I'm also surprised that Capital Grille closes at 10 on the weekends. We went to dinner a few Friday's ago and were planning to stop by Capital Grille for a night cap, and expected them to at least be open until 11 on F/Sat.

I've heard they are not quite operating a full capacity yet because they want to get the core staff some experience and work out the kinks before going to full capacity.

I've heard they are not quite operating a full capacity yet because they want to get the core staff some experience and work out the kinks before going to full capacity.

They're currently using the same hours as their fully operational restaurants in KC and Dallas, so unless we're an outlier I wouldn't expect them to extend the hours further here.

They're currently using the same hours as their fully operational restaurants in KC and Dallas, so unless we're an outlier I wouldn't expect them to extend the hours further here.Agreed.

I will say this, the Cloudpuncher at the Lively Hotel should do a good amount of business once the apartments are completed and occupied. Who wouldn't want to walk out a door, cross a parking lot, and be able to have a cocktail, food, and a nice place to watch a late Thunder game? That place is going to kill it, in my opinion.

1. You can see a concession trailer which indicates they are getting ready to install the ice rink for the holidays. They have also been installing Christmas lights throughout -- should be really a great setting. (Lots of smaller lights wrapping all the trees).

2. Mesero is really cooking now.

1, 3, & 4. They continue to install really nice seating areas all around the center of the development.

5. The west facade is still being completed and the leasing office is yet to open for the apartments. I don't think they can move anyone in until the west entrance to the garage is open.

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak110424.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak110424a.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak110424b.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak110424d.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak110424c.jpg

Also, they are reworking the steel structure for the pavilion at the south end of the park (first photo is the before).

I know they have a deal for that building and I believe it will be Shake Shack.


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak101824k.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak103024xx.jpg

Pete do you know why ALO covered up their logo on the Yoga shop on the Corner in front of the small building? They are still planning on opening in OAK right?

Pete do you know why ALO covered up their logo on the Yoga shop on the Corner in front of the small building? They are still planning on opening in OAK right?

Yes.

They just recently added their name and "hiring for spring of 2025" to those graphics, then covered up their name with tape.

I suppose they want to do a big press release first. OAK still isn't showing Blue Mercury on their site plan and has never announced that either, but their space is nearing completion.

They have a big PR firm handling all this and those operations always want to control how and when information comes out, to try and earn their keep if nothing else.

Also, they are reworking the steel structure for the pavilion at the south end of the park (first photo is the before).

I know they have a deal for that building and I believe it will be Shake Shack.
I hope you're right that this will be a Shake Shack. Was there yesterday and this is a very small pavilion. Looks more appropriate for a little ice cream shop or coffee shop. I've never seen a free standing Shake Shack this small. The development is really nice. Can't wait until it is finished. Just wish it had one upscale anchor like Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, or something. Still hoping for Vineyard Vines among others.

Original Shake Shacks were tiny. This is literally the wiki-pedia image for a shake shack.

19262

If it is Shake Shack, I imagine it will be a lot like the Spark in Scissortail Park.

Small on the inside but lots of people will sit outside or take their food to the many seating areas in the common spaces.

Original Shake Shacks were tiny.

Maybe that's why they called it a shack.

That has shakes.

1. Looks like they are preparing to lay the refrigeration coils for the ice rink.
2. Inside the trailer you can see the rows of ice skates.
3. Really putting up a ton of Christmas lights.
4 & 5. They are expanding the steel structure for the pavilion; they also took down the framing for the area behind the main structure, so they are likely expanding that as well, which will serve as cold storage, mechanical and restrooms for the restaurant.

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak110624a.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak110624b.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak110624c.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak110624d.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak110624e.jpg

Do we have the current occupancy of the apartments? It's cool to see all the lights go up at night.

Do we have the current occupancy of the apartments? It's cool to see all the lights go up at night.

Not many if any have moved in yet.

I believe they have to complete the west entrance to the parking garage, and they are still working on that.

I went to OAK for the first time yesterday. Parked in the lot to the west of PB. Walked over to Arhaus that opened at 11, not 10 like I thought they did. The furniture is very nice but also very pricey for my taste. I am glad we have one, but I probably won't be shopping there any time soon. They were working on the skate rink at the time.

We made our way over to Tommy Bahama for lunch. There were three of us. The set up is very different than most restaurants that I have been to. We first ordered appetizers and drinks at the counter as we were waiting on another person and they said we can sit down and a waiter will come to take the rest of the order when the other person shows up. I usually see counter service or table service and this was a combination of the two which I have never seen before. They kept my card on file so we didn't have to charge the apps and then dinner separately, which was nice.

We ordered the Street Corn Dip and the coconut shrimp. Both were very good tasting but the shrimp was only four for $14 which I thought was a little high, maybe not. For lunch we got the burger sliders, the hot chicken sliders and the Baja Cod Tacos. All were great but I thought the tacos were the best. But again, it was two tacos for $19.

Ended with Key Lime Pie which was great. I like restaurants where you can get a bunch of shareable items and this fits the bill really well.

We will definitely be going back.

Tempur-pedic is now open.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak111124a.jpg

As of tonight, the skating rink is officially open through January 20th.

Hours are M-Th 4-9 PM; F 4-10 PM; Sa 12-10 PM; Sun 12 - 9 PM.

Incredibly nice setting; they have really spared no expense on this entire project.

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak111424a.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak111424b.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak111424c.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak111424d.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak111424r.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak111424e.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak111424f.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak111424g.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak111424h.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak111424i.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak111424j.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak111424k.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak111424l.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak111424m.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak111424n.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak111424o.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak111424p.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak111424q.jpg

My wife and I went on Saturday as they were prepping for the rink. We enjoyed our time at Pottery Barn, Arhaus, and Williams Sonoma. We finished with an early lunch at The Marlin Bar. We thought the entry was clunky and we weren't the only ones. The idea is that you approach the front counter and order appetizers and drinks. Then grab a table flag number and find a place to sit. If you'd like to order more from the table, you can. The problem is that most don't understand this and the menus are 4 feet from the ordering station. By the time I got to see a menu, I felt that I had to make my full order (which wasn't the case.) The order-taker had to spend time explaining this to us and also took 2 minutes trying to get us to sign up for some rewards program.

We seated ourselves and our drinks (wine and bloody mary) arrived after about 10 minutes. We had ordered the chips with queso, salsa, and guac and also two burger sliders. The drinks were great. The salsa was smokey like I prefer and the guacamole was so fresh it reminded me of souther california guacamole. Our two sliders were excellent.

We next went with the tater tots (regular, not Hurricaine) and flatbread pizza. The tots were no different than what I get at Sonic. The flatbread margherita pizza was flavorful, but barely warm.

I thought it was strange that the spot at the bar where the bartenders were frantically mixing drinks was 6 inches from where food was coming out. I'm not a restaurateur, but that seemed silly and servers were constantly bumping shoulders - and it was 11am on a Saturday.

At one point after we were already mid-lunch, they had to tell patrons waiting in line that they were halting service to allow the kitchen to catch up. We weren't the only ones who were inconvenienced at the entry point. And there was never a time when there were more than 7 individuals in line to order. It's not like they were remotely slammed. I know they are working the kinks out, but the inefficiency at the entry point was a significant bummer. If I were the manager, I would have a hostess with a stack of menus advising patrons that they will want to order drinks and apps at the entry point and then be able to order subsequent drinks and food from their table.

The staff and servers were doing their best and I tipped well for their efforts. We will go back, but with lessons learned.

I was going to ask pricing but then realized I could get off my lazy rear and GTS it (Google that sh**) From the website:

The rink will be open daily from November 14, 2024, through January 20, 2025, including Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Eve. Hours of operation:

Monday – Thursday: 4-9 pm

Friday: 4-10 pm

Saturday: 12-10 pm

Sunday: 12-9 pm

Thanksgiving Break (11/24-11/29): 12-10 pm daily

Christmas Break (12/21-01/06): 12-10 pm daily

Christmas Eve: 12-5 pm

Christmas Day: 12-10 pm

Admission:

General admission w/ skate rental: $15
General admission w/o skate rental: $10

Tickets are available for sale on-site at OAK.

Email icerink@oakokc.com for group bookings.

Skate sizes range from toddler size 6 to adult size 14. Sizes are subject to availability.

*Please note the ice rink will close during inclement weather.


great pics Pete

Got a $50 off coupon for Tommy Bahama along with an invite to "sip and shop" this afternoon. Basically free drink and snack. So we made it an afternoon hubby/wife date. The store is great and the staff is outstanding. They would take clothes I wanted to try on and have them in the dressing room already unbuttoned and laid out. Very attentive. When we arrived and asked about the sip and shop....they weren't quite sure but the manager looked at the email and said...order any drink off the menu you would like and we will take care of it. Brought us some little key lime tarts also. Once again...right on top of it and taking care of customer. Several people came in after us that had gotten the same email and they were prepared for them.

After we shopped, we hit the Marlin bar for a late lunch. Like previous poster has said....service is weird. They don't have a smooth system. We sat at the bar and basically had to wave somebody down even though there were several standing around. We were able to order at the bar and once we had someone's attention.....we were taking care of pretty well. The bartenders seem to also be the food order takers for everyone standing in line. They need to separate that out as no one seemed to be taking care of the people sitting at bar. Management was present on the floor and bar and were being attentive to making sure things were getting smoothed out and working kinks out.

The food and drinks were excellent. We had the cucumber smash which is a gin based drink and the wife had the tropical mule and then the guava based margarita. Drinks were well balanced with crisp clean flavors. For food, we had the blackened mahi tacos and the street corn dip. The street corn dip is amazing. Great flavor. It is somewhat of a small portion for the amount of chips. The chips appeared to be freshly fried in house and were crispy, light and slightly salty in a good way. I will be experimenting at home to copy this recipe. The blackened mahi tacos were excellent also. They needed a sauce with them We asked for sirracha and that did the trick. The mahi didn't seem to have much blackening season but the flavors interacted well and had a nice contrast with the slaw. I would not hesitate to order either of them again.. The two drinks we paid for along with the appetizer and entree we split came to $63. Felt it was a great value for what we received.

Nice addition to OKC and will be a great place to have lunch or drinks on a shopping break. Would recommend giving it a try. (Also....I have mentioned this before. Get on Tommy Bahama's mailing list. I get $50 off $100 purchase coupons on a regular basis and so does my wife.)

19303 19304

Got a $50 off coupon for Tommy Bahama along with an invite to "sip and shop" this afternoon. Basically free drink and snack. So we made it an afternoon hubby/wife date. The store is great and the staff is outstanding. They would take clothes I wanted to try on and have them in the dressing room already unbuttoned and laid out. Very attentive. When we arrived and asked about the sip and shop....they weren't quite sure but the manager looked at the email and said...order any drink off the menu you would like and we will take care of it. Brought us some little key lime tarts also. Once again...right on top of it and taking care of customer. Several people came in after us that had gotten the same email and they were prepared for them.

After we shopped, we hit the Marlin bar for a late lunch. Like previous poster has said....service is weird. They don't have a smooth system. We sat at the bar and basically had to wave somebody down even though there were several standing around. We were able to order at the bar and once we had someone's attention.....we were taking care of pretty well. The bartenders seem to also be the food order takers for everyone standing in line. They need to separate that out as no one seemed to be taking care of the people sitting at bar. Management was present on the floor and bar and were being attentive to making sure things were getting smoothed out and working kinks out.

The food and drinks were excellent. We had the cucumber smash which is a gin based drink and the wife had the tropical mule and then the guava based margarita. Drinks were well balanced with crisp clean flavors. For food, we had the blackened mahi tacos and the street corn dip. The street corn dip is amazing. Great flavor. It is somewhat of a small portion for the amount of chips. The chips appeared to be freshly fried in house and were crispy, light and slightly salty in a good way. I will be experimenting at home to copy this recipe. The blackened mahi tacos were excellent also. They needed a sauce with them We asked for sirracha and that did the trick. The mahi didn't seem to have much blackening season but the flavors interacted well and had a nice contrast with the slaw. I would not hesitate to order either of them again.. The two drinks we paid for along with the appetizer and entree we split came to $63. Felt it was a great value for what we received.

Nice addition to OKC and will be a great place to have lunch or drinks on a shopping break. Would recommend giving it a try. (Also....I have mentioned this before. Get on Tommy Bahama's mailing list. I get $50 off $100 purchase coupons on a regular basis and so does my wife.)

19303 19304

The service is / was weird, but when I went it was the first week, so I will give them a break.

They were out of multiple items, but, again…

The fish tacos I got were exceptional (I didn’t get the blackened version). Their salsa and guacamole were also excellent. I wasn’t in much of a drinking vibe so can’t comment on that. It was a bit pricey and there was an absolutely awful musician performing terrible cover songs with limited appeal so the ambiance didn’t impress, but again, it was the first week.

If I lived in those apartments I would grab those fish tacos every single week, and the salsa is addictive.

Despite the service hiccups and other issues, the food I had was top notch.

Also, the Williams Sonoma store is a fabulous addition to OKC retail options. It is way bigger and more interesting than what existed at Penn Square. It’s a totally different experience.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak111524c.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak111524a.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak111524b.jpg

great pics pete thank you

My wife and I went on Saturday as they were prepping for the rink. We enjoyed our time at Pottery Barn, Arhaus, and Williams Sonoma. We finished with an early lunch at The Marlin Bar. We thought the entry was clunky and we weren't the only ones. The idea is that you approach the front counter and order appetizers and drinks. Then grab a table flag number and find a place to sit. If you'd like to order more from the table, you can. The problem is that most don't understand this and the menus are 4 feet from the ordering station. By the time I got to see a menu, I felt that I had to make my full order (which wasn't the case.) The order-taker had to spend time explaining this to us and also took 2 minutes trying to get us to sign up for some rewards program.

We seated ourselves and our drinks (wine and bloody mary) arrived after about 10 minutes. We had ordered the chips with queso, salsa, and guac and also two burger sliders. The drinks were great. The salsa was smokey like I prefer and the guacamole was so fresh it reminded me of souther california guacamole. Our two sliders were excellent.

We next went with the tater tots (regular, not Hurricaine) and flatbread pizza. The tots were no different than what I get at Sonic. The flatbread margherita pizza was flavorful, but barely warm.

I thought it was strange that the spot at the bar where the bartenders were frantically mixing drinks was 6 inches from where food was coming out. I'm not a restaurateur, but that seemed silly and servers were constantly bumping shoulders - and it was 11am on a Saturday.

At one point after we were already mid-lunch, they had to tell patrons waiting in line that they were halting service to allow the kitchen to catch up. We weren't the only ones who were inconvenienced at the entry point. And there was never a time when there were more than 7 individuals in line to order. It's not like they were remotely slammed. I know they are working the kinks out, but the inefficiency at the entry point was a significant bummer. If I were the manager, I would have a hostess with a stack of menus advising patrons that they will want to order drinks and apps at the entry point and then be able to order subsequent drinks and food from their table.

The staff and servers were doing their best and I tipped well for their efforts. We will go back, but with lessons learned.

Sounds like your experience and mine were similar.

I went to check out Williams Sonoma and was super impressed. Much more upscale and nice compared when it was located at Penn Square. This development is really nice! Looking forward to what is in store with additional shops and restaurants! I know Mesero is locating here and it is super good! I hope Crate and Barrel changes their minds and locate a store in Oak. By the way, the lights look fantastic at night and really brings the place to life!

Seems like they continue to have issues with the ice rink. See on social media they posted that it is temporarily closed with no date.

OAK makes you feel very sad about Classen Curve.

That development has fantastic retailers and restaurants but they are strewn over a large area with no placemaking whatsoever. Even NH Plaza is just a big center with parking (and a street) in the middle.

There is way more in that area than OAK will ever have, yet OAK already feels infinitely better.

Do we know the timeline for Blue Mercury? The space looks ready for their buildout, but they aren't even listed on the Oak website. Even RH opening next summer is listed (not that they could hide it). I guess Alo isn't listed either, and they've had signs up for that. But still, I wonder what the timeline is, and what the holdup is on moving forward.

Edit: I think I just realized why. They are part of Macy's. I bet Macy's has a blackout period where they don't take possession of any space during the Christmas season. I bet the earliest they take possession from Oak is January or February. And who knows if they're even working on permits yet. Could be a while.

^

The shell for Blue Mercury is complete along with the storefront, but the space is being used for OAK's holiday celebrations.

They filed for a finish building permit a couple of weeks ago and I would expect work will start after the first of the year.

Oil Tree has not started work at all, but has also filed for a building permit.

Oil Tree is now well under construction. No movement yet on Alo or Blue Mercury.

Had lunch at Tommy Bahama today and it was very busy, which was nice to see.

Property manager told me they have had the first apartment tenants move in.

The pavilion building has been greatly expanded.

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak121924a.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak121924b.jpg

Shake Shack has to have some seating. hehe (wink).

We went to the skating rink yesterday for an end of semester skating party. It is such a nice spot. Plus, I got to shop at the new Williams-Sonoma, which is incredible. They would do well to put in a kiosk for warm drinks near the rink. If they had one open, I missed it.

^

Yeah, at this early point, there is no place for coffee or pastries or ice cream...

I suspect those gaps will all be filled in the next year.

^

Yeah, at this early point, there is no place for coffee or pastries or ice cream...

I suspect those gaps will all be filled in the next year.

Maple and Honey Coffee Co. had a pop-up coffee and hot chocolate shop by the rink a few weekends ago. Would be nice to see that stay for the holidays... at least on the weekends.

I haven't heard anything in particular but I'm sure they'd love to have a coffee place.

And Shake Shack sells frozen custard, shakes, and seasonal hot chocolate, which should be open by the next holiday season (still no official announcement).


HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/shakeshack122024a.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/shakeshack122024b.jpg

Maple and Honey Coffee Co. had a pop-up coffee and hot chocolate shop by the rink a few weekends ago. Would be nice to see that stay for the holidays... at least on the weekends.

That would have done a ton of business yesterday!

Junction Coffee was there last weekend as well. And it was pretty perfect actually. As we were about to pull in we both said "a coffee would be great - too bad they don't have anything at the Oak" immediately turned the corner, and saw that big beautiful double decker bus.

I haven't heard anything in particular but I'm sure they'd love to have a coffee place.

And Shake Shack sells frozen custard, shakes, and seasonal hot chocolate, which should be open by the next holiday season (still no official announcement).


HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/shakeshack122024a.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/shakeshack122024b.jpg

Any idea why it hasn’t been made official yet? I mean I know it takes time, but it has been the worst kept secret in this city for a year or so it seems.

Took these Saturday 12/20 about 1:30 PM.

Look at the cars and traffic... This area must generate more sales tax for the City than anywhere else in town.

In the lower left of the 4th photo, you can see they have just about cleared the Phase II area, which will include 3 new restaurant pads plus office and retail in the reworked existing structure.

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak122024a.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak122024b.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak122024c.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak122024d.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak122024e.jpg

Great shots, Pete! Amazing how busy it is there!

For phase 2 it seems to be far less dense than phase 1. Are there long-term plans to fill in some of that parking? And also fill-in where the office building was supposed to go.

I would expect the traffic given it's the holiday/shopping season. It's traffic at every mall/shopping center this time of year.

Not disputing your analysis but I want to see how this performs in the middle of July. I'm sure it will do well.

Was told that, unsurprisingly, all the stores that have opened in OAK are surpassing their projections by a considerable margin.

Example: Arhaus did 25% of the total annual projection in the first month, and during that time the park was just mud.

Was told that, unsurprisingly, all the stores that have opened in OAK are surpassing their projections by a considerable margin.

Example: Arhaus did 25% of the total annual projection in the first month, and during that time the park was just mud.

Nice!

Went yesterday evening to do some shopping. Checked out Arhaus and the store is beautiful. A sales rep said they had been doing good business! Tried the Marlin Bar and it was a fun experience with live music great drinks and service! They had a special on their toasted coconut martini for 11.00. It was delicious. The Oak was busy with skaters and shoppers and still have a lot of retail to open up. I’m excited to see this development in its full glory.

We went last night with our dining group to Capital Grille and the whole area was full with people. Marlin Bar was full, you could see lots of cars in the Pottery Barn parking lot and in the valet garage parking. We had amazing service and food at Capital Grille! There were about 25 people ice skating when we went in and still about 10 when we left. The outdoor area is so nice and with everything lit up it was a great experience.

We went last night with our dining group to Capital Grille and the whole area was full with people. Marlin Bar was full, you could see lots of cars in the Pottery Barn parking lot and in the valet garage parking. We had amazing service and food at Capital Grille! There were about 25 people ice skating when we went in and still about 10 when we left. The outdoor area is so nice and with everything lit up it was a great experience.

Can confirm Capital Grille is great. We ate there about 6 weeks ago. Wine selection is fantastic, cocktails were good to very good. Steak was very good. I'm going again for work in a few weeks.

I still think the Ranch has better steaks but Capital Grille is a different vibe, great location and definitely worth adding to the rotation.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak122824a.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak122824b.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak122824c.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak122824d.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak122824e.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/oak122824f.jpg

That looks so much nicer than the original renders from when this was being designed. I don't know that I have ever said that about OKC projects before. It's really nice; thanks for posting the photos.

Do they have anything special planned for NYE?

Would be nice if someday we could get to a place this is the minimum expectation for developments and not be the exception. This developer deserves a lot of credit for exceeding the usual standard.

Walking through OAK several times a week, I appreciate the attention to detail.

Tons of pavers, outdoor furniture, wide sidewalks, landscaping, lighting, and quality materials.


I've said it before but it makes me weep for Classen Curve. They have a nice hotel, Whole Foods, tons of great retailers and restaurants, and virtually zero place-making or walkability. NH Plaza is just as bad, with a sea of parking in the middle and no easy way to move around on foot.

Imagine if we took everything there and rearranged it in a similar way to OAK. It would be much, much nicer than Utica Square. As it is, it's just a jumble of nice places strewn about in a series of sprawling strip centers.

I've said it before but it makes me weep for Classen Curve. They have a nice hotel, Whole Foods, tons of great retailers and restaurants, and virtually zero place-making or walkability. NH Plaza is just as bad, with a sea of parking in the middle and no easy way to move around on foot.

Add Chisholm Creek. Quality urban design is not hard. You just put buildings in relation to each other with walkability between them to create synergy. Then you thoughtfully place parking on the outside of those structures or integrate a mixed use parking garage into it. You see this in downtowns main streets, good college campuses like OU, and even malls. You can have it in more suburban areas too, and there are developments like OAK in cities all over the country. Good urban design increases the vitality of the place by so much. Chisolm Creek could have so easily done this and yet they completely messed it up. The overall layout is embarrassingly bad. You have all these structures close together, yet they feel disconnected by poor design. It doesn't feel like you're supposed to walk to Top Golf from other businesses... no connecting sidewalks or crosswalks.

So, yes, well done to OAK. It's well designed and should do great. I hope other developers learn from this, but I suspect they won't. They build for cars, not people.

I'd love to see mixed use apartments built in the Penn Square parking lot facing OAK (with street design improvements between) to create a connection between OAK and Penn Square Mall. It could really transform the entire area.

It's been a little while since I've been home and to Classen Curve but from what I remember it primarily consists of two fairly lengthy strips of stores with a narrow road in between. That narrow road really contains fairly limited parking along it. How hard would it be to remove that road and parking and replace it with a beautiful activated central courtyard a la what they have done at Oak?

It's been a little while since I've been home and to Classen Curve but from what I remember it primarily consists of two fairly lengthy strips of stores with a narrow road in between. That narrow road really contains fairly limited parking along it. How hard would it be to remove that road and parking and replace it with a beautiful activated central courtyard a la what they have done at Oak?

That is the only parking, so no way to remove it.

And it's not just those long strip centers... You have Whole Foods, Anthropology, West Elm, Roxy's, and Cava in another strip center across a busy street. Then Flower Child and Torchy's Tacos are another long hike through the middle of a parking lot, and the hotel is even more detached.

Of course all of NH Plaza is across a busy 63rd Street and separated by another busy road (Avondale).

The result is absolutely nobody is walking anywhere in these developments, apart from their car to the front door of a destination establishment.

I'm grateful they spent a lot of money on architecture and incentives to businesses, but once those incentives lapsed (i.e. Aubrey McClendon got kicked out of Chesapeake) all but one (Green Goodies) of the many local businesses failed or relocated, and even though we got a lot of new-to-market places subsequently, that whole development is a mess and the legacy of a rich guy with no development experience trying to play Sim City instead of bringing in someone with experience in a true lifestyle center. (The OAK guys had never done a lifestyle center either, but they hired a very experienced planning and architecture group from Atlanta, not one of their local buddies).

The result is we are stuck with that mess and it largely precludes anything better. And far too much money has been spent to tear it all down and start over.

Just a massive missed opportunity we will never get back.

That is the only parking, so no way to remove it.

And it's not just those long strip centers... You have Whole Foods, Anthropology, West Elm, Roxy's, and Cava in another strip center across a busy street. Then Flower Child and Torchy's Tacos are another long hike through the middle of a parking lot, and the hotel is even more detached.

Of course all of NH Plaza is across a busy 63rd Street and separated by another busy road (Avondale).

The result is absolutely nobody is walking anywhere in these developments, apart from their car to the front door of a destination establishment.

I'm grateful they spent a lot of money on architecture and incentives to businesses, but once those incentives lapsed (i.e. Aubrey McClendon got kicked out of Chesapeake) all but one (Green Goodies) of the many local businesses failed or relocated, and even though we got a lot of new-to-market places subsequently, that whole development is a mess and the legacy of a rich guy with no development experience trying to play Sim City instead of bringing in someone with experience in a true lifestyle center. (The OAK guys had never done a lifestyle center either, but they hired a very experienced planning and architecture group from Atlanta, no one of their local buddies).

The result is we are stuck with that mess and it largely precludes anything better. And far too much money has been spent to tear it all down and start over.

Just a massive missed opportunity we will never get back.

The biggest missed opportunity, IMO, are the apartments over retail being turned down and ending up a regular apartment building, which has subsequently burned, and may not be rebuilt for a long, LONG time.

why can a parking garage not be built here with retail at the bottom and apartments on top?

https://maps.app.goo.gl/nSFYSgvDojUmKsJ68?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.cop y

this might be the only ambitious development in the State that has ever been built anywhere close to the initial renderings. you have to tip your cap to Dobson and the Veritas bros. they delivered right here.

Overall I agree with the positive comments but I do have one complaint. How the The Lively get permission for that garish LED billboard facing north onto NW Expy? I was driving past it late one evening when the ad changed to something with a mostly white background. I nearly had a wreck when my peripheral vision picked it up and I thought something was going to crash into me. Classy developments shouldn't have billboards, even if it's just advertising for OAK tenants.

So, yes, well done to OAK. It's well designed and should do great. I hope other developers learn from this, but I suspect they won't. They build for cars, not people.

Welcome to Oklahoma! This isn't NYC or LA... people around here (outside of this message board) like their cars (and trucks).

Yeah this place really missed the mark by not having a sea of surface parking with a chain restaurant. Guess we’ll have to settle for something nice this time.