^

I would think they would keep the buildings as they have recently been renovated.

There is a lot of excess land surrounding the structures.

I am very sure there will be a huge ask for public assistance; expect several hundred million $.

Makes sense. Any extension of the canal would be huge for the city, especially if it reaches areas where thousands of people will be for events. I would assume this would dramatically increase ridership. The same could be said for the streetcar extension, which was also suggested in the article.

It's not mentioned but you can bet Prairie Surf will move to this development.

Funding in place "this is going to happen" sounds good, hopefully that ends up being true. I love the idea of extending the canal over from the east.

Funding in place "this is going to happen" sounds good, hopefully that ends up being true. I love the idea of extending the canal over from the east.

If that extension happens, you should see more canal development. Hope that someone takes over the old Chelinos' site. Loved that view on the canal.

Funding in place "this is going to happen" sounds good, hopefully that ends up being true. I love the idea of extending the canal over from the east.

Christian is an O&G guy and the person behind Wheeler Bios and so funding is how he has built those two. This is one of the few people when they say "funding is in place" I believe them. Also, something that flew under the radar is Echo is partnering with Sandino Thompson to impact minor based businesses. So, there is a lot going on in their world.

Christian is an O&G guy and the person behind Wheeler Bios and so funding is how he has built those two. This is one of the few people when they say "funding is in place" I believe them. Also, something that flew under the radar is Echo is partnering with Sandino Thompson to impact minor based businesses. So, there is a lot going on in their world.

He also just sold a portion of Echo's mineral position for $500.00mm.

Keep in mind that Kanady is mostly dealing in investor money, not his own.

With the MAPS 4 Stadium possibly built on this site, that could trigger more development on the mill site.

Excited to see OKC's construction of the new downtown arena, stadium and the LA28 Olympic events that could
be apart of our city's participation (Softball, canoeing) hosting two of the games. Will be historic for Oklahoma.

Keep in mind that Kanady is mostly dealing in investor money, not his own.

having Beffort on board gives me much more hope for this ..

he has access to a lot of investor money

I am very sure there will be a huge ask for public assistance; expect several hundred million $.

Has there been a major project in recent history that requested public/city assistance and not received it?

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news...t/74586676007/

To summarize:

- Mark Beffort and Christian Canady to develop Coop property for over $1 billion
- To be built around the MAPS 4 multi-purpose stadium
- Trying to acquire Mazaheri's parking lot along OKC Boulevard
- Also trying to acquire the Silos climbing gym and office complex to the east
- Recently bought the Mose Tal land
- Wants to tie into the Bricktown canal
- Mid-rise development with entertainment, housing, retail, and hospitality (usually means hotels)
- Minimal parking with some structures tied into the rest of the development
- Funding in place "this is going to happen"

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/coop080124.jpg

Maybe they can go back to some of the OG canal plans.
canal022019.jpg (1472×1024) (okctalk.com) (https://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/canal022019.jpg)

Has there been a major project in recent history that requested public/city assistance and not received it?

OGE for the towers west of the MBG

Has there been a major project in recent history that requested public/city assistance and not received it?

The only one that comes to mind is Strawberry Fields but only because they are in such disarray the City eventually pulled out.

But if they ever get it together, they would get hundreds of millions as well.

OGE for the towers west of the MBG

They were asking for a completely unreasonable amount; if they had actually followed through they would have received plenty.

This has to do with this development, but not directly:

I looked on County Assessor and the Lumberyard site sold earlier this year to Provencia Investements. PI is owned by Fred Mazaheri. But on the Mortgage in the Registrar of Deeds, there are five other guarantors on it: Ramji Krupa (Shirish Patel, Champ Patel related), ASCP Downtown (Chintan Parikh), Sunny Hotels (Champ Patel), Smart Bricktown (Harold Smart), TNS Holdings (Satish Arora). The loan on the mortgage is $6,070,386.66 which is more than just a parking lot. PI is 40% owner, Champ is 20% owner and the rest are 10% owners.

free link to the oklahoman story

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/a-1-billion-stadium-district-may-be-coming-to-lower-bricktown/ar-BB1r16DA?cvid=c4f2731d87cc4062b62461db4d64e3cf&ei=14

also should be pointed out that this is a factual error ...

Funk and McLaughlin started the Energy FC in 2013. The team is part of the USL Championship, second division of the United Soccer League.

USL championship is the top division of the USL

The only one that comes to mind is Strawberry Fields but only because they are in such disarray the City eventually pulled out.

But if they ever get it together, they would get hundreds of millions as well.

Did Industry ever go to the city for TIF before that thing blew up?

It will be interesting to see how they position the stadium and the surrounding hotels, apartments, retail and entertainment. I would love to see the home side facing North at the downtown skyline, mid rise on the boulevard and mid to high rise next to the highway. Any sort of retail would probably be worked into the apartments and hotel and the new prairie surf (assuming it goes there) would be either to the west along the train wall or east and work into the canal extension.

^

I would think they would keep the buildings as they have recently been renovated.

There is a lot of excess land surrounding the structures.

yeah it’s a pretty unique climbing gym that adds an activity draw to the area that fits with the stuff offered in the boat house district nearby so it would be kinda dumb to do away with it. The land around it would make much more sense

It will be interesting to see how they position the stadium and the surrounding hotels, apartments, retail and entertainment. I would love to see the home side facing North at the downtown skyline, mid rise on the boulevard and mid to high rise next to the highway. Any sort of retail would probably be worked into the apartments and hotel and the new prairie surf (assuming it goes there) would be either to the west along the train wall or east and work into the canal extension.

If they’re smart, they’ll place the stadium on a N/S orientation with a mid-rise building directly to the west.

This building on the left (called the Elevator Annex) is really great. I've been in there before and the office space is fantastic.

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/silo080124a.jpg


HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/silo080124b.jpg


HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/silo080124c.jpg

So I'll be thrilled, like everybody, to hopefully watch this area develop.

It's been written many times, but OKC is very lucky to have so much virgin land available in the inner core. In looking at the above Google Earth image, one primary thing that I see is this area's glaring separation from the rest of downtown. (as opposed, for example, to Midtown and Film Row that flow naturally and seamlessly from the CBD). With the too-wide boulevard flanking the north (and the movie theater and parking lots on the other side) and that railroad track running along the west side, this does run the risk of developing in isolation from, rather than connected to, the wider downtown area. I hope they can build multiple egresses and are not afraid to "slow down" traffic on the boulevard with multiple stoplights/crosswalks etc.

I'll be very curious to see the first detailed site plans.

So I'll be thrilled, like everybody, to hopefully watch this area develop.

It's been written many times, but OKC is very lucky to have so much virgin land available in the inner core. In looking at the above Google Earth image, one primary thing that I see is this area's glaring separation from the rest of downtown. (as opposed, for example, to Midtown and Film Row that flow naturally and seamlessly from the CBD). With the too-wide boulevard flanking the north (and the movie theater and parking lots on the other side) and that railroad track running along the west side, this does run the risk of developing in isolation from, rather than connected to, the wider downtown area. I hope they can build multiple egresses and are not afraid to "slow down" traffic on the boulevard with multiple stoplights/crosswalks etc.

I'll be very curious to see the first detailed site plans.

Good point and they are taking that into account. See the quote below from Beffort from the article:

Beffort said he wants to develop an area that ties into the Bricktown Canal, which connects the property to Riversport OKC along the river, Bricktown, downtown, the new convention center and Scissortail Park.

“We don’t need another one-off district that plays by itself,” Beffort said. “It needs to connect with the core, the new arena and downtown. We need to look at whether we need to pull in the canal or do we bring the streetcar into our site. We want to be adjacent to all these elements, and we need to see what it would take to connect.”

WarrenG, thanks for pointing that out. I do now recall that quote that I didn't really internalize before writing my post.

I think canal and streetcar connections will be a "must do" and probably not "that" difficult with the "blank slate" nature of the land. It's a little bit unfortunate that the convention center will block a seamless flow between Scissortail and this area but it is what it is. A challenge but a good one.

I personally would like to see a strip of shopping and restaurants on the ground level of a series of 5-10 story buildings right up against the boulevard on the north side of this property. Try to bring pedestrian connection to/from lower Bricktown and whatever comes of the Boardwalk development.

At the southeast corner of upper Scissortail park there is an existing walkway beneath the BNSF viaduct so that will help with the connection somewhat.

Good point and they are taking that into account. See the quote below from Beffort from the article:

Beffort said he wants to develop an area that ties into the Bricktown Canal, which connects the property to Riversport OKC along the river, Bricktown, downtown, the new convention center and Scissortail Park.

“We don’t need another one-off district that plays by itself,” Beffort said. “It needs to connect with the core, the new arena and downtown. We need to look at whether we need to pull in the canal or do we bring the streetcar into our site. We want to be adjacent to all these elements, and we need to see what it would take to connect.”

It's really good that they are thinking this way, but they do have some work to do to integrate it into surrounding developments. The Boulevard and the way lower bricktown was developed really made an island out of this space. The boulevard basically transitions from almost freeway to city street right in front of it. I don't know how they change that, so I guess they'd have to find a creative way to bypass it.

But, if doing so effectively turns the canal into a transportation method, that is, a way to navigate between bricktown, lower bricktown, and on to the river and Okana, maybe that could eventually lead to the canal being the actual focal point of development it was intended to be. That would be a great outcome, imo.

^

A big part of the problem is that Lower Bricktown was developed with its back to I-40 (for understandable reasons) and now it's a boulevard, it's still the same.

If the Boardwalk happens that will help a bit but there have always been major ingress/egress issues with this property.

And remember, the only portion of this area that doesn't front some elevated freeway stretch is Mazaheri's property, and he's going to make this group pay some completely outrageous sum.

That's on top of the hard borders of I-40 and the RR tracks + the craziness of EKG.

Another district to add to OKC’s list. What’s the total now? 56? ;)

Most large cities have many identifiable districts.

My only gripe is having to add the word district at the end of everything. Like in LA, you have Hollywood, Echo park, Koreatown etc. Granted, those are neighborhoods, and there are districts here. But for example, like the wheeler district, I think they could’ve came up with a better name than having to have the word district at the end of it.

I’m not a big fan of stadium district either. What other stadiums are there going to be in this area other than the soccer stadium? Something like producers cove, or cotton farms or something I’m just throwing names out there. I know they’re not that great. Though I will say if there is an area, where adding the word district at the end of it were appropriate, and this is going to be primarily an entertainment based area. This would be a good area to identify as a district.

But that’s just my two cents. It’s certainly not something. I’m gonna lose sleep over.

^

L.A has a bunch of districts, mainly clustered around downtown:

Financial District (I worked there)
Jewelry District
Fashion District
Toy District
Flower District
Warehouse District

And to be fair, almost nobody says 'district' after The Plaza or Midtown or SoSA or Film Row or Uptown or Deep Duece or Auto Alley.

I suspect this development will end up be named something other than the Stadium District.

As long as the cool projects/proposals keep coming and the momentum continues building they could name them the “District District” for all I care.

Among all the many great things happening in the city this and OKANA are probably the developments I’m most excited about.

Edit: OAK is really cool too. Idk, it’s hard to choose lol

Mick Cornett might call it the Oklahoma City District of Oklahoma City.

Mick Cornett might call it the Oklahoma City District of Oklahoma City.

In Oklahoma County, Oklahoma and at the intersection of Oklahoma Avenue and Oklahoma City Boulevard very close to the Oklahoma River.

^

L.A has a bunch of districts, mainly clustered around downtown:

Financial District (I worked there)
Jewelry District
Fashion District
Toy District
Flower District
Warehouse District

And to be fair, almost nobody says 'district' after The Plaza or Midtown or SoSA or Film Row or Uptown or Deep Duece or Auto Alley.

I suspect this development will end up be named something other than the Stadium District.
oh absolutely. It’s not something that really bugs me that much. But yeah, surely they’ll name it something other than the stadium district. That must just be a placeholder name.

In Oklahoma County, Oklahoma and at the intersection of Oklahoma Avenue and Oklahoma City Boulevard very close to the Oklahoma River.

Don’t forget about the potential opportunity visitors may have to fly into Will Rogers Oklahoma City International Airport to see the largest ever production of Oklahoma, inside the new Oklahoma City Stadium located between Oklahoma City Boulevard, the Oklahoma City Convention Center, the Oklahoma River and the former OKC Rocks in the Oklahoma City District of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma.

In Oklahoma County, Oklahoma and at the intersection of Oklahoma Avenue and Oklahoma City Boulevard very close to the Oklahoma River.

Oklahoma City Boulevard should really be named ODOT Boulevard.

Oklahoma City Boulevard should really be named ODOT Boulevard.

Or, just call it "ODOT Unnecessary Neighborhood Divider Boulevard"

So, remind me again who owns the boulevard? The reason I ask is if the city decides to come in and make it less wide, can they do that? Is it a fed or ODOT project?

Or, just call it "ODOT Unnecessary Neighborhood Divider Boulevard"

Or really, 'Flattened I-40'.

So, remind me again who owns the boulevard? The reason I ask is if the city decides to come in and make it less wide, can they do that? Is it a fed or ODOT project?
I may be mistaken, but I believe the city of Oklahoma City now owns that Boulevard or they will soon. The design of it is so dumb. They should’ve just made it a full on freeway or made the whole thing a pedestrian and bike friendly Boulevard.

But they half assed it.

If I had my way, I would tear down the bridges over Classen and turn that into a roundabout.

I’d also like to see a roundabout at Shartel, Reno, and OKC BLVD, but that would be a pretty complex roundabout, but I’m sure it could work.

Klein needs to be converted to an interchange. This should be more of an industrial area, so I’m OK with it being a controlled access facility. Cyclist and pedestrians can divert at Classen on the new roundabout.

I’d like to see the street parking removed in front of the park with bus or bike lanes added. That parking can be substituted somewhere else maybe in a parking garage built somewhere. I would remove a lane of traffic traffic And rework The new rapid system they built along northwest Expressway and Classen to go down this road and then continue up shields Boulevard which I would keep at six lanes for cars but add a new lane in the median for busses. There are trees that would have to be cut down, but they don’t seem like they’re in the best of shape anyways and with good planning you could plant new trees and place of them.

But I don’t really see any major changes coming to this road for sometime. Really it’s not all that bad. If anything, it would make more sense for the city to focus on Reno And add bike lanes there.

I think OKC Boulevard is a decent way to move traffic. I use it a couple times a week, on average. May not be perfect, but it will fill in on the sides and was not a billion dollar expense. There are many other roads in OKC that need real attention. This ain't it, IMO.

I may be mistaken, but I believe the city of Oklahoma City now owns that Boulevard or they will soon. The design of it is so dumb. They should’ve just made it a full on freeway or made the whole thing a pedestrian and bike friendly Boulevard.

But they half assed it.

If I had my way, I would tear down the bridges over Classen and turn that into a roundabout.

I’d also like to see a roundabout at Shartel, Reno, and OKC BLVD, but that would be a pretty complex roundabout, but I’m sure it could work.

Klein needs to be converted to an interchange. This should be more of an industrial area, so I’m OK with it being a controlled access facility. Cyclist and pedestrians can divert at Classen on the new roundabout.

I’d like to see the street parking removed in front of the park with bus or bike lanes added. That parking can be substituted somewhere else maybe in a parking garage built somewhere. I would remove a lane of traffic traffic And rework The new rapid system they built along northwest Expressway and Classen to go down this road and then continue up shields Boulevard which I would keep at six lanes for cars but add a new lane in the median for busses. There are trees that would have to be cut down, but they don’t seem like they’re in the best of shape anyways and with good planning you could plant new trees and place of them.

But I don’t really see any major changes coming to this road for sometime. Really it’s not all that bad. If anything, it would make more sense for the city to focus on Reno And add bike lanes there.

On your first if I could do something points. I would rather they tear down the bridges over classen and fix Classen N of the Blvd to align with Classen south and extend Western to allow for flow through that area.
19069

Whether it be replaced with round-a-bouts or something else, I think this would improve investment in this area.

On your first if I could do something points. I would rather they tear down the bridges over classen and fix Classen N of the Blvd to align with Classen south and extend Western to allow for flow through that area.
19069

Ii was part of a group that fought for something similar to this, but Eric Wenger wouldn't entertain any real consideration of it. Learned a thing or two about NEPA in the process. Maybe the city will eventually make these changes.

How about Oklahoma City Stadium Authority:


1. Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark
2. MAPS 4 - Multipurpose Stadium
3. Proposed $1 billion Downtown Arena
4. OG&E Coliseum
5. Paycom Center Arena

Selected volunteer members serve in an advisory capacity to the City manager, mayor and City Council in the oversight of the operations of the above arenas and stadiums owned by the city.

How about Oklahoma City Stadium Authority:

1. Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark
2. MAPS 4 - Multipurpose Stadium
3. Proposed $1 billion Downtown Arena
4. OG&E Coliseum
5. Paycom Center Arena

Selected volunteer members serve in an advisory capacity to the City manager, mayor and City Council in the oversight of the operations of the above arenas and stadiums owned by the city.

That would certainly be one more way to add “Oklahoma City” into the mix LOL

Looked at metropolitan areas that have stadium authorities:

Maryland (Baltimore), Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, Santa Clara Stadium Authority--Levi Stadium, River City Regional Stadium Financing Authority (Sacramento), Tulsa Stadium Trust to name several . . .

Once you determine the need for a stadium authority, where does its functions differ from the operations of the firm charged with property management? Advisory vs operational management.

I think OKC Boulevard is a decent way to move traffic. I use it a couple times a week, on average. May not be perfect, but it will fill in on the sides and was not a billion dollar expense. There are many other roads in OKC that need real attention. This ain't it, IMO.

I doubt anyone that wants the boulevard to be improved believes it doesn’t move traffic efficiently enough. From the perspective of someone that drives it a few times a week to get in and out of downtown, yeah, it’s not ineffective. However, to those not just looking for a convenient route to get back to their home 10 miles away, it’s poorly designed, especially in an urban context. It tries to both move traffic efficiently while also having to compromise with pedestrians and cross traffic traveling at 25-30 MPH, so in that sense it trying to do both makes it poorly designed in both methods. Either it needs to be an urban boulevard that takes all other modes of transport - including pedestrians - into account or a highway that simply exists to move traffic alone without taking local traffic into consideration.

Looked at metropolitan areas that have stadium authorities:

Maryland (Baltimore), Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, Santa Clara Stadium Authority--Levi Stadium, River City Regional Stadium Financing Authority (Sacramento), Tulsa Stadium Trust to name several . . .

Once you determine the need for a stadium authority, where does its functions differ from the operations of the firm charged with property management? Advisory vs operational management.
Las Vegas has a stadium authority.

On your first if I could do something points. I would rather they tear down the bridges over classen and fix Classen N of the Blvd to align with Classen south and extend Western to allow for flow through that area.
19069

Since we didn't just use Reno Ave. as our "crosstown boulevard" for some god-forsaken reason, adding a roundabout for Exchange Avenue/Reno Avenue and making your desired change would go a long way to making me hate it less.

Since we didn't just use Reno Ave. as our "crosstown boulevard" for some god-forsaken reason, adding a roundabout for Exchange Avenue/Reno Avenue and making your desired change would go a long way to making me hate it less.

I believe making these changes (not insignificant but also not total redo) would allow for increased development opportunities along this section and improve traffic flow.

I may be mistaken, but I believe the city of Oklahoma City now owns that Boulevard or they will soon. The design of it is so dumb. They should’ve just made it a full on freeway or made the whole thing a pedestrian and bike friendly Boulevard.

But they half assed it.

If I had my way, I would tear down the bridges over Classen and turn that into a roundabout.

I’d also like to see a roundabout at Shartel, Reno, and OKC BLVD, but that would be a pretty complex roundabout, but I’m sure it could work.

Klein needs to be converted to an interchange. This should be more of an industrial area, so I’m OK with it being a controlled access facility. Cyclist and pedestrians can divert at Classen on the new roundabout.

I’d like to see the street parking removed in front of the park with bus or bike lanes added. That parking can be substituted somewhere else maybe in a parking garage built somewhere. I would remove a lane of traffic traffic And rework The new rapid system they built along northwest Expressway and Classen to go down this road and then continue up shields Boulevard which I would keep at six lanes for cars but add a new lane in the median for busses. There are trees that would have to be cut down, but they don’t seem like they’re in the best of shape anyways and with good planning you could plant new trees and place of them.

But I don’t really see any major changes coming to this road for sometime. Really it’s not all that bad. If anything, it would make more sense for the city to focus on Reno And add bike lanes there.

I despise Klein. They even made it worse like 4 years ago or so when they changed it away from 1-way on Sheridan there. In the mornings, people will just sit at the stopsign at Klein / Sheridan wanting to get across Sheridan and backup traffic on the Blvd. I realize this data is like 1.5 yrs old now, but Klein at that spot is 3/8 of the worse Intersections in OKC. 10 Most Dangerous Intersections In Oklahoma City | Lawter & Associates Attorneys at Law PLLC (lawterlaw.com) (https://www.lawterlaw.com/posts/10-most-dangerous-intersections-in-oklahoma-city/)

Also, if we are just tossing out ideas, with all the excess land of OKC Blvd, we could throw a rail line down the center and get most of the way from Scissortail to the State Fairgrounds (with one over/under pass about where the rail line intersects (and OKC Blvd passes over) Reno. That would also provide easy public transit to the Mental Health hospital what is supposed to be put at Reno/Portland (if that is still a thing).

So, remind me again who owns the boulevard? The reason I ask is if the city decides to come in and make it less wide, can they do that? Is it a fed or ODOT project?

The Boulevard was a built by ODOT with federal and state funding. I doubt OKC could change the footprint of the boulevard.

That's a good question. The whole point of the boulevard was to be a mitigation measure, but it was unnecessary mitigation. I don't think the city will forever be forced to keep the footprint, the city is the one having to maintain it. Unless the city and the federal government wants to provide funds for annual upkeep.

That said, the city currently has bigger fish to fry.

I bet 10 years from now most of you won't give the OKC Boulevard (please, rename it and NOT with Scissortail!) a second thought. It doesn't separate anything anymore than Classen does. Once that west downtown section fills in, it will become just another street.

Now, the earlier notion of repurposing it and Reno with the east/west rail line is interesting to consider.

I bet 10 years from now most of you won't give the OKC Boulevard (please, rename it and NOT with Scissortail!) a second thought. It doesn't separate anything anymore than Classen does. Once that west downtown section fills in, it will become just another street.

Now, the earlier notion of repurposing it and Reno with the east/west rail line is interesting to consider.

I think you're underestimating how much I think about multimodal street design. ;)

Seriously though, I find it hard to believe that this street won't still be significant barrier to creating an interactive and dynamic area in 10 years. It would require—at least—really great design from a lot of architects. Classen at least has always been there since I've known OKC. The boulevard was added only recently so I can't forget how much better it could have been. In other words, I don't think I'm going to forget in 10 years.

Remember the 'Better Boulevard' movement that started on this site and was organized well before the final design?

All of these points were made very strenuously at the time, they were completely ignored, and the state and City basically just kicked the legs out from under the old I-40, let it land on the ground, and said 'we're good'.

Do you not remember that odot went back and made revisions? They should've either have just made this road a full on freeway, or made it a completely pedestrian oriented road. If anything, friends for a better boulevard made this road worse, because they half assed it. With all the other infrastructure needs in the city, I don't see oklahoma city going back and doing anything to this brand new road for a long time. Perhaps they'll do some improvements between scissortail And that vacant property directly to the north.