So what is going on with this site. To me there hasn't been anything done in over a year now. Just a blank space with a fence around it.

So what is going on with this site. To me there hasn't been anything done in over a year now. Just a blank space with a fence around it.

And lake Lackmeyer...

OG&E is deep in negotiations with the City and we should see something on this soon.

The tower is going to be about 20-22 stories and then there will be a separate apartment tower, probably to be built at a later date.

This is the best news we've heard on this project in a long while.
Again, I assume that seeing construction start across the street has probably spurred the horse a little bit here.
Will be great to see cranes going up across the street from one another and continue to watch this West side of the skyline grow.

Short update by Steve.

Link (http://www.oklahoman.com/article/5468901?access=34435cb5725f34a06a00cbfa22ca7637&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_The_Oklahoman)

This is a failure if we end up TIF'ing an OG+E-only bldg with no assurances or performance incentives for delivering anything else, including a proposed apartment bldg.

This is just bad and all that's coming into focus is just how bad exactly this is. We're going to get what the market can support without subsidy, which isn't all that to get excited over.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o214/bchris02/IMG_1910_zpsrwe2djka.jpg

OG&E's existing tower. I never realized what an architectural jewel this was until my walk today. Wouldn't it be awesome for this to be re-purposed to include residential once OG&E moves into their new tower on the Stage Center site?

^

It has potential but always looks completely dead because they have all the street-level windows covered in clings or opaque glass blocks and the replacement windows in the upper floors are way too darkly tinted.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o214/bchris02/IMG_1910_zpsrwe2djka.jpg

OG&E's existing tower. I never realized what an architectural jewel this was until my walk today. Wouldn't it be awesome for this to be re-purposed to include residential once OG&E moves into their new tower on the Stage Center site?

Looks like an outdated box to me. OKC has one of the oldest, boxy looking DT of many cities of its size,

Looks like an outdated box to me. OKC has one of the oldest, boxy looking DT of many cities of its size,

The building itself isn't bad, but the owners have turned it into something that looks okay from a distance but does little for street interaction or vibrancy. This is a theme with most buildings in the CBD...as most of their employees live in Edmond so they don't care about downtown street life. However, I look at this building for its potential, not what it is. It could be something really special. OG&E will be moving into their new tower sometime within the next five years. My hopes is that the current building will be purchased and restored to glory.

Looks like an outdated box to me. OKC has one of the oldest, boxy looking DT of many cities of its size,It does. But that should change and for the better once we get more skyscrapers. Hopefully we'll get some real ones soon and not this 20 or 30 story stuff. I mean, it's nice, but I want taller buildings.

the storefronts have so much unrealized potential, my god!

It does. But that should change and for the better once we get more skyscrapers. Hopefully we'll get some real ones soon and not this 20 or 30 story stuff. I mean, it's nice, but I want taller buildings.

I would be happy with a DT with buildings that had some uniqueness in design, Devon notwithstanding. The existing and proposed towers are basic with no architectural distinction to identify OKC and project a city on the move ala Charlotte when they began their DT building boon. Not necessarily the same height but vibrant.

I would be happy with a DT with buildings that had some uniqueness in design, Devon notwithstanding. The existing and proposed towers are basic with no architectural distinction to identify OKC and project a city on the move ala Charlotte when they began their DT building boon. Not necessarily the same height but vibrant.
Those Towers Proposed by ClayCo were pretty cool. Not just a glass box. Anyhow, I wouldn't mind seeing several more glass towers as long they're tall. I don't want the glass towers to take over though.

I would be happy with a DT with buildings that had some uniqueness in design, Devon notwithstanding. The existing and proposed towers are basic with no architectural distinction to identify OKC and project a city on the move ala Charlotte when they began their DT building boon. Not necessarily the same height but vibrant.

Is there even anything the city can do to encourage better architecture? As far as I know, that is up to the developer and as long as it meets guidelines set by the DDRC or a variance is granted, it can be built. Charlotte's more unique buildings were built by financial institutions that wanted an iconic building. That is how you ended up with the BoA tower, Hearst Tower, and Duke Energy (Wachovia) Tower. OKC has that with Devon, but most other HQs and major employers here are more interested in having a suburban campus than a downtown tower.

I would say Charlotte's downtown pulls above its weight for a city its size. It is truly unique and awesome, both from a distance and at street level. It compares more to Dallas than it does OKC from my own experience.

Is there even anything the city can do to encourage better architecture? As far as I know, that is up to the developer and as long as it meets guidelines set by the DDRC or a variance is granted, it can be built. Charlotte's more unique buildings were built by financial institutions that wanted an iconic building. That is how you ended up with the BoA tower, Hearst Tower, and Duke Energy (Wachovia) Tower. OKC has that with Devon, but most other HQs and major employers here are more interested in having a suburban campus than a downtown tower.

I would say Charlotte's downtown pulls above its weight for a city its size. It is truly unique and awesome, both from a distance and at street level. It compares more to Dallas than it does OKC from my own experience.Design Review. Don't they have authority or do they just make recommendations?

Design Review. Don't they have authority or do they just make recommendations?

They have authority as to what gets built and what doesn't, but in OKC they don't even enforce good urbanism, let alone architecture that may be considered unique.

"Outdated box". SMH

Looks like an outdated box to me. OKC has one of the oldest, boxy looking DT of many cities of its size,

LOL, just LOL. :pat_head:

Looks like an outdated box to me. OKC has one of the oldest, boxy looking DT of many cities of its size,

That is ridiculous and silly.

How does this look like an outdated box but Hotel Black was an architectural masterpiece??? This is one of the cooler buildings in Downtown. That being said I'd like to see the first floor opened up to retail

"Outdated box". SMH

I was thinking the same thing...

I agree with dcsooner on a lot of things but that specific building has so much potential and could really be something special in OKC. When OG&E moves into their new tower, my dream would be for it to be redeveloped into housing, with retail on the ground level and plenty of sidewalk interaction.

Looks like an outdated box to me. OKC has one of the oldest, boxy looking DT of many cities of its size,

What are you talking about? Have you ever been to... DC?

Which is an amazing city.

What are you talking about? Have you ever been to... DC?

Which is an amazing city.

Lived 17 yrs in Springfield, VA 18 miles from the US capital until Jan 2014

Harvey and McGee is the most architecturally significant intersection in OKC, per an architect giving a tour once.

I would have said that is my favorite intersection in downtown, so I'm not surprised.

Lived 17 yrs in Springfield, VA 18 miles from the US capital until Jan 2014

I know. That's why I asked if you've ever been to DC. You claim that old, short, boxy buildings are outdated and bad. Using your own terminology.

I know. That's why I asked if you've ever been to DC. You claim that old, short, boxy buildings are outdated and bad. Using your own terminology.

DC has height restrictions and obvious architectural restraints because it's the nations capital. Federal buildings have been and are generally conservatively built as required by the General Services Administration

Heard that OGE will release a statement later today that the Tower HQ is not happening. I'm hoping it's bad information tho... that would be harsh news.

This is probably bad info...BUT...if it is true, someone needs to be held accountable in a big way for the destruction of the theatre with nothing left but empty land with a small lake!

That'd be terribly unfortunate. The latest I'd heard was in Steve's latest article that mentioned that he'd heard a deal was near for a "scaled-down" version.

Exciting Times Ahead in Film Row | News OK (http://newsok.com/article/5471762?utm_campaign=LOOKatOKC&utm_source=Social&utm_medium=LOOKFB)

I'm hearing that the office tower is going to come in around 20 stories (rather than the 25 most recently proposed) and that the residential tower -- which be a later phase after the first building and parking -- would be 22 vs. 26.

I posted this back on 11/11/15 from a very good source.

Checking to see if anything has changed.

I totally agree.

The original Clayco rendering did seem a little too good to be true. I'll be interested to know how "scaled down" he is talking about. If the final product is still better than the initial 14-story concept released by Rainey Williams, that is a win. By the way, if you doubt Rainey William's ability to deliver on this project...well you don't know Rainey Williams.

Oh, come on… Say it isn't so.
I don't even know where to begin, so we should just wait to hear back from Pete's source.

I don't doubt the developer. Maybe they lost their biggest tenant is all. Like I said, I hope the information I was told is bad.

Heard that OGE will release a statement later today that the Tower HQ is not happening. I'm hoping it's bad information tho... that would be harsh news.

Hopefully the info is bad. It's time to tie demolitions with building permits, at least in the jurisdiction of DDRC. This kind of thing has happened far too many times through OKC's history.

Let's wait for confirmation of this rumor before we start the "I told you so"s and the recriminations.

It's official, story just broke:

OGE Energy Center development halted | News OK (http://newsok.com/oge-energy-center-development-halted/article/5471877)

However, there is a positive in this decision, a little silver lining, so to speak:



By Steve Lackmeyer

On Monday, OGE Energy Corp. CEO Sean Trauschke announced the company is assuming ownership of the land, which was originally purchased by G. Rainey Williams Jr., and will beautify and maintain the property until an appropriate development can be secured.

“OGE continues to have a need for downtown office space, and we were excited to be a part of a new building,” Trauschke said. “After consulting with developers and city leaders, it is very clear that there is currently insufficient demand for additional downtown office space.”

“This is a prime site and deserving of a bold development, and OGE is committed to preserving it,” Trauschke said.


They'd rather wait and return to the 25 and 26 floor proposals it sounds to me, rather than settle and build a 13 floor facility.
Perhaps at some point in the near future we can see a return to the full scale of the project, at least in respect to the two towers to be built for OGE offices and the apartments. Four I think was always too much and too risky.

I don't even know what to think about this...

From that article:


OGE Energy Corp. CEO Sean Trauschke announced the company is assuming ownership of the land, which was originally purchased by G. Rainey Williams Jr., and will beautify and maintain the property until an appropriate development can be secured.

So, fill in the lake, plant some grass and hope maybe someday something gets built there.


Before energy prices are blamed for this, it should be noted that BOK Plaza started way later and is now coming out of the ground. This was just a cluster from the beginning including the ridiculous ruse by Rainey Williams that was happily promoted without scrutiny by the local press.


Wow, is this the ultimate indictment of OKC's strong bias toward developers and big business vs. preservation of our history.

Cue a huge uproar and an avalanche of told-ya-so's.

And the told-ya-so's would be justified for this particular project. Leaving BOK Park Plaza out of this for now, considering it's already having the foundation laid, this was by far the bigger disappointment, speaking for the present. There was absolutely no need to tear down SC so soon. They should have simply bought the land and waited. This is awful, but again, maybe there is hope as indicated previously. Long term it'll be, but hope nonetheless.

This hurts.

Wish I could say I was surprised.

It's time to tie demolitions to building permits within the jurisdiction of the DDRC.

This kind of thing isn't surprising...its business as usual in Oklahoma City. Change is needed to ensure that what little history is left here isn't demolished by a developer with big promises who ultimately fails to deliver.

It's time to tie demolitions to building permits within the jurisdiction of the DDRC.

This kind of thing isn't surprising...its business as usual in Oklahoma City. Change is needed to ensure that what little history is left here isn't demolished by a developer with big promises who ultimately fails to deliver.

I'm not even sure what's left constitutes the amount of "little."
But I will say that there needs to be vocal cries regarding this. Contact the DDRC, City Council, anything at this point and ask to have current bylaws and the permit process reformed before this happens again. This time, there's ammunition, and a lot of it, that can be used.

BTW, that article quotes Williams as saying:


there is simply not the market downtown today to lease half of a 27-story structure, and a smaller building to serve OGE alone would be a disservice to the great property of our city,

Only 7 of the floors were to be leased; that's 27% of the space, not nearly 'half'.

Not the market in two years time to lease 7 floors downtown with structured attached parking where there is almost zero Class A space for rent in the CBD or anywhere else in town?


This deal has stunk from Day 1 and they are still not being honest.

By the way, if you doubt Rainey William's ability to deliver on this project...well you don't know Rainey Williams.

You nailed it here, bchris. Many of us knew we were in trouble then, but told not to worry. How great that we're left with another empty lot.

Thanks for getting the story Pete. Sad news for sure.

Wow what a joke.

I guess we really didn't know Rainey Williams....

Tip of the cap to the posters who saw this coming. You nailed it.

Okay, yeah, this is pretty disappointing.

BTW, that article quotes Williams as saying:



Only 7 of the floors were to be leased; that's 27% of the space, not nearly 'half'.

Not the market in two years time to lease 7 floors downtown with structured attached parking where there is almost zero Class A space for rent in the CBD or anywhere else in town?


This deal has stunk from Day 1 and they are still not being honest.

Why are we still not getting the truth regarding this development? We've all heard the stories about the lack of Class A space yet this can't work?

The article almost implies that if the city had agreed to the outrageous TIF requests, that construction would have started in summer 2015 and the towers would already be coming out of the ground (at least two of them).

It sounds like the city not agreeing to the TIF has actually saved OGE's butts and essentially Clayco/Williams' butts, too.


I asked many times over the last year, where OGE was in all of this, do they need space or not?! The fact that they were never upset about their new HQ being a year in construction delay shows that they knew long ago that this would never happen.


What a perfect storm.

The only thing you could say about the downtown office market is that there is a fear of SandRidge going out of business and leaving their tower empty.

That would be a big chunk of space but not as big as most people think, at 490,000 square feet.

Can we assume that Clayco/Williams made off with loads of cash in this situation?

Can we assume that Clayco/Williams made off with loads of cash in this situation?

Doubt Clayco did but we'll likely never know about Williams.

Remember, I reported just before that property closed that OG&E was the buyer and I got that from two different sources who absolutely knew what was going in. They were surprised as anyone when Williams was put fort as the buyer and both said he was still just a front for OG&E.

What a strange coincidence all that has come to pass now.

The one silver lining in this is maybe the land can be developed into mixed-use residential that actually interacts with and complements MBG. I never liked the idea of fronting the park with sterile corporate complexes. OKC has one of the best urban parks in the country yet severely underutilizes it.

Question is, how many years will OKC have to wait for something like that to be proposed?

OKC has one of the best urban parks in the country yet severely underutilizes it.

How does OKC "severely underutilize" the Myriad Gardens? Seems a dramatic overstatement.

^

MGB is still completely undeveloped on 2.5 sides even if this project would have gone forward and it was to include a large amount of residential and some other services.

We are likely not to see anything that ambitious and of that quality for quite some time.


No way is this a good thing, it's just complete spin by people who made a ton of big promises and now are trying to save face.