Here's another project that slipped through the cracks; still can't find any application in design review but shawnw of the crack OKCTalk Street Team sniffed it out.

This is on the NE corner of 5th & Dewey and is owned by Rick Dowell. Looks like he is adding a pitched roof, similar to the property he owns to the east. The land in between has all types of infill and that is the long-rumored site for a mid-rise housing development.

SoSA District Projects
County Assessor Record (http://www.oklahomacounty.org/assessor/Searches/AN-R.asp?ACCOUNTNO=R011604250)

Anything will be an improvement to this property.

I've been watching it for a number of weeks. I don't understand the hip roof..? Definitely a Dowell solution. Would not have expected that to pass design review.

For the life of me, I can't find their design application.

Which is why we never had a thread until the construction was well underway.

All very strange.

He managed design approval for his parking garages (both old and new), so I am no longer surprised by what he can pull off. He must have a killer Jedi mind trick going on with the committee...

For the life of me, I can't find their design application.

Which is why we never had a thread until the construction was well underway.

All very strange.

It was seen by the alternate universe design review board...

From shawnw. They are using the same type of Spanish roof tile as the Dowell properties to the east:

http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/development-buildings/6869d1393682373-600-n-dewey-600ndewey022814.jpg

What is up with Dowell and that Spanish tile? His rumored residential tower will have a pointed tile crown...

That explains it. Dowell must be flying to Spain and bringing one tile back each time.

Haha! That made me laugh out loud. Well done.

He bought a bunch of this Ludowici tile off of a church being demo'd in Texas somewhere. I believe the amount he is using for this project exhausts his supply.

As far as the permit goes, I wonder if some permits can be hidden if you are the right person?

.............

If he doesn't have a permit, isn't this illegal? If one wanted, couldn't a citizen file an injunction?

Just curious.

You can file an injunction against anything you want including things that have a record of going through the process, like PresOK does. The question is why? Just bc you don't like Dowell's motifs doesn't mean it's not a drastic improvement. Dowell does good work he just moves epically slow and has strange taste and this applies to EVERYTHING he does. He is still one of the good guys.

I'd also caution against a message board hysteria here; bc of how slowly he moves, he could (probably is) be doing work off of a ten year old bldg permit. OKC Talk has strong credibility so let's not be a typical message board, although any foul play that goes around the permitting process should and must be investigated and face repercussions. Jim Brewer routinely got away with that in Bricktown, just tearing down bldgs overnight.

^

Just to clarify, there is a building permit, I just couldn't find any design permit.

However, in that area you can't get a building permit without design approval so it must have been received at some point; I just can't find it.

Dowell has owned this building for over 10 years and had a new stone front put on it about five years ago, so I suspect he received design approval years ago and it's just too old to be in the system. But they expire after two years so I don't know why a renewal isn't showing up.

To be clear I don't actually have any problem with this project. I was more concerned about the process.

From what Pete said it sounds more like someone at the city didn't scan the design permit and put online.

Fair enough! It's important that we defend our processes and not have another renegade Brewer.

The permit for this was filed recently, as in the past 3-4 months.

Supposedly he had tenants lined up for this building and that's why it got kicked into high-gear recently.

My biggest objection with the improvement is why do it now? If you are anywhere close to developing your vacant lots into a multi-story structure, why not just bulldoze this, and the hotel-office at the other end, and use the entire block.

And let me clarify, I have been inside of this building and it's not worth saving with all of its issues. The most valuable thing is the recently new stone facade and now the tile on the roof.

The permit for this was filed recently, as in the past 3-4 months.

Supposedly he had tenants lined up for this building and that's why it got kicked into high-gear recently.

My biggest objection with the improvement is why do it now? If you are anywhere close to developing your vacant lots into a multi-story structure, why not just bulldoze this, and the hotel-office at the other end, and use the entire block.
A high rise development doesn't HAVE to take up an entire block. That's a recurring thematic problem...

A high rise development doesn't HAVE to take up an entire block. That's a recurring thematic problem...

Agree, towers themselves are usually fairly small footprint wise.

It's the huge pedestals and plazas that they use in common architecture that take up all of the space.

You can fit 4 Devon Towers on a standard downtown OKC city block. And Devon is actually a pretty girthy tower. Can get 6-7 Sandridge Towers on the same size parcel.

I'm not sure where I said that high-rises have to take up an entire block.

Specifically referring to this mid-rise project that everyone thinks Dowell has planned, again, I'm looking at the logistics of redeveloping the two outer parcels of this block down the road. Where the hotel-office sits on the east side of the lot, that's large enough to develop something substantial on down the road. But this stone building is on one lot. So if a 5-6 story mid-rise is built right next to it, cutting it off, it's development potential down the road is limited...and I don't think this current building is the highest use for the lot.

Agree, towers themselves are usually fairly small footprint wise.

It's the huge pedestals and plazas that they use in common architecture that take up all of the space.

You can fit 4 Devon Towers on a standard downtown OKC city block. And Devon is actually a pretty girthy tower. Can get 6-7 Sandridge Towers on the same size parcel.

It is indeed rather girthy...

This project is moving right along. That's a ton of infill they've dumped on the lot just east.

Thanks to shawnw for the photo:

http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/development-buildings/6925d1394237765-600-n-dewey-600ndewey030714.jpg

Didn't get a chance to take a pic, but the west side first floor windows were in today...

Pete,

Is there any way to find out who the Architect of record was for this project?

Pete,

Is there any way to find out who the Architect of record was for this project?

It's Howard & Associates:

Home (http://howardarch.com/)

It's Howard & Associates:

Home (http://howardarch.com/)

This is off-topic, but the Howard & Associates website has some pretty interesting proposed buildings (that look mid-80s) that never came to be or turned out differently -- a Hilton in the middle of the Myriad Gardens, an office building at Sycamore Square, and an office building connected to the Skirvin.

http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/development-buildings/7038d1395145720-600-n-dewey-600ndewey031714a.jpg



http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/development-buildings/7039d1395145720-600-n-dewey-600ndewey031714b.jpg



http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/development-buildings/7040d1395145935-600-n-dewey-600ndewey031714c.jpg

This is off-topic, but the Howard & Associates website has some pretty interesting proposed buildings (that look mid-80s) that never came to be or turned out differently -- a Hilton in the middle of the Myriad Gardens, an office building at Sycamore Square, and an office building connected to the Skirvin.

The strangest one (that I'd never heard of) was a proposed mall at Hefner & Penn, where the Love's campus is today. Looked like a smaller version of Crossroads.

This project is now complete:



http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/600ndewey032015.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/600ndewey032015b.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/600ndewey032015c.jpg

Certainly an upgrade, but man, Dowell has an interesting choice of style on this stuff. The roof doesn't really bother me, but could he have picked a more boring window style?

Worse yet, it had some great, original casements. There should be a law...

If you were wondering why the huge pile of dirt to the east of this building:

http://www.okctalk.com/attachments/development-buildings/6925d1394237765-600-n-dewey-600ndewey030714.jpg

Now you know:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/600ndewey051315.jpg

Ugh

Took this today... Another Dowell project with crazy dark windows that make the whole building look dead.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/600ndewey092515.jpg

Were they chosen for energy efficiency?

A bit surprised that the windows made it through DDRC review... maybe he didn't go for approval?

I think Dowell might have himself been on DDRC when the applications were made on the other two buildings.

What an awful looking building.

That building would fit well in the Gaillardia office park up on Memorial. Hopefully Dowell isn't involved in any more projects because he has no concept of what makes for good urban design and everything he has done has been detrimental to street life. While this building is better now than it was pre-renovation, it could have been so much better with just a few design changes.

I think Dowell might have himself been on DDRC when the applications were made on the other two buildings.

Wait, someone not just allowed Rick Dowell near a design review committee, but actually put him on it?!?

Yes, regrettably.

Is Dowell still on the committee? Related question - is there a list online somewhere of all the members on different city committees?

1. No
2. The best way I've found is to visit http://www.okc.gov/AgendaPub/meet.aspx and find an agenda for whichever committee your looking for. Board members are always listed on their respective agendas. Here is DDRC: http://www.okc.gov/AgendaPub/iViewer.aspx?meetid=3446&doctype=AGENDA&eetid=3446&doctype=AGENDA

An old beat down building was restored (not torn down) and people still aren't happy? Color me shocked. What is the issue with the windows? These look like the same windows that are on the Plow building, which everyone is praising. I guess it's the contrast with the brick/stone that has you guys up in arms? Educate me please, I'm not an architect and don't pretend to be one.

Last March Spartan calls Dowell "one of the good guys" now everyone is trashing him? I can't figure this place out.

No, these windows are completely different than The Plow.

At the Plow, you can easily see in the building, i.e. the glass is much more transparent.

The issue with almost all of Dowell's properties is he puts in these craze dark-tinted windows which make even completely full buildings look absolutely dead.

There are good reasons why these types of windows are not allowed by the DDRC and I don't know how he got past that.

The windows in that building are the exact OPPOSITE of what's in The Plow. Dowell's windows are aluminum frame, heavily tinted and bear no resemblance whatsoever to what was originally in those buildings. The windows in The Plow were carefully matched to what existed historically, have wooden frames and transparent glazing, allowing those on the street to see lights and activity in the building, and allowing for natural light IN the building.

The windows at The Plow were carefully chosen and constructed to enable the developer to utilize historic tax credits; the windows in the Dowell buildings would have specifically excluded Dowell from obtaining them.

Hope that helps.

1. No
2. The best way I've found is to visit http://www.okc.gov/AgendaPub/meet.aspx and find an agenda for whichever committee your looking for. Board members are always listed on their respective agendas. Here is DDRC: http://www.okc.gov/AgendaPub/iViewer.aspx?meetid=3446&doctype=AGENDA&eetid=3446&doctype=AGENDA

Thanks for the link!

The windows in that building are the exact OPPOSITE of what's in The Plow. These windows are aluminum frame, heavily tinted and bear no resemblance whatsoever to what was originally in those buildings. The windows in The Plow were carefully matched to what existed historically, have wooden frames and are transparent, allowing those on the street to see lights and activity in the building.

The windows at The Plow were carefully chosen and constructed to enable the developer to utilize historic tax credits; the windows in the Dowell buildings would have specifically excluded Dowell from obtaining them.

Hope that helps.

Thanks, I wasn't sure if everyone was griping at the frames or the actual tint. I didn't know they were actually tinted, so yeah I definitely understand the issue with that.

If you ever want to know who "one of the good guys" is, have a conversation with Richard McKown about how much effort went into getting the right windows for The Plow. When I see Dowell's windows I think of Danny DeVito's character in Tin Men.

If you ever want to know who "one of the good guys" is, have a conversation with Richard McKown about how much effort went into getting the right windows for The Plow. When I see Dowell's windows I think of Danny DeVito's character in Tin Men.

I don't really care who is a good guy or not, just had seen him referenced as such by Spartan further up the page. Had nothing to do whether or not he put proper windows in this building.

Yeah, I agree, but was just responding to your comment (about Spartan's comment) about "good guys". That said, I have a lot more respect for someone who goes the extra mile in complying with community design guidelines and HP best practices when renovating historic structures.