will also work with the convention center’s sales office, which will be managed by SMG, a worldwide entertainment and convention management company that also manages Cox Convention Center.


Hotel amenities

The 605-room hotel will include 29 suites and feature regional design that will reflect Oklahoma and set it apart from other Omni hotels around the nation, Wykes said.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/bobs9.jpg



“We’ll pay homage to the heritage and the modern progress of the city,” he said. “It’ll take inspiration from the city surroundings and from the landscape of the Oklahoma terrain. It’ll bring some of those colors and touches of elegant tradition paired with a sophisticated mix of contemporary and approachable comfort.”

Design characteristics will include a sky-blue color palette, abstract wheat patterns and chevron patterns inspired by Scissortail Park, according to an Omni press release.

A number of rooms will be also be designed to cater to professional basketball players, featuring larger doorframes, longer beds, higher ceilings and taller showerheads. Preliminary talks have an entire floor dedicated to these rooms, though Wykes said that has not been finalized.

The 78,000 square feet of event space will mainly be housed on the second floor. The third floor will have an outdoor event lawn next to a pool deck overlooking Scissortail Park.

Seven food and beverage options will be available throughout the hotel, including an all-day dining restaurant, a coffee shop, a pool bar and grill and a two-level entertainment and sports bar. Some restaurants will line Robinson Avenue with outdoor patio seating and street entrances. The hotel will also feature a full-service spa with treatment rooms and a relaxation area, a modern fitness center and a retail shop.

“The Omni is going to be, in many ways, a resort hotel for folks that are looking for a nice weekend getaway,” Carrier said. “During spring, summer and fall, I can see people coming from other parts of the state, or even out of the state, for a getaway weekend in Oklahoma City and going to the art museum or a baseball game or other things around the area, with the Omni being their hotel of choice because of the different amenities.”

Boyer said he’s excited to be involved with the expansion and economic revitalization of downtown OKC.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/omni012019a.jpg


“For this hotel to be one of the focal points of what’s going on [in Oklahoma City] is pretty exciting for Omni as a company,” he said. “That was the attraction for me, getting to be part of this growth of downtown Oklahoma City.”

Construction is well underway with an underground parking garage rapidly taking shape. The hotel will also lease hundreds of spaces from the city in a garage to the east which will commence this summer.


Bob's Steak & Chop House

Carrier also confirmed that Bob's Steak & Chop House will open in the Omni in space along Robinson facing Scissortail Park. There will also be a large sports bar in the highly visible corner spot at the intersection of Robinson and the Oklahoma City Boulevard and directly across from Chesapeake Arena.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/bobs6.jpg


Bob's is headquartered in Dallas and currently operates 15 locations in 8 Omni hotels:: Amelia Island, Nashville, Fort Worth, Carlsbad, Dallas, Louisville, New York, Tuscon.

The restaurant chain enjoys and strong reputation for large quality cuts of meat, an elegant atmosphere, big drinks and fine wines.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/bobs3.jpg


The city had originally proposed a skywalk directly connecting the hotel to the convention center, but Omni lobbied against it, wanting as much foot traffic as possible along Robinson.

A coffee shop is planned to take the space directly south of Bob's, providing three eating and drinking establishments facing Robinson and the park to the west.


Construction on Oklahoma City Convention Center broke ground in June and is scheduled to open in 2020. Omni Oklahoma City Hotel is set to open in early to mid 2021. Scissortail Park and OKC Boulevard will be complete later this year.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/bobs10.jpg

I saw this announcement a few weeks back! Very excited to have the PGA in a city as close as Dallas (Frisco).

This city will be transformed. Exciting times.

Are there any good comparisons in other cities for this much development this quick that is this close to downtown recently?

^

They only comparison would be the first MAPS, with the arena, ballpark and canal.

But in terms of total dollars, the Devon complex alone was $750MM.

I wonder if there is an expansion agreement in place? Say this is a huge hit. What is larger conferences want to start coming to OKC. Can OKC have Omni add to their hotel, or would the conferences have to use surrounding hotels?

I wonder if there is an expansion agreement in place? Say this is a huge hit. What is larger conferences want to start coming to OKC. Can OKC have Omni add to their hotel, or would the conferences have to use surrounding hotels?

We probably won't ever know because the [large] convention planners will automatically filter out OKC based on this very fact. I am sure room accommodation deals and event space are the very top of the list in terms of selecting a city for a convention. The Omni choosing to not build more rooms basically places the convention capacity in a certain tier.

The city owns all the property to the south and east of the convention center (there is a large parking lot to the south for future exansion of the center but even more property south of that).

If there was a longer-term need, more immediately adjacent rooms could be built.

We probably won't ever know because the [large] convention planners will automatically filter out OKC based on this very fact. I am sure room accommodation deals and event space are the very top of the list in terms of selecting a city for a convention. The Omni choosing to not build more rooms basically places the convention capacity in a certain tier.

A second convention hotel can be developed as part of a future expansion. It doesn’t have to be attached to the Omni. This is done elsewhere. I think Austin is now on their third convention hotel.

I'm sure we could put another hotel as part of the Cox replacement, if it was warranted. I think Omni has the right of first refusal on something like that.

Still no Oklahoma shaped pool

https://www.instagram.com/p/BtThcKvBBoI/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7840/46025564275_dbbda7cc32_o.png

Tearing up the Boulevard just after full completion in order to send the canal under would be on-brand for OKC.

Also, we haven't seen how a major construction effort like this would impact the streetcar now that it's traveling on reno. Bridge construction takes a long time, seems like we'd have to cut off Bricktown for months...

Not generally opposed to a canal extension of some sort. But...

Is it an actual plan, or did someone just decide to do a drawing? Seems years off at best.

Is it an actual plan, or did someone just decide to do a drawing? Seems years off at best.

It was just a concept from 10 years ago. The tag on the tweet was #tbt (Throwback Thursday).

Is it an actual plan, or did someone just decide to do a drawing? Seems years off at best.

Just someones drawing from several years ago it appears. This was before the convention and hotel was even designed. There's not enough room between the Omni and BLVD for a canal to go through there.

Motion to use all of Maps 4 to add 59 miles of canal and create an Amsterdam canal ring, lol.

Totally spaced on it saying 2009. Duh. Not really sure it was worth spamming multiple threads, but cute.

This is starting to rise above ground level now. The first floor columns have gone up.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/omni020319a.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/omni020319b.jpg

I am just curious, does anyone think the canal will ever be expanded from what exists today?

I am just curious, does anyone think the canal will ever be expanded from what exists today?

There was a lot of talk about expanding it to the west, through the old Producer's Coop.

Could still happen, although that project seems to have completely stalled.

I am just curious, does anyone think the canal will ever be expanded from what exists today?

Urbanized would be the guy to ask about that one...

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http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/omni021719a.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/omni021719b.jpg

2nd level starting to take shape:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/omni030319a.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/omni030319b.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/omni030319c.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/omni031719a.jpg

Pete, I am counting about five cranes in those pics. But, I swear, I have seen more depending on the day of the week. Do you think we will have around 8 when the parking garage and subsequent housing starts construction?

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/omni032319a.jpg

Wow!

That image is crazy. Downtown had changed so much in 15 years.

Here are some images of a room, the lobby and a summary of amenities from their website.

As we had previously reported, they are close to finishing a new off-site sales facility and are already booking events and rooms. The facility will be in the old used car building just to the north of Scissortail Park.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/omni032519a.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/omni032519b.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/omni032519c.jpg

Omni is basically only a few feet taller than the Renaissance hotel (which is 15 floors).

too bad it's not 24+ floors. :(

Omni is basically only a few feet taller than the Renaissance hotel (which is 15 floors).

too bad it's not 24+ floors. :(

Would have been nice if they would have went for the 700 room mark and added a few more floors and then a few more floors of residential on top. And then to top if off my Penthouse on top. That would have made a big statement in my book.

ya, I thought 750 was the original room mark recommended by the consultants. ....

I also recall the original tower was 19 floors. now it's 17 and 605 rooms. .. Uggh. Not even the biggest hotel in Oklahoma.

Between the Omni and the Fairfield (a nice one) there will be 750 rooms adjacent to the CC. Potentially there will be 2-3 Champion hotels built right under the railroad tracks in the old lumberyard area with another 300-500 rooms. Then you have a few thousand rooms available along the streetcar route. Everyone keeps wondering when the streetcar will be viable more than now - when the new CC is built it will be utilized a tremendous amount by convention guests.

^

And there will almost certainly be a new hotel (or 2 or 3) on the west side of the park.

Mazaheri (Lumberyard) owns property fronting the park on that side.

Uuuuggghhhh. Please, no more 5 story suburban-urban hotels. Either build them taller, or build them with some sort of character or personality. The new Midtown Hotel is a great example of a hotel that isn't tall but has great appeal and designed well. Do more of that. But if we get a bunch more Fairfield Inn's, or Staybridge or Springhill Suites types, specifically around the park, I'm going to be pretty upset.


You know what I'd LOVE to see? Something very similar to the old Hotel Black. Exact same type. 10/11 is stories. Same architecture style, but updated if need be to meet the Core 2 Shore design elements. I just want something unique around the park. 21C Nailed it. The Ambassador nailed it. Aloft is alright. Even The Omni is pretty cookie cutter, based on previous Omni works (not exactly a bad thing, just pointing it out). Give OKC a TRULY unique hotel look and experience with park fronting views, hell, give us TWO, and I'll be pretty dang happy.

ya, I thought 750 was the original room mark recommended by the consultants. ....

I also recall the original tower was 19 floors. now it's 17 and 605 rooms. .. Uggh. Not even the biggest hotel in Oklahoma.
Just curious, what is the biggest hotel in oklahoma?

Just curious, what is the biggest hotel in oklahoma?

I think Biltmore at I-40 and Meridian used to have a sign saying they were, and a lot of travel sites/brochures still tell that tale, but it's 509 rooms. I notice their actual website no longer makes this claim.

I also notice their website seems to match the quality of the hotel, but that's just my opinion.

Just curious, what is the biggest hotel in oklahoma?

Not sure if it's the biggest, but the NCED Conference Center in Norman says it has 939 rooms, according to its website.

Not sure if it's the biggest, but the NCED Conference Center in Norman says it has 939 rooms, according to its website.

is it still a marriott flag??

is it still a marriott flag??

Aramark operates the hotel now. I think they took it over from Marriott within the last year.

Winstar World Casino Hotel https://gamboool.com/what-is-the-largest-casino-in-oklahoma

1500 rooms, two towers.

BTW, also largest 'casino' in the US and 2nd in the world by sq ft (still #1 in world by number of gaming machines).

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/omni033119a.jpg

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We had the pleasure of taking our 16 month old son to his first Thunder game and he loved it! There is a cool Thunder Deck I wasn't aware of with fire pits and lawn games, pretty cool. This is the pic looking across the street from that deck. I could absolutely see the Thunder put some sort of a Thunder live experience in the space between the arena and the Boulevard. I believe there is an RFP out for that area.

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We had the pleasure of taking our 16 month old son to his first Thunder game and he loved it! There is a cool Thunder Deck I wasn't aware of with fire pits and lawn games, pretty cool. This is the pic looking across the street from that deck. I could absolutely see the Thunder put some sort of a Thunder live experience in the space between the arena and the Boulevard. I believe there is an RFP out for that area.

Boy, you called it. By about 3 hours. Nice job! ITS ALMOST LIKE YOU KNEW

After the first few floors, the rest are are pretty much the same so the structure should soon start rising more quickly.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/omni040619a.jpg