http://m.newsok.com/oklahoma-citys-gulfport-energy-corp.-to-break-ground-on-new-headquarters/article/5364304

Planning a new $30m headquarters.

9431


The new $30 million building, designed by RBA Architects, will have underground parking, a staff restaurant, fitness center and auditorium on six floors totaling 120,000 square feet of space, said Rick Brown, principal architect. A groundbreaking ceremony will be at 1:30 p.m. Friday.

RBA Architects (http://www.rbaarch.com/portfolio.php)

I also posted this in the business energy thread, but they have a cool project planned for NE 122nd and Broadway Ext.

No contractor has been selected. That seems odd to me with them breaking ground today.

I have to say this looks phenomenal. With Linn expanding and now Gulfport's new HQ that corridor is booming (not to mention the retail and recreational expansion).

No contractor has been selected. That seems odd to me with them breaking ground today.

I can't find a building permit, so I don't really understand what is happening here, especially since the company is saying "no comment".

maybe it is just utility work? or they are just digging out dirt with some shovels then going back to the office

i haven't heard or seen of this project on the civil end either, strange

I can't find a building permit, so I don't really understand what is happening here, especially since the company is saying "no comment".

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRkzEAPoS0oKO-aUGLaGRn2W2yK-EhB9QyeVqntTn0F-g4fk8tT

If it weren't for my dad, this would not have been possible! Happy for Gulfport Energy!

especially since the company is saying "no comment".

some of energy companies are skiddish about not wanting to talk about new buildings and stuff sometimes because they don't want any negative perception of having too much money to build lavish new buildings.

edit - changed "a lot" to "some"

^

Right, but then why are they having a ground-breaking, releasing renderings and such?

There is something very weird about all this.

^

Right, but then why are they having a ground-breaking, releasing renderings and such?

There is something very weird about all this.

Oh I agree, it's odd to say the least. OKCisOK4Me...can you shed some light?

I was there today. This is a really cool building designed by Rick Brown at RBA. They are going to consolidate their offices which are in different buildings to one location. they will feature a ton of employee amenities. The tower has an LED feature which will light up at night.

Needs to be taller and downtown.

Needs to be taller and downtown.No. It's great where it is. I do agree about the taller part though :p

I agree that it doesn't need to be downtown, but above that this is the thing to understand here: Thank goodness this is located on Memorial Road, and not at NE 122nd and Kelley.. or Yukon or something else ridiculously decentralized. Curbing the negative impacts of sprawl is not about turning against those areas once they are built. Where I'm going with this is that I really think it's time to talk about how we include Memorial Road in a commuter rail/light rail corridor serving the north metro.


I was there today. This is a really cool building designed by Rick Brown at RBA. They are going to consolidate their offices which are in different buildings to one location. they will feature a ton of employee amenities. The tower has an LED feature which will light up at night.

There's a tower?

and you know, it's comments like these that proves OKC is still a small time amateur market.


10:56 a.m. Do you find it surprising that Gulport Energy chose to build a new corporate campus in its existing NW OKC location rather than join the majority of the other big energy companies in Downtown OKC?

Steve Lackmeyer 10:58 a.m. No. Some companies like being located in suburban office parks with huge surface parking lots and no places to eat or gather without getting in a car and dealing with traffic on Memorial Road. They don't want their employees to be exposed to the arts, to have chances to network on the streets and in park areas at lunch and on breaks.

Anything really nice that gets proposed in the suburbs is met with people that are apparently unable to realize that in major cites, there are tons of huge suburban office parks that are world class and quite frankly better than downtown OKC. What a stupid comment by Steve. The majority of their parking is going to be underground and there are tons of restaurants around that you can even walk to. I accompanied a girl at the ATT office in the Quail Business Park and we walked to The Shack and had a great time walking there and did so without any worries what so ever. Seems to me the one complaining about that have a bias or are too afraid to walk beyond their concrete jungle. How's that for a fair statement.

then I come to this comment



Steve Lackmeyer 11:02 a.m. Nah. This city is big enough for such development.

I'm not trying to bash Steve as I actually have great respect for him, but is this man bipolar or something? How do you go from dissing a development by saying they will subject their employees to a personal hell of
suburban office parks with huge surface parking lots and no places to eat or gather without getting in a car and dealing with traffic on Memorial Road. They don't want their employees to be exposed to the arts, to have chances to network on the streets and in park areas at lunch and on breaks. na this is just fine, the city is big enough? Or am I reading that wrong and he is saying 'the core can lose a quality development out onto the crappy suburbs' and the core won't be affected by it?

It would be great to have Gulfport, but what Steve meant was that there are companies who are valuable members of our community, but don't absolutely need to be downtown. In fact, if a company prefers to build its HQ in a school district to attract employees with families, and prioritizes convenient parking - the reality is that downtown may not be best for them. They are in fact choosing something other than the priorities that Devon supports, like young, energetic, employees who are healthy, educated, and cultured.

There is no one size fits all. It takes all types, and there really are choices, and believe it or not, some of the choices you might not select aren't necessarily the wrong choice. Another thing is that Steve isn't necessarily above reproach, but he does have a ton of valuable perspective on this since he too resides north of Memorial Road, where he is raising his son. People have lives outside of this development scene.

It would be great to have Gulfport, but what Steve meant was that there are companies who are valuable members of our community, but don't absolutely need to be downtown. In fact, if a company prefers to build its HQ in a school district to attract employees with families, and prioritizes convenient parking - the reality is that downtown may not be best for them. They are in fact choosing something other than the priorities that Devon supports, like young, energetic, employees who are healthy, educated, and cultured.

There is no one size fits all. It takes all types, and there really are choices, and believe it or not, some of the choices you might not select aren't necessarily the wrong choice. Another thing is that Steve isn't necessarily above reproach, but he does have a ton of valuable perspective on this since he too resides north of Memorial Road, where he is raising his son. People have lives outside of this development scene.I completely understand that. Also it should be important to note the majority of Devon's employees live in the suburbs.

I just find it frustrating that there is so much cool stuff going on in the core with tons of beautiful new additions being built or proposed and one teeny tiny, but still beautiful, quality development gets announced on Memorial, and you have people pointing their fingers like, why don't build in the core, did anyone in power talk to them???? I just don't understand the obsession that a lot urbanist seem to have with having every little thing in the core. In my view, this is good infill and adds to the density which creates more tax dollars in that area.

Let me say once more I'm not dissing Steve. I really like his work and rep sect him, but that tibit about Gulfstream just struck me as odd.

I completely understand that. Also it should be important to note the majority of Devon's employees live in the suburbs.

I just find it frustrating that there is so much cool stuff going on in the core with tons of beautiful new additions being built or proposed and one teeny tiny, but still beautiful, quality development gets announced on Memorial, and you have people pointing their fingers like, why don't build in the core, did anyone in power talk to them???? I just don't understand the obsession that a lot urbanist seem to have with having every little thing in the core. In my view, this is good infill and adds to the density which creates more tax dollars in that area.

Let me say once more I'm not dissing Steve. I really like his work and rep sect him, but that tibit about Gulfstream just struck me as odd.

Do you know the majority of Devon employees? I know that they have made a name for themselves as a remarkable place for young employees, and that's a strategic way to stand out. They are about downtown and the whole community, and not just a particular top-rated school district.

When you locate somewhere like Memorial Road, the strain it causes on our public resources and environment is heightened. A good way to sustain a pro-development policy is to mitigate those costs and realize the benefits of walkable areas and equitable access throughout the metro.

Do you know the majority of Devon employees? I know that they have made a name for themselves as a remarkable place for young employees, and that's a strategic way to stand out. They are about downtown and the whole community, and not just a particular top-rated school district.

When you locate somewhere like Memorial Road, the strain it causes on our public resources and environment is heightened. A good way to sustain a pro-development policy is to mitigate those costs and realize the benefits of walkable areas and equitable access throughout the metro.I don't know the majority of the employees, no. I'm using common sense here. Everytime I'm around that building when employees are leaving, they either head to Western to catch I40 or they are heading towards 5th st. to get on 235.

Come on man, you can't tell me the majority of their employees aren't living in the suburbs. How many of their employees do you think lives downtown? I'm not saying their employees don't like downtown, but when it comes to locating near where they live, I know a few people that work for Devon and they all live in Edmond.

I do understand what you're getting at though and I'm not really arguing against it.

Alright then.

I edited that because I just reread it and I meant to say "I'm NOT saying their employees don't like downtown." I think their employees love it. A few people I know do enjoy it.

Gulfport is a great company that has been kind of "under the radar" since they don't do any drilling in Oklahoma at all. They are just (thankfully) headquartered here. Some of their employee amenities will include a fitness center and onsite restaurant with a buffet line.

It is odd that a contractor is not on board with this announcement. Van Hoose construction usually builds most of RBA's work as they are close buds. I suspect someone is on board but for some reason, like an unsigned contract, they chose not to make it public. PR like this is usually client led, but this article appears to be all architect led with no comment from Gulfport. Looks like GP wants to stay in the shadows and let RBA get some good PR and run point.

Oh I agree, it's odd to say the least. OKCisOK4Me...can you shed some light?

Actually, I can't. My dad retired as the CEO from Gulfport back in February, but he was in that position for several years and their success in the industry came while he was at the helm. I told him that I saw the renderings for the new headquarters and I don't think he actually even knew of it. Probably trying to play it off though. Glad they are choosing to stay up north. This design definitely doesn't belong downtown.

According to a "Gulfport exec" on Steve's chats, the reason they are building so far out is a shorter commute for their employees. I don't mind that Gulfport is building so far out, but that's some hokey reasoning. Unless 100% of their employees live in N. OKC/Edmond, which I assume is highly unlikely, then you have people driving a longer commute due to the decentralized nature of the area.

Again, I don't mind that Gulfport is building on Memorial. Would it have been nice for another HQ downtown? Of course. I just don't understand the need to justify the location with flawed reasoning. Especially in a public chat, when we've yet to recieve any official comments or submitted plans.

According to a "Gulfport exec" on Steve's chats, the reason they are building so far out is a shorter commute for their employees. I don't mind that Gulfport is building so far out, but that's some hokey reasoning. Unless 100% of their employees live in N. OKC/Edmond, which I assume is highly unlikely, then you have people driving a longer commute due to the decentralized nature of the area.

Again, I don't mind that Gulfport is building on Memorial. Would it have been nice for another HQ downtown? Of course. I just don't understand the need to justify the location with flawed reasoning. Especially in a public chat, when we've yet to recieve any official comments or submitted plans.
So, where do you believe their employees live that you are calling him a liar?
Lots of upscale housing in the north and northwest. Why is that so hard for people on here to believe that that is attractive to well paid employees? Not everyone wants to live downtown.

^

Right, but then why are they having a ground-breaking, releasing renderings and such?

There is something very weird about all this.

Maybe they took a page out of the TEEMCO playbook?

and you know, it's comments like these that proves OKC is still a small time amateur market.



Anything really nice that gets proposed in the suburbs is met with people that are apparently unable to realize that in major cites, there are tons of huge suburban office parks that are world class and quite frankly better than downtown OKC. What a stupid comment by Steve. The majority of their parking is going to be underground and there are tons of restaurants around that you can even walk to. I accompanied a girl at the ATT office in the Quail Business Park and we walked to The Shack and had a great time walking there and did so without any worries what so ever. Seems to me the one complaining about that have a bias or are too afraid to walk beyond their concrete jungle. How's that for a fair statement.

Agreed, but then again look at the author........

According to a "Gulfport exec" on Steve's chats, the reason they are building so far out is a shorter commute for their employees. I don't mind that Gulfport is building so far out, but that's some hokey reasoning. Unless 100% of their employees live in N. OKC/Edmond, which I assume is highly unlikely, then you have people driving a longer commute due to the decentralized nature of the area.

Again, I don't mind that Gulfport is building on Memorial. Would it have been nice for another HQ downtown? Of course. I just don't understand the need to justify the location with flawed reasoning. Especially in a public chat, when we've yet to recieve any official comments or submitted plans.

It looks like their current offices are along the Memorial corridor near the office park they are building the new building in, so their employee base probably does skew toward Edmond and NW OKC.

According to a "Gulfport exec" on Steve's chats, the reason they are building so far out is a shorter commute for their employees. I don't mind that Gulfport is building so far out, but that's some hokey reasoning. Unless 100% of their employees live in N. OKC/Edmond, which I assume is highly unlikely, then you have people driving a longer commute due to the decentralized nature of the area.

Again, I don't mind that Gulfport is building on Memorial. Would it have been nice for another HQ downtown? Of course. I just don't understand the need to justify the location with flawed reasoning. Especially in a public chat, when we've yet to recieve any official comments or submitted plans.I could be wrong on this, but I doubt a Gulfport exec was on Steve's chat defending this.

It looks like there old offices are along the Memorial corridor, so probably their employee base does skew toward Edmond or NW OKC.

I would believe that. I would also honestly expect a disproportionate number of DVN, CHK and Sand Ridge, Continental, et al employees to live in Edmond, Nichols Hills, NW and the far NW OKC metro, especially executive-level employees. That's the city we live in, and that was the status quo in this town for decades. I'll promise that didn't change just within the past few years.

However, I don't think it should be the overriding reason for a business to chose its HQ location - for instance I would want the ability to easily draw employees from the whole metro, give them flexibility to settle where/how they'd like AND I also feel like a downtown presence gives a company more gravitas - but nevertheless it was probably not an untrue statement.

A lot of the developments going on in Dallas and Austin are in business parks or business districts away from the core of the cities. I see no problem with it. It might spur more development around Memorial. Besides, we're on track to have at least a few high rises built in Downtown OKC.

The N Memorial corridor is booming right now. I see no problem with them choosing that area. Like someone else said, it's better they choose there than somewhere like N Kelley and 122nd. The burbs are never going to go away and they are going to keep going, but I would really like to see a few prime business corridors develop rather than the endless sprawl that has been the norm in OKC for so long. It would be real nice to eventually see more mixed-use projects in the Memorial corridor to complement the business growth up there.

All I know is traffic right now in that area is insufferable. If the boom continues (which it will), I don't even want to know how it's going to be in five years time.

All I know is traffic right now in that area is insufferable. If the boom continues (which it will), I don't even want to know how it's going to be in five years time.

I never liked the way the exits were set up on Kirkpatrick & Memorial in that area since it make any traffic feel far worse than it actually is.

I never liked the way the exits were set up on Kirkpatrick & Memorial in that area since it make any traffic feel far worse than it actually is.Agreed. I would assume they should widen the service roads to three lanes each way, but even if they didn't do that and would just add dual left turn, dedicated right turn and texas turnaround at each signal, I would think that would go a long ways

Agreed. I would assume they should widen the service roads to three lanes each way, but even if they didn't do that and would just add dual left turn, dedicated right turn and texas turnaround at each signal, I would think that would go a long ways

Widening the road though makes one of the more frustrating maneuvers (crossing all of Memorial's lanes to turn right after exiting the turnpike) worse, plus it already allows dual left turn lanes at multiple intersections on Memorial and some also have the u-turns that bypass the light in addition to that.

The problems I see the most I think just stems from how close the exists are to the stoplights, so unless people are plan on going either left or using dedicated u-turn there is little time to get out of the left turn only lane at the speed the road is signed and on top of that if any traffic is coming it will usually be a wave so if a person has bad luck on hitting a wave and they need to turn right one of the following scenarios happens; often people cutting other off unsafely (sometime does it to both lanes), often people maneuver into the left through lane of Memorial way under the speed limit, on occasions I have seen people fully stop on the exit ramp or left through lane of Memorial when all the lights are green as they are running out of room.

How short the zone for the people who just did a u-turn & people who want to enter the turnpike can sometimes slow the left lane of Memorial but that is not nearly as much an issue both from how few u-turn lanes there are and the percentage of people making them means that it happens less frequently .

According to a "Gulfport exec" on Steve's chats, the reason they are building so far out is a shorter commute for their employees. I don't mind that Gulfport is building so far out, but that's some hokey reasoning. Unless 100% of their employees live in N. OKC/Edmond, which I assume is highly unlikely, then you have people driving a longer commute due to the decentralized nature of the area.

Again, I don't mind that Gulfport is building on Memorial. Would it have been nice for another HQ downtown? Of course. I just don't understand the need to justify the location with flawed reasoning. Especially in a public chat, when we've yet to recieve any official comments or submitted plans.

Not too sure I believe that, the poster didn't even spell Gulfport correctly.

Widening the road though makes one of the more frustrating maneuvers (crossing all of Memorial's lanes to turn right after exiting the turnpike) worse, plus it already allows dual left turn lanes at multiple intersections on Memorial and some also have the u-turns that bypass the light in addition to that.

The problems I see the most I think just stems from how close the exists are to the stoplights, so unless people are plan on going either left or using dedicated u-turn there is little time to get out of the left turn only lane at the speed the road is signed and on top of that if any traffic is coming it will usually be a wave so if a person has bad luck on hitting a wave and they need to turn right one of the following scenarios happens; often people cutting other off unsafely (sometime does it to both lanes), often people maneuver into the left through lane of Memorial way under the speed limit, on occasions I have seen people fully stop on the exit ramp or left through lane of Memorial when all the lights are green as they are running out of room.

How short the zone for the people who just did a u-turn & people who want to enter the turnpike can sometimes slow the left lane of Memorial but that is not nearly as much an issue both from how few u-turn lanes there are and the percentage of people making them means that it happens less frequently .They need to reverse the exits entries for the tollroad also.

I say good for Gulfport, maybe they surveyed their employees and this is actually where the majority preferred to work. Not everyone wants to work or live downtown, I for one would be willing to do the same job for less $$ on the outskirts of town to not have to deal with downtown everyday

I, for one, would be willing to do the same job for less $$ downtown to not have to deal with driving everyday.

11/15/2014

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5608/15612623648_539df1a860_b.jpg

Oooh that's the site. That's actually a pretty prime site that will build some density near the May site of the office park.

I, for one, would be willing to do the same job for less $$ downtown to not have to deal with driving everyday.

Make that 2 of us

I, for one, would be willing to do the same job for less $$ downtown to not have to deal with driving everyday.

So, why aren't you?

Make that 2 of us

You too?

I thought it was a snarky and unnecessary shot by Steve at Gulfport. I really like Steve and have defended him but it was uncalled for. One size does not fit all and having suburban developments isn't the end of the world especially if their employee base is in edmond. That's less traffic heading in and out of downtown everyday.

I thought it was a snarky and unnecessary shot by Steve at Gulfport. I really like Steve and have defended him but it was uncalled for. One size does not fit all and having suburban developments isn't the end of the world especially if their employee base is in edmond. That's less traffic heading in and out of downtown everyday.

That's where I was coming from really. I like Steve, but that was just uncalled for and a cheap shot.

So, why aren't you?

No one in my industry has an office downtown... Any more questions?

You too?

I'm pretty sure he does live and work downtown....

No one in my industry has an office downtown... Any more questions?

Change industries to one that will support downtown

I'm pretty sure he does live and work downtown....
Working for less? That was the issue wasn't it?

Change industries to one that will support downtown

You're trolling, Rover.

No, just saying that it is easy to say you would take a job for less just to be walkable downtown. Truth is, working for less is usually not possible in dense urban areas due to the cost of living there. People have got to stop thinking that the urban living cost is just suburban cost minus the cost of their car. It either is naivety or not complete thinking. If we want to be something here we at least should be intellectually honest about what it is we want to aspire to.

No, just saying that it is easy to say you would take a job for less just to be walkable downtown. Truth is, working for less is usually not possible in dense urban areas due to the cost of living there. People have got to stop thinking that the urban living cost is just suburban cost minus the cost of their car. It either is naivety or not complete thinking. If we want to be something here we at least should be intellectually honest about what it is we want to aspire to.

Or, Trollver, someone might take a paycut if it meant they could live close to their job, their friends, and their after-hours activities.

I would certainly take a pay cut if it meant the things I wanted to do, had to do, and people I wanted to see were within walking distance. It's becoming more and more recognized that experiences mean more to this generation than the baby boomers value their possessions. So Andrew and Metro want to live closer to their jobs AND friends AND activities. Shame on them!!! Poke! Prod!

No, just saying that it is easy to say you would take a job for less just to be walkable downtown. Truth is, working for less is usually not possible in dense urban areas due to the cost of living there. People have got to stop thinking that the urban living cost is just suburban cost minus the cost of their car. It either is naivety or not complete thinking. If we want to be something here we at least should be intellectually honest about what it is we want to aspire to.

This.

Living in an urban environment, with what you save on your car and gas you make up for in higher rent plus some. Also, its not like you can ditch your car in OKC either being that adequate essential services don't yet exist downtown yet the difference in rent cost here is equal to a car payment or more to live downtown vs the burbs. Add on top of that, most urban cities have a much higher cost of living than OKC does.

All of that said, to more and more people, living in an urban environment and the convenience and sense of community it brings is worth the higher cost.

No, just saying that it is easy to say you would take a job for less just to be walkable downtown. Truth is, working for less is usually not possible in dense urban areas due to the cost of living there. People have got to stop thinking that the urban living cost is just suburban cost minus the cost of their car. It either is naivety or not complete thinking. If we want to be something here we at least should be intellectually honest about what it is we want to aspire to.That's the biggest issue with me. Although, I do think that what Catch was saying is that some are willing to take a cut just to live closer to where they want to be. I personally would rather make more money, and having the cost of car, I would still make more money than I would living downtown without one.