I’m pretty hopeful 2021-22 will be a defining year for OKC. MAPS 3 essentially wraps up and we get a more definitive timeline and details on MAPS 4.

We have this project, along with OAK and Chisholm Creek which I’m sure will get going.

The only question is will the I-35/Covell, Strawberry Fields, Mustang Creek Crossing, and UNP(urban village aspect) developments happen. I’m more skeptical of those living up to their promises but we’ll see.

Anxiously awaiting an updated MAPS 4 timeline once we learn the extent of the sales tax collection deficit.

From what's previously been discussed in various threads on here, 2021-22 also seems to be a likely timeframe for the RTA vote.

Yes I forgot about the RTA vote. That’s another big one.

Okay. Maybe I might be the first but this is poor architectural taste. It already looks outdated. For a place that supposed to be considered innovated, this design is definitely not that. I just don't see the excited for building bad design?

Okay. Maybe I might be the first but this is poor architectural taste. It already looks outdated. For a place that supposed to be considered innovated, this design is definitely not that. I just don't see the excited for building bad design?

Please be specific. These seem very mainstream for better projects in cities across the country. What is dated, unless you mean only classical designed buildings remain “undated”. Please post examples of forward thinking designs you believe won’t look dated in 30 years. Maybe you own innovative work. Educate us please.

^^^^

this represents the single biggest investment in OKC history on the level of Devon Tower and much more sustainable (given Devon's current fossil fuel centric business model anyway).

So you think Devon is in trouble because they deal in fossil fuels? I'm not an expert in these matters but, unless there's a huge scientific breakthrough, I don't see fossil fuels going anywhere soon.

I'm not an expert on the energy industry, but "going anywhere soon" is a relative term. Fossil fuels have either peaked, or are in the process of peaking. It may be a slow decline, but I think it will be a slow decline for the next 20-30 years. I don't think companies like Devon will be in their current form in 2040 or 2050. Now is the time for OKC and all cities dependent on energy to be diversifying. OKC does not want to be the West Virginia of the 2030s or 2040s.

I'll also write this: simply creating a rendering of pretty "Innovation" buildings doesn't do a whole lot. So, so far this does not represent much of anything in the way of "the single biggest investment in OKC's history." However, if there are plans on how to fill these buildings and others with dozens of start-up companies, and the capital is found and infrastructure laid to keep them in OKC instead of just incubating them to a position where they are bought by someone out of state, than this may turn out to be way more of an investment than Devon Tower.

I'm not an expert on the energy industry, but "going anywhere soon" is a relative term. Fossil fuels have either peaked, or are in the process of peaking. It may be a slow decline, but I think it will be a slow decline for the next 20-30 years. I don't think companies like Devon will be in their current form in 2040 or 2050. Now is the time for OKC and all cities dependent on energy to be diversifying. OKC does not want to be the West Virginia of the 2030s or 2040s.

I think we should diversify our economy as well. I've been saying that on here for years.

We've been told for the last 40 to 50 years that we're running out of fossil fuels but with new technology we continue to not only find more but find new ways to extract it. And if fossil fuels have peaked, what's the alternative? Nuclear? That's about the only viable alternative that I can think of and actually not a bad alternative. Nuclear got a bad rap for 3 Mile Island and The China Syndrome but France has used it successfully for years.

Black Fox Nuclear Power Plant, Inola, Oklahoma


In May of 1973, the Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) announced plans to install Oklahoma’s first nuclear power plant in Inola, just east from Tulsa. It was to use two General Electric boiling-water reactors and the project was to cost $450 million. With the support of U.S. Senator Henry Bellmon, PSO advertised that the nuclear power plant could provide unlimited power and help economic growth in the area. The power plant promised the opportunity of thousands of construction jobs and new tax money of $5 million a year that could make the Inola school district the richest in the state. Many people in Inola welcomed the new construction plans.

Oklahoma blew its chances for nuclear energy: https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/oklahomans-prevent-completion-black-fox-nuclear-plant-1973-1982

I was that plant was built. Nuclear is the best form of energy and there is zero comparison.

I think we should diversify our economy as well. I've been saying that on here for years.

We've been told for the last 40 to 50 years that we're running out of fossil fuels but with new technology we continue to not only find more but find new ways to extract it. And if fossil fuels have peaked, what's the alternative? Nuclear? That's about the only viable alternative that I can think of and actually not a bad alternative. Nuclear got a bad rap for 3 Mile Island and The China Syndrome but France has used it successfully for years.

Geothermal energy has had some interesting breakthroughs recently. https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2020/10/21/21515461/renewable-energy-geothermal-egs-ags-supercritical

People completely overestimate the reliance of OKC on the energy industry.

For example, Chesapeake has gone from over 5,000 employees to under 1,000; that's a loss of 4,000 very well-paying jobs plus tons of ancillary companies just wiped out and it barely caused a blip on the local economy.

And just yesterday, the Oklahoman reported Devon is down to 850 OKC jobs. I looked through my notes and just a few years ago that number was 3,200.

SandRidge is effectively gone, Heartland is taking a big chunk of office space that had been used by Tapstone... On and on.


We've already diversified and no matter what happens in the energy industry, it will be a very slow decline after what has already been a fall off a steep cliff.

They closed on the purchase: 2.7 acres for $4.5 million, which is a ton of money.

They bought the property from Baker Hughes.

Although renderings show a building to the east of Stiles Circle, that property is still owned by the OK Dept. of Commerce.

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/innovation123120a.jpg

Geothermal energy has had some interesting breakthroughs recently. https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2020/10/21/21515461/renewable-energy-geothermal-egs-ags-supercritical

I feel I've taken this thread off topic. Pete, if you need to break these posts out into a new thread then that's cool.

Interesting read so far. I haven't read the entire article yet so I may have more to say later. I hope it's not pie in the sky. I sometimes read about these technological breakthroughs that never seem to come to fruition. If geothermal is close to being viable on a large scale (hopefully within the next 20 years) then hopefully we can get read of all of these wind farms and solar farms that take up acres and acres of land, disrupt wildlife and use materials that can't be recycled or reused.

I did find this passage early in the article odd:

it’s an opportunity for the struggling oil and gas industry to put its capital and skills to work on something that won’t degrade the planet.

The oil and gas industry is a mature industry to the point that they can now get it out of the ground with a much smaller impact than ever. I find it odd though that the people that say the oil and gas industry degrade the planet also think that electric cars are the future. The mining that it takes to get the rare metals out of the ground to make all of the batteries that it takes to run electric cars is astonishing. And then once the batteries are no longer useful in holding a charge they are either not recyclable or very difficult to recycle.

Batteries are one of those technologies that I've read about for decades that continuously promise a technological breakthrough that never seems to come. For 25 or so years I've read about new battery breakthroughs that are supposed to be smaller, not develop memories, provide more power and so on.

Battery innovation continues to be incremental and has evolved to the point that we now have almost every automaker having several electric and hybrid vehicles with a ton more in the pipeline.

But when there is a big breakthrough in batteries -- and it's coming because there is so much money to be made -- there could be a pretty big shift away from fossil fuels and things would accelerate from there.

This is a huge future industry and the risk to OKC is not the loss of O&G jobs because we've already lost about 75% of them anyway... It's that that industry will keep using their influence (guys like Harold Hamm) to keep out the clean fuel adoption and companies, which means we'll almost completely miss out on huge opportunities down the road.

Hamm won't be able to stop the trend. It's ironic he and T. Boone Pickens were such good friends yet Pickens became the leading wind energy advocate.

Search up a cobalt and lithium mine and then look up how much demand and current market share there for electric cars and battery storage tech to accommodate renewable energy. Renewable energy is completely unreliable and almost always has to be supplemented by coal and natural gas because the greenies always oppose nuclear.

I’m not here to say oil or ICE cars are better or that we should just forget investing on more environmentally friendly technologies. I love developments like this and think that there should much R&D into solar and energy storage but right now I’m amazed at the people that drive around in their EVs thinking their cars are so much better than ICE cars because they shifted the pollution elsewhere. Far too many of those people don’t support nuclear energy either which is concerning.

Electric cars have many advantages and Tesla(well really Elon musk) has completely changed the game. Much of the EVs being introduced by car companies soon won’t be a matter of choice as governments around the world are trying to accelerate the moving away from ICE cars which eventually needs to happen.

I think hydrogen has the best promise and yes I’m aware of the challenges presented by hydrogen as a fuel source for transportation. Like nuclear energy(especially fusion), it needs more R&D.

Renewable energy is completely unreliable and almost always has to be supplemented by coal and natural gas

We are very early in this process.

Things will change and there is a big pivot coming.

Remember, most countries don't produce nearly enough fossil fuels to meet their needs. Renewal energy can be produced anywhere and tons of very smart people are working on making it much more efficient, and a lot of them are not in the U.S.

They are forecasting the number of electric car models will jump from under 100 to over 175 in this year alone. By 2025, that number should be over 330.

There are going to be some big innovations and then they will spread throughout the world. Change is coming, and fast.

Battery innovation continues to be incremental and has evolved to the point that we now have almost every automaker having several electric and hybrid vehicles with a ton more in the pipeline.

But when there is a big breakthrough in batteries -- and it's coming because there is so much money to be made -- there could be a pretty big shift away from fossil fuels and things would accelerate from there.

This is a huge future industry and the risk to OKC is not the loss of O&G jobs because we've already lost about 75% of them anyway... It's that that industry will keep using their influence (guys like Harold Hamm) to keep out the clean fuel adoption and companies, which means we'll almost completely miss out on huge opportunities down the road.

Great points Many point to how this state is more diverse and not as reliant on this industry. The thing that has not changed is the outsize political influence the Hamms and fellow fossils have in the legislature and the office of the Governor. This is where the diversity needs to happen.

I completely agree and I’m not debating that. But there are far too many people that discount other promising forms of energy and think that renewables are this cure all to our problems and it’s concerning. I am seriously considering buying a model 3 next month. I’m not against EVs or renewables just critical of certain promises or desires made by them and their advocates.

It’s also important that our grid will need substantial upgrades as it is for large scale EV usage. Much of EV charging will be done at night when solar and wind energy produces at its minimum. I’m all for putting solar on rooftops but a few candu nuke plants in eastern Oklahoma could supply energy to almost the entire state.

These wind farms that require insane amounts of resources and land to keep running would not be necessary. But as you say, this technology is in its infancy and will only get better. We’ll see.

I am a tad frustrated with the lack of range on EVs. Besides Tesla, what’s currently on the market and cars with a solid release date to come aren’t really that much different than the tech ten years ago in terms of range. Maybe 20-30 miles better but still much more expensive than ICE cars per the mile you will get out of the fuel it uses. I would think the standard by now would be at least 150 miles and that should be bottom of the barrel.

Toyota just announced a very small car(basically it’s EV version of the Mercedes smart for two) and it cost north of 15k(you can buy a very efficient ICE engine car for under 20k that is larger and gets much more range) has a range of under 100 miles per charge and has a top speed of 37MPH.

I’m hoping the 2020s will see a much more rapid pace in the evolution and advancement of EV tech than the 2010s did. The charging issues honestly don’t seem to be much of an issue for intercity driving. I seriously doubt most people a day drive more than 50-70 miles at most in most metros.

But again, I really wish we’d take hydrogen more seriously. It’s energy intensive to produce but with more R&D just like EVs need I can see it as a great alternative being practical by the 2030s. I still think ICE cars will rule throughout the 2020s and possibly the 2030s. ICE cars get way too much crap and too little recognition for how much better and environmentally friendly they’ve become since their inception.

Good luck on finding an insurance carrier to underwrite a nuke plant.

The US government insurance scheme for nuclear power plant accidents no longer makes sense - Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
https://thebulletin.org/2020/02/the-us-government-insurance-scheme-for-nuclear-power-plant-accidents-no-longer-makes-sense/

The thing that has not changed is the outsize political influence the Hamms and fellow fossils have in the legislature and the office of the Governor. This is where the diversity needs to happen.
This!

And as Pete said earlier, OK with O&G is going to screw around until the renewables have all set up shop elsewhere and we miss that boat.

Good luck on finding an insurance carrier to underwrite a nuke plant.

The US government insurance scheme for nuclear power plant accidents no longer makes sense - Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
https://thebulletin.org/2020/02/the-us-government-insurance-scheme-for-nuclear-power-plant-accidents-no-longer-makes-sense/
All things that can be addressed to support the cleanest, most efficient, and safest form energy in existence.

New nuclear power plants are being built in many places across the world and expansions to the Georgia plant are happening as we speak. Getting insurance isn’t the problem. It’s irrational public fear and uneducated voices that are the biggest barrier.

This!

And as Pete said earlier, OK with O&G is going to screw around until the renewables have all set up shop elsewhere and we miss that boat.
I’m not sure about other sources but Oklahoma is already on the map of being on the biggest players in the world with wind energy. There’s article after article about it and how much investment in wind energy is happening in the state. We certainly won’t miss the boat on wind energy.

Range of EV's will matter much less once we have the charging infrastructure and ability to rapidly charge.

EV range is already about the same as a tank of gas.

And we always have a tendency to think of the U.S. which is very different than the rest of the world. Many areas are very dense and the huge majority of the world's population rarely travels over 500 miles in one trip.


I predict a big jump in battery capacity and efficiency in the near future. And it could easily come from Europe where they have a dangerous reliance on imported oil and apart from Germany, imported cars.

I’m not sure about other sources but Oklahoma is already on the map of being on the biggest players in the world with wind energy. There’s article after article about it and how much investment in wind energy is happening in the state. We certainly won’t miss the boat on wind energy.

Oklahoma is where the wind is, not wind energy companies. Big difference.

This thread needs renamed.

Range of EV's will matter much less once we have the charging infrastructure and ability to rapidly charge.

EV range is already about the same as a tank of gas.

And we always have a tendency to think of the U.S. which is very different than the rest of the world. Many areas are very dense and the huge majority of the world's population rarely travels over 500 miles in one trip.


I predict a big jump in battery capacity and efficiency in the near future. And it could easily come from Europe where they have a dangerous reliance on imported oil and apart from Germany, imported cars.
I completely agree with everything you said except for EVs having the same range of gas. The change in the amount of mileage you get per tank/charge varies greatly due to driver behavior and with EVs it’s more drastic. Cold weather also impacts EV mileage greatly. Not the same for ICE cars.

Except for Tesla, the EVs I’ve seen have ranges of 150-200 on the high end. The low end with ICE cars are 250-300 miles per tank. My Prius gets 400+ on a 10 gallon tank. I paid 15k for it.

All things that can be addressed to support the cleanest, most efficient, and safest form energy in existence.

New nuclear power plants are being built in many places across the world and expansions to the Georgia plant are happening as we speak. Getting insurance isn’t the problem. It’s irrational public fear and uneducated voices that are the biggest barrier.

Tell that to the Japanese. You do know Germany , Belgium and other developed countries are moving away from nuke power.

Nuclear power phase-out - Wikipedia
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_phase-out

Oklahoma is where the wind is, not wind energy companies. Big difference.

This thread needs renamed.
According to this article Oklahoma isn’t even in the top windiest states but I agree with your premise. The point of my post was to shown Oklahoma is missing the renewables boat and it can be argued it is at the forefront regarding specific aspects of it.

https://beef2live.com/story-states-least-wind-0-122176

Tell that to the Japanese. You do know Germany , Belgium and other developed countries are moving away from nuke power.

Nuclear power phase-out - Wikipedia
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_phase-out
Japan is also reconsidering it’s moving away from nuclear power and there were already concerns about Fukushima to begin with.

You should also know as Germany has moved away from nuclear energy it’s emissions have spiked.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2017/10/10/why-arent-renewables-decreasing-germanys-carbon-emissions/amp/

France on the other hand is going big on nuclear and their emissions were steadily decreasing

Here’s information about France: https://ourworldindata.org/co2/country/france?country=~FRA

You can play around with it and see for yourself. Recently, data isn’t reliable over the last year due to covid. Before covid Germany saw a slight decrease in emissions but in comparison to France it’s nothing.

Tell that to the Japanese. You do know Germany , Belgium and other developed countries are moving away from nuke power.

Nuclear power phase-out - Wikipedia
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_phase-out
It’s interesting your playing devils advocate almost as if you oppose nuclear power but don’t want to say it. Denying nuclear energy is denying science no different from being an anti-vaxxer or climate change denier.

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/we-cant-solve-climate-change-without-nuclear-power/

Thankfully Biden and even AOC(who IIRC once opposed nuclear) are both now open to embracing it. Renewables should aid nuclear power in large scale production. I’m not making an argument against renewables.

So you think Devon is in trouble because they deal in fossil fuels? I'm not an expert in these matters but, unless there's a huge scientific breakthrough, I don't see fossil fuels going anywhere soon.

you took the wrong message. I don't think Devon is in trouble. I just am baffled why Devon (and Oklahoma for that matter) isn't being first to market regarding energy other than fossil. Industries evolve and fossil will never be as profitable as it once was - just look at the efficiencies gained already. You need a new crux and it seems as if OKC companies like Devon are ignoring a huge new market to which they should lead, instead leaving it for China (which is the whole problem with the whole globalization to begin with - you can insert incentives but US COMPANIES need to innovate and expand in those new markets)

Now imagine if Devon were more of a diversified company than oil and gas. Imagine if more OKC companies were - we could be the new energy capital and THAT could be the next economic goose egg (with fat jobs again) but nope - we're gonna keep drillin' and that's it.

This thread is totally hijacked and is now a nuclear vs wind/solar thread. The discussion is fine, but it needs a separate and new thread so we can use this to actually get information about and discuss the real topic of the thread - Innovation Plaza.

https://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/innovationplaza1.jpg

https://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/innovationplaza2.jpg
New Development for Cross-Sector Innovation and Advanced Technology Collaboration in Oklahoma City Innovation District


https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTpnKur3tq_cJ_boj0ylz7Iu9XNW06av CqvcA&usqp=CAU

This and the CHK campus should be OKC's plunge into the incubator segment. OKC needs to reign in the state to dump money into STEM programs. Attract some startups and in a few years we will be pumping out better students into this segment and maybe we see a few startups move out into their own digs in the CBD.

This and the CHK campus should be OKC's plunge into the incubator segment. OKC needs to reign in the state to dump money into STEM programs. Attract some startups and in a few years we will be pumping out better students into this segment and maybe we see a few startups move out into their own digs in the CBD.
Great idea!

This and the CHK campus should be OKC's plunge into the incubator segment. OKC needs to reign in the state to dump money into STEM programs. Attract some startups and in a few years we will be pumping out better students into this segment and maybe we see a few startups move out into their own digs in the CBD.
Considering that the one educational thing that OK and OKC does right is vo-tech, we should leverage that up into advanced technology training. We need to look at the assets we have and leverage them instead of constantly trying to be what we aren’t.

Not sure if this has anything to do with this development, but when I drove by this morning, the area just east of the exit ramp from 235 was fenced off and they were drilling into the retainage ditch area.

Sounds like geotechnical. That means engineering for the site is well underway. Probably see actual construction about a year from now.

This project looks FANTASTIC, and my only complaints with what's shown in the renderings are nitpicky at best... mostly just things like I'd like to see Stiles Park retain the grassy circle around the Beacon of Hope. I'm also a little confused about how they keep calling the Baker Hughes building the "OSU Discovery". The pickup/dropoff bumpout in front of the Innovation Hall is exactly where the current BH guard shack is right now, and the rendering shows a massive sculpture in the middle of the round court right in front of the BH building. Do they know something we don't about that building?

Also love how they've done parking here... Since that area is elevated, I wonder how far down they'll go for the underground parking garage?

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2021/07/18/drug-manufacturer-hotel-anchoring-okc-innovation-district-development/7910646002/

I thought Wheeler Labs was the anchor?

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2021/07/18/drug-manufacturer-hotel-anchoring-okc-innovation-district-development/7910646002/

I thought Wheeler Labs was the anchor?

It is; that story is just restating what was already included in the original press release from last December.


It's a PR piece angling to move up in the MAPS 4 pecking order and get a bunch more in public money.

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2021/07/18/drug-manufacturer-hotel-anchoring-okc-innovation-district-development/7910646002/

I thought Wheeler Labs was the anchor?

It says Wheeler Bio is the anchor. Seems like they are just renamed.

Wow those new renderings from the Oklahoman article are a letdown from the initial renderings. Is that really the new plan?

Wow those new renderings from the Oklahoman article are a letdown from the initial renderings. Is that really the new plan?

They are exactly the same that we posted back in December.

"Ziggurat building at 120 Robert S. Kerr Ave." is mentioned in the article...

Since when is the Parkside building called "Ziggurat"?

I have lived in OKC long enough to be very very skeptical of any of this. Anyone want to take the following bet: If Wheeler Labs occupies an office in a new-build innovation district building by or before 1/1/2024 I will buy 2 tickets (Loud City level) to a mutually agreed-upon regular season Thunder game.

^

They are already operating in the Parkside Building alongside Echo Energy, as Christian Kanady is driving both.

He's also funding Prairie Surf Studios.


For this Innovation project, they are going to rely heavily on MAPS4 and public money. We'll see how much of that comes to pass.

^

They are already operating in the Parkside Building alongside Echo Energy, as Christian Kanady is driving both.

He's also funding Prairie Surf Studios.


For this Innovation project, they are going to rely heavily on MAPS4 and public money. We'll see how much of that comes to pass.

Or when. They won't be able to just wave a wand and jump in front of other projects.

^

They are already operating in the Parkside Building alongside Echo Energy, as Christian Kanady is driving both.

He's also funding Prairie Surf Studios.


For this Innovation project, they are going to rely heavily on MAPS4 and public money. We'll see how much of that comes to pass.

He's a complete failure in the O&G business. Hopefully that trend doesn't continue here.

I have absolutely zero substance to this and I promise I am not being libelous but only a series of spidey senses going off. Is this guy going to be on American Greed? It follows the same script as every single one of those episodes, a relatively unknown guy rises up through the ranks of a city's corporate world, funding all sorts of big ideas and tries to make a huge impression in the city. Only to be found with 5 cents to his name and millions of dollars in debt to hundreds of different investors.

Is this guy legit? Pokes sounds like you know of him well.

I think this project has more steam than most. Anytime you have an anchor tenant ready to sign, it makes things a lot easier vs. building spec.

I have absolutely zero substance to this and I promise I am not being libelous but only a series of spidey senses going off. Is this guy going to be on American Greed? It follows the same script as every single one of those episodes, a relatively unknown guy rises up through the ranks of a city's corporate world, funding all sorts of big ideas and tries to make a huge impression in the city. Only to be found with 5 cents to his name and millions of dollars in debt to hundreds of different investors.

Is this guy legit? Pokes sounds like you know of him well.

Historically he has been good at raising money. As far as running a business, just look at what he did to his baby "echo". If he is simply raising capital for this and other projects in the city it may be fruitful; however, if he is involved in managing these projects, I would stay far away.

Debt: (1) bought the Parkside building (a couple years ago) to house echo and lease out the other floors after extensive buildout. No tenants to date. (2) owns three lots in Nichols Hills: one that he razed the house for his wedding, one that he lives in currently with his wife and kids, the other being the old Kueykendal (sp?) behemoth he bought a couple years ago and has done absolutely nothing with. (3) pending lawsuit with his previous TX investor who is claiming fraud on the behalf of kanady & echo.

A lot of moving parts here, all with a lot of baggage.

Historically he has been good at raising money. As far as running a business, just look at what he did to his baby "echo". If he is simply raising capital for this and other projects in the city it may be fruitful; however, if he is involved in managing these projects, I would stay far away.

Debt: (1) bought the Parkside building (a couple years ago) to house echo and lease out the other floors after extensive buildout. No tenants to date. (2) owns three lots in Nichols Hills: one that he razed the house for his wedding, one that he lives in currently with his wife and kids, the other being the old Kueykendal (sp?) behemoth he bought a couple years ago and has done absolutely nothing with. (3) pending lawsuit with his previous TX investor who is claiming fraud on the behalf of kanady & echo.

A lot of moving parts here, all with a lot of baggage.

Lot of people fail in O&G, its an extremely difficult business. Hopefully that's the reason he failed.

Cause IF it was fraud, then yeah won't be great for this project.

He seemed extraordinarily egotistical in the Oklahoman’s video interview with him. The guy from Cytovance is a smart cookie though. So who knows?

Historically he has been good at raising money. As far as running a business, just look at what he did to his baby "echo". If he is simply raising capital for this and other projects in the city it may be fruitful; however, if he is involved in managing these projects, I would stay far away.

Debt: (1) bought the Parkside building (a couple years ago) to house echo and lease out the other floors after extensive buildout. No tenants to date. (2) owns three lots in Nichols Hills: one that he razed the house for his wedding, one that he lives in currently with his wife and kids, the other being the old Kueykendal (sp?) behemoth he bought a couple years ago and has done absolutely nothing with. (3) pending lawsuit with his previous TX investor who is claiming fraud on the behalf of kanady & echo.

A lot of moving parts here, all with a lot of baggage.
Kuykendall. Uncle Hershel still has his place a few doors down. Kirk died a few years back so Kay may have moved out to Florida.

He seemed extraordinarily egotistical in the Oklahoman’s video interview with him. The guy from Cytovance is a smart cookie though. So who knows?

Christian and Kate are naturals when it comes to putting together a Raise.
Not as good as Aubrey, of course, but pretty dang salty.
And the guys with the big egos tend to attract capital, for better or worse.

Christian and Kate are naturals when it comes to putting together a Raise.
Not as good as Aubrey, of course, but pretty dang salty.
And the guys with the big egos tend to attract capital, for better or worse.

That is essentially my point. It is one thing to raise money, but it is an entirely different animal to be able to deploy capital, operate within your means, and grow a business organically (and ethically). I'm not here to say it can't be done. But there should be a good degree of skepticism with him involved if tax payers dollars are being used.

I looked at the renders and this looks very very Chinese. Like some of the random mixed use mall / apartment / office buildings near suburban subway stations. They do serve a purpose and it's actually decent urban planning because it has everything you need in one small area as well as it adds to density along with plenty of retail.