Again, based on what?

The fact they are reasonable, not exorbitant, and not outlandish. It's the same reason I don't believe the supertall will happen. Hogan is a reputable developer in OKC. May have destroyed lower Bricktown, but he has connections all over, and isn't claiming to be anything he's not. Matteson has done a project like this (San Diego and Aspen, both of which have much more expensive real estate and construction costs than here). But never a supertall. Hence why I don't believe that will happen.

I could be wrong and it sits empty for decades.

What exactly is the “scam” you are referring to? It may be unrealistic. It may be unwise. But getting the gullible public gossipers all in a frenzy isn’t a scam. Applying for and getting approval for TIF by itself isn’t a scam. Getting the money transferred to them with false information or getting money up front on false pretenses would be a scam. Getting the investors to transfer money or value to them under false pretenses would be a scam. Issuing drawings, having meetings and going on a pr journey isn’t scamming. That’s done every day on lots of legitimate projects.

Now, buying everything they say and repeating it without investigating or considering the caution signs isn’t results of a scam either..lt’s just signs of an insecure and overly anxious audience who wants validation.
Rover, I wholeheartedly agree with you.

Pete, thanks for the feedback and BDP for your thoughts. I definitely appreciate good investigative journalism but it seems to be bleeding away from the actual feasibility of this project for Phase 1 based on the opinion by some that OKC is not deserving of the recently announced Legends Tower supertall as Phase 2.

I think it is fair to cover both sides, and appreciate data GWalker has been able to find to. Im on his side of the fence obviously, but I also want to be objective and consider all data. But I am not going to get emotional as some, in saying that OKC isn't deserving or shouldn't get a supertall. This is bogus and speaks more of the bias some people have against Oklahoma City (or Oklahoma in general) rather than THEY actually supplying facts/data that OKC couldn't support such a project.

I also think OKC Talk and the national forums are a great place for dialogue. I hope it continues but really hate being denigrated for MY opinion just because some have an ax against OKC. Constructive criticism is one thing but I wish admin might intervene in circumstances when dialog turns into attack.

Thanks again Pete for your explanation and approach, I do agree that the local OKC media does often cheerlead certain projects/folks and it is nice to have a balance, particularly when there may very well be glaring flags that others are ignoring.

OMG, that's because the people behind those projects are reputable developers with deep pockets and a solid track record who, as a bonus, many of us here know personally. How the hell is that even a relevant comparison to some random guy from California who no one had heard of, that constantly exaggerates, said he's going to build the tallest building in america here, apparently has no track record and is working with a guy that people have lambasted here for massively under delivering on several of his developments?

You guys are wild.

so in your logic, in order for a project to be relevant, then the developer needs to be known by you and have deep pockets. Got it.

I still stand by the FACT that those project have not started 'anything' beyond fancy renderings, and despite being significantly smaller than Boardwalk - they have YET to have any traction to indicate they will be built UNLIKE Boardwalk at least having variance applications and approvals of the non-supertall design. ... You'd think if what you're saying is true that Boulevard and Alley's End would have already been built - not years later and "echo", nothing.

Thats not exactly what PhiAlpha said. And you have to look at every developers whole track record and not just cherry pick certain projects.

It’s obvious some here are quite young and have very little experience in commercial real estate development outside of reading and posting on a message board,

I appreciate the implication one naturally gains experience in commercial real estate development with age.

so in your logic, in order for a project to be relevant, then the developer needs to be known by you and have deep pockets. Got it.

I still stand by the FACT that those project have not started 'anything' beyond fancy renderings, and despite being significantly smaller than Boardwalk - they have YET to have any traction to indicate they will be built UNLIKE Boardwalk at least having variance applications and approvals of the non-supertall design. ... You'd think if what you're saying is true that Boulevard and Alley's End would have already been built - not years later and "echo", nothing.

If that is your key take away from my post, then that explains a lot about your inability to understand the growing skepticism among posters here.

Pete, thanks for the feedback and BDP for your thoughts. I definitely appreciate good investigative journalism but it seems to be bleeding away from the actual feasibility of this project for Phase 1 based on the opinion by some that OKC is not deserving of the recently announced Legends Tower supertall as Phase 2.

I think it is fair to cover both sides, and appreciate data GWalker has been able to find to. Im on his side of the fence obviously, but I also want to be objective and consider all data. But I am not going to get emotional as some, in saying that OKC isn't deserving or shouldn't get a supertall. This is bogus and speaks more of the bias some people have against Oklahoma City (or Oklahoma in general) rather than THEY actually supplying facts/data that OKC couldn't support such a project.

I also think OKC Talk and the national forums are a great place for dialogue. I hope it continues but really hate being denigrated for MY opinion just because some have an ax against OKC. Constructive criticism is one thing but I wish admin might intervene in circumstances when dialog turns into attack.

Thanks again Pete for your explanation and approach, I do agree that the local OKC media does often cheerlead certain projects/folks and it is nice to have a balance, particularly when there may very well be glaring flags that others are ignoring.

Dude, you are nuts if this is all you’ve gotten from the last 10-20 pages of this thread. But I love how you think those of us who actually live here have some big ax to grind against the city we live in and that’s why we think this project is a joke.

At this point, you just sound like a kid who is desperately trying to prove to his friends that Santa is real.

An article in the Bloomberg Newsletter today in Apple News about this project. Really no new news, that has not been discussed on this thread. Unfortunately, the link to the article will not work. If you want to see it, go to bloomberg.com and do a search for Bricktown and it will pop up. The reason I am posting is that all the “Matteson” projects discussed on this board were used as references in the article for past work. The Bloomberg journalist did no more project background checking than our local journalists.

Dude, you are nuts if this is all you’ve gotten from the last 10-20 pages of this thread. But I love how you think those of us who actually live here have some big ax to grind against the city we live in and that’s why we think this project is a joke.

At this point, you just sound like a kid who is desperately trying to prove to his friends that Santa is real.

Wait, what?!

^

That was written by the architecture/design writer, not one of their business reporters.

But it does go to show the dangers of the locals writing things as facts and then having them picked up by other publications.

An article in the Bloomberg Newsletter today in Apple News about this project. Really no new news, that has not been discussed on this thread. Unfortunately, the link to the article will not work. If you want to see it, go to bloomberg.com and do a search for Bricktown and it will pop up. The reason I am posting is that all the “Matteson” projects discussed on this board were used as references in the article for past work. The Bloomberg journalist did no more project background checking than our local journalists.

The link seems to work for me.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-03-17/design-edition-oklahoma-city-s-dream-of-a-sooner-supertall-skyscraper

Pete, thanks for the feedback and BDP for your thoughts. I definitely appreciate good investigative journalism but it seems to be bleeding away from the actual feasibility of this project for Phase 1 based on the opinion by some that OKC is not deserving of the recently announced Legends Tower supertall as Phase 2.

I think it is fair to cover both sides, and appreciate data GWalker has been able to find to. Im on his side of the fence obviously, but I also want to be objective and consider all data. But I am not going to get emotional as some, in saying that OKC isn't deserving or shouldn't get a supertall. This is bogus and speaks more of the bias some people have against Oklahoma City (or Oklahoma in general) rather than THEY actually supplying facts/data that OKC couldn't support such a project.

I also think OKC Talk and the national forums are a great place for dialogue. I hope it continues but really hate being denigrated for MY opinion just because some have an ax against OKC. Constructive criticism is one thing but I wish admin might intervene in circumstances when dialog turns into attack.

Thanks again Pete for your explanation and approach, I do agree that the local OKC media does often cheerlead certain projects/folks and it is nice to have a balance, particularly when there may very well be glaring flags that others are ignoring.

This has nothing to do with OKC being “deserving”. It has to do with making real business sense and the odds of it ultimately being successful if built. Talking about OKC being deserving and so blindly being sure of it happening is a sign of insecurity and the need for validation. This is a business opportunity and not a judgement on the people of OKC.

Wait, what?!

Sorry to have to be the one to break the news to you bud. :Smiley094

Sorry to have to be the one to break the news to you bud. :Smiley094

this is why some things need to be hidden behind Spoiler Tags....

The link seems to work for me.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-03-17/design-edition-oklahoma-city-s-dream-of-a-sooner-supertall-skyscraper

"'The city has already approved the Boardwalk project, Matteson says, and in addition to securing $200 million in tax increment financing from the city, he’s found a major investor to finalize the total $1.5 billion in financing. Matteson won’t name this investor or reveal their location, but he says he may identify them after the public hearings are finished."

Yea nothing presented is getting built here. lol

"'The city has already approved the Boardwalk project, Matteson says, and in addition to securing $200 million in tax increment financing from the city, he’s found a major investor to finalize the total $1.5 billion in financing. Matteson won’t name this investor or reveal their location, but he says he may identify them after the public hearings are finished."

Yea nothing presented is getting built here. lol

My favorite part about his investors were name dropping Byron Scott and Cuttino Mobley. Im sure they have a some money but they have a drop in the bucket needed for the tallest tower in the US.

So ignoring the "Legends Tower" What are the realistic possibilities that any of the 3 towers are built?

Much better in my worth-very-little opinion. I could certainly see 1-2 residential towers being financially viable.

I think a residential tower and a hotel or two would be financially viable…I just don’t think there’s anyway they get built, especially not as currently proposed, unless reputable developer with an actual track record of completed and successful high rise projects comes into the picture.

Even without the Legends Tower, we’re still talking about the most ambitious large scale high rise project in OKC since the completion of the Devon tower and possibly the most ambitious hotel/residential development in OKC’s recent history. Unless it is massively scaled down, I don’t see anyway Matteson pulls it off on his own.

^

There has been nothing remotely comparable to this project in OKC, even if they just do the three 34-story towers.

Devon is somewhat in the ballpark but it was built by a big energy company for their own private use; they just wrote a check. Nothing like 3 towers of hotel and apartments and condos with investors and bank loans. And Devon was 50 floors while this will be a total of 102.

First National would probably be closest but that was a renovation, not a new-build and only 1/3rd the size of the Boardwalk's first phase.

So, yes, it would be by far the largest commercial development in the history of our City, and that's not counting the super tall tower.


Even if you choose to dismiss all the valid questions about Matteson, the proposed budget is completely unrealistic. As I pointed out, Devon Energy Center was almost a billion $ in today's money, long before crazy materials costs and high interest rates. But Matteson is saying he is going to build the 3 towers PLUS the super tall for only 50% more, which is probably the biggest red flag of all.

The budget doesn't come close to making sense, so it's very hard to see how he is going to get anything done.

^

Even if you choose to dismiss all the valid questions about Matteson, the proposed budget is completely unrealistic. As I pointed out, Devon Energy Center was almost a billion $ in today's money, long before crazy materials costs and high interest rates. But Matteson is saying he is going to build the 3 towers PLUS the super tall for only 50% more, which is probably the biggest red flag of all.

The budget doesn't come close to making sense, so it's very hard to see how he is going to get anything done.

This is why you can't ignore what Matteson has said about the "Legends Tower and the development". Its not as simple as saying "but, the other towers have been in planning for a long time and also TIF!".

^

There has been nothing remotely comparable to this project in OKC, even if they just do the three 34-story towers.

Devon is somewhat in the ballpark but it was built by a big energy company for their own private use; they just wrote a check. Nothing like 3 towers of hotel and apartments and condos with investors and bank loans. And Devon was 50 floors while this will be a total of 102.

First National would probably be closest but that was a renovation, not a new-build and only 1/3rd the size of the Boardwalk's first phase.

So, yes, it would be by far the largest commercial development in the history of our City, and that's not counting the super tall tower.


Even if you choose to dismiss all the valid questions about Matteson, the proposed budget is completely unrealistic. As I pointed out, Devon Energy Center was almost a billion $ in today's money, long before crazy materials costs and high interest rates. But Matteson is saying he is going to build the 3 towers PLUS the super tall for only 50% more, which is probably the biggest red flag of all.

The budget doesn't come close to making sense, so it's very hard to see how he is going to get anything done.

I forgot ALL the other towers were proposed to be 34 stories. Yeah...completely nuts unless there are some major changes to the group putting this together.

I don't know why people keeping ignoring that Matteson stated on record that the height of Legends Tower, or it being constructed at all will depend solely on the success of the first phase of towers.

I don't know why people keeping ignoring that Matteson stated on record that the height of Legends Tower, or it being constructed at all will depend solely on the success of the first phase of towers.

Because absolutely nobody other than you and maybe two other people on this thread believe for a second Legends Tower will ever be built.

I don't know why people keeping ignoring that Matteson stated on record that the height of Legends Tower, or it being constructed at all will depend solely on the success of the first phase of towers.

Because the first phase being built at all seems like a long shot right now?

I am sorry, although nice, that is just wayyyyy too tall and out of place, no reason for it to be that tall. Not sure why

I never said Legends Tower WILL be built. I have always said, if built, it would be scaled down. You can even look at my past comments, and I was the first to say, there is no need for a tower that tall in OKC.

I like the 3 tower development, though every new rendering we see it gets changed. Hopefully this is the last one. As far as the supertall, I would rather them spend the money building multiple smaller high rise towers and create density vs. one out of place supertall.

Me again, I am just as skeptical. But I am not going to say its not going to happen at all, based on speculation and opinions.

Sorry I haven't been to Dubai, man I must live under a rock. Anyways, a 1,776ft tower has no place in dowtown OKC right now, I don't care how you argue it. Austin current tallest tower (875ft) doesn't even come close to this, so thats a bad comparison. Lets be realistic, OKC is not Dubai, NYC, or even Austin.

And again, lol.

My question is Why? lol. Why do you want a tower that tall? There is surely not a need for it here, and it doesn't fit. So you are going to built the 2nd tallest building in the whole US, just because you can? Doesn't make any sense. I am sure that tower alone would cost more than $1B. Why not use that money and build another 4 tower mixed use development closer to downtown?

Last one, so no I am not the side that Legends Tower is a 100% go.

Me again, I am just as skeptical. But I am not going to say its not going to happen at all, based on speculation and opinions.

But it might happen due to speculation and opinion you prefer to believe?

I have always said I believe the FIRST phase is a go, now has far as Legends Tower, I have said 50% chance, when you created that poll, or maybe it was 60%, not sure.

I don't know why people keeping ignoring that Matteson stated on record that the height of Legends Tower, or it being constructed at all will depend solely on the success of the first phase of towers.

He has stated a lot of ambiguous comments and presented math that doesn't add up. I guess we're supposed to decided what is BS PR vs what is real? The missing data point is his motivation for the BS PR move.

There is no demand or reason to build a skyscraper this tall in OKC. Matteson Capital is just doing it, just because he can. I guess to make history.

Just doesn't make any sense. We will see what happens, but not calling in to work to wait and see.

Best one yet, lol.

He has stated a lot of ambiguous comments and presented math that doesn't add up. I guess we're supposed to decided what is BS PR vs what is real? The missing data point is his motivation for the BS PR move.

The only thing he hasn't said so far is "You could get a good look a t-bone by sticking your head up a bull's ass, but wouldn't you rather take the butcher's word for it?"

I guess we will just be on a lookout for a Phase 1 tower in June 2024 that was the last "official stated' project timeline, but time is usually linear and the the last thing someone said is the latest up to date information and people don't have to say "Oh that's not what he meant, it just funding for the first tower".

I guess we will just be on a lookout for a Phase 1 tower in June 2024 that was the last "official stated' project timeline, but time is usually linear and the the last thing someone said is the latest up to date information and people don't have to say "Oh that's not what he meant, it just funding for the first tower".

I don't get all the arguing here about the Legends tower. They don't have TIF financing for it so the only people losing out are the investors which I'd be shocked if anyone here cares about. For some reason everyone is acting like it's personal. It's either going to happen or it's not regardless of anything said here. Are we really going to argue about the possibility of it happening for a year or more? Let them continue to put whatever BS PR out there acting like it's going to happen. At least it's getting national attention over something that is somewhat positive instead of whatever embarrassing new laws are being proposed by the state legislature which is usually how we make headlines.

Thank you okcrun!!! My thoughts exactly.

Fraud is fraud and it's incredibly rare that someone would have a personal financial interest. Why have there been tons of books and movies about Bernie Madoff? You think the millions that followed all that should only care if it was their money? Why is Penn Square Bank still discussed 45 years later? Why was my series on TEEMCO by far the most-read news posts in the history of OKCTalk?

A better question would be: Why wouldn't people who care about OKC be concerned about something that looks very iffy and perhaps shady?

And: What is it about the local culture where OKC seems to be a fertile ground for scams?


Ask the investors in Strawberry Fields how they feel about that project and the way it was promoted in the press and the way the now-accused leader was portrayed and is still portrayed even after embezzling funds.

These types of things are not just civil cases where people lose their investment, they are often deeply criminal acts which our society has deemed worthy of severe punishment. There is a cost to society and to a community beyond the people that directly lose money.

And waiting to ask obvious questions until it's too late is exactly how those with sinister motives are able to harm so many.

Fraud is fraud and it's incredibly rare that someone would have a personal financial interest. Why have there been tons of books and movies about Bernie Madoff? You think the millions that followed all that should only care if it was their money? Why is Penn Square Bank still discussed 45 years later? Why was my series on TEEMCO by far the most-read news posts in the history of OKCTalk?

A better question would be: Why wouldn't people who care about OKC be concerned about something that looks very iffy and perhaps shady?

And: What is it about the local culture where OKC seems to be a fertile ground for scams?


Ask the investors in Strawberry Fields how they feel about that project and the way it was promoted in the press and the way the now-accused leader was portrayed and is still portrayed even after embezzling funds.

These types of things are not just civil cases where people lose their investment, they are often deeply criminal acts which our society has deemed worthy of severe punishment. There is a cost to society and to a community beyond the people that directly lose money.

And waiting to ask obvious questions until it's too late is exactly how those with sinister motives are able to harm so many.

Are you alleging that a crime is being committed here? What is the scam? The developer does not appear to be publicly seeking local investors.

Every city has a portfolio of never built projects. Even booming cities like Nashville, Austin, Miami, Dallas, Las Vegas, New York, and Toronto. I do not think that whether this project gets built or not is a negative for OKC.

Personally, I would like to see it (phase 1) built but I think that the odds of it happening are low. As for the Legends Tower, it is totally improbable and impractical. I was indifferent but I am starting to hope it gets built for two reasons. One reason is that I think that it is the only chance I might have to see a building that tall. The main reason is that it would be an answer to all those who are saying that OKC is too pathetic for a building like this.

Are you alleging that a crime is being committed here? What is the scam? The developer does not appear to be publicly seeking local investors.

Asking relevant questions and doing hard research isn't the same thing as alleging a crime. It's merely the pursuit of truth, whatever that may be. And that's important when many things are being said and written that are obviously not true (I'm not going to recount all of them here).

If there is a scam, it would be defrauding investors, the City (remember we are putting up $200 million), and lenders.

And yes, Matteson has openly sought local investors, although I'm not sure why it matters where an investor may live.

The Legends tower is still blowing up big on social media. I know the algorithm is doing its thing, but it is wild to see people all over the world posting about this tower. I like to read the comments on the posts and get a vibe of what people in other cities and countries think.

The general themes I am seeing under the posts:
-Tornado
-But why?
-OKC has no other buildings (many of the posts are using the rendering that does not show any real OKC background/skyline)
-Cool, but then you have to live in OKC.
-America! ('sticking it to the libs' on the coasts by using oil money to build a giant middle finger)

The Legends tower is still blowing up big on social media. I know the algorithm is doing its thing, but it is wild to see people all over the world posting about this tower. I like to read the comments on the posts and get a vibe of what people in other cities and countries think.

The general themes I am seeing under the posts:
-Tornado
-But why?
-OKC has no other buildings (many of the posts are using the rendering that does not show any real OKC background/skyline)
-Cool, but then you have to live in OKC.
-America! ('sticking it to the libs' on the coasts by using oil money to build a giant middle finger)

I have to abstain from looking at all those posts cause it's just absurd what people come up with. People publicly hate on the entire state of Oklahoma from these posts.

^

There has been nothing remotely comparable to this project in OKC, even if they just do the three 34-story towers.

Devon is somewhat in the ballpark but it was built by a big energy company for their own private use; they just wrote a check. Nothing like 3 towers of hotel and apartments and condos with investors and bank loans. And Devon was 50 floors while this will be a total of 102.

First National would probably be closest but that was a renovation, not a new-build and only 1/3rd the size of the Boardwalk's first phase.

So, yes, it would be by far the largest commercial development in the history of our City, and that's not counting the super tall tower.


Even if you choose to dismiss all the valid questions about Matteson, the proposed budget is completely unrealistic. As I pointed out, Devon Energy Center was almost a billion $ in today's money, long before crazy materials costs and high interest rates. But Matteson is saying he is going to build the 3 towers PLUS the super tall for only 50% more, which is probably the biggest red flag of all.

The budget doesn't come close to making sense, so it's very hard to see how he is going to get anything done.

Pete, I think you're getting a bit sidetracked by the floor count as opposed to floor area. The supposed square footage of the project is 2.7 million square feet, which at $1.5 billion works out to $555/sqft. Devon, accounting for inflation, is just under a billion. Round it up to a billion even and at 1.8 million square feet it is exactly the same at $555/sqft.

The difference in floor count makes sense when you consider that residential towers often have a smaller floor plan than office towers, plus the Devon Energy Center includes the large six(?) story structure between the tower and BOK Park Plaza.

And the engineering for the supertall isn't going to be completely outrageous like the ultra-thin buildings in NYC. The design and construction is obviously going to need to be a step above anything else in the city, but they're not working with the same constraints that are skyrocketing the price in New York.

Now 1.5 billion still seems optimistic, and likely assumes a flawless construction schedule. And I'm not taking into account the differences between office and residential construction. But my point is that I don't think the price is out-to-lunch crazy.

And I'm completely ignoring here whether or not this project is actually feasable or has any chance of happening.

^

You are completely forgetting that this entire project is apartments, condos and hotel rooms which are significantly more expensive to build than open office space.

Plus, it's much, much more expensive to start building over 50 floors and Legends Tower will have 134 (according to Matteson).

Forgot to add RE: Miami. The city has prohibited the construction of buildings over 1049' above sea level, so you couldn't build an 1100' tower even if you wanted to.

Edit: Clarification: It is the FAA specifically that has limited the height of buildings to 1049' above sea level, due to concerns about building height interfering with the approach to the Miami airport.

Forgot to add RE: Miami. The city has prohibited the construction of buildings over 1049' above sea level, so you couldn't build an 1100' tower even if you wanted to.

Edit: Clarification: It is the FAA that has limited the height of buildings to 1049' above sea level, due to concerns about building height interfering with the approach to the Miami airport.

Makes all the reporting on it look even dumber.

Forgot to add RE: Miami. The city has prohibited the construction of buildings over 1049' above sea level, so you couldn't build an 1100' tower even if you wanted to.

Edit: Clarification: It is the FAA specifically that has limited the height of buildings to 1049' above sea level, due to concerns about building height interfering with the approach to the Miami airport.

China has even made it illegal to build these types of towers and I would be willing to bet that if there's not financial capacity to build mixed-use super tall/hyper tall buildings in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Beijing, etc. it is even more dumb to do here. The idea to build 2,000 housing units isn't the dumb part of the proposal or any of the other uses it's the fact that buildings over 1,200 feet high are incredibly difficult to build cost wise, they are incredibly inefficient, etc etc. There is a reason governments are banning these types of projects in other global markets and it's because developers tend to run out of money or they can't ever get them to be occupied well enough for them to justify the capital it cost to build. Thus it becomes a financial risk to the banking system and a drag to the overall market when there's a huge block of vacant space in a building that shouldn't have been built.

A different type of example would be One Technology Center in Tulsa (now City Hall). WilTel built the building with floorplates of over 40,000 sq ft which is not supportable in the market and it dragged down the office market downtown for a decade + until the city bought it and took it off the market. Vancouver BC doesn't allow developers to build commercial buildings with floorplates larger than 20,000-25,000 sq ft for that very reason.

Regarding the big show surrounding the FAA approval, I didn't realize that anything over 200 feet requires FAA clearance.

So, basically anything over 15 stories requires this approval, as will all 3 other towers as part of this development.

BTW, that 200 foot limit also includes temporary structures like cranes. So basically anything with a construction crane requires approval from the FAA; the ordinance also includes other structures like wind turbines and cell phone antennae.


To put all this in perspective, currently in Oklahoma there are 860 pending applications before the FAA. Matteson is making a big deal out of the clearance for Legends Tower but it's a very common procedural issue that has nothing to do with its massive proposed height.

Regarding the big show surrounding the FAA approval, I didn't realize that anything over 200 feet requires FAA clearance.

So, basically anything over 15 stories requires this approval, as will all 3 other towers as part of this development.

BTW, that 200 foot limit also includes temporary structures like cranes. So basically anything with a crane requires approval from the FAA or other structures like wind turbines.


To put all this in perspective, currently in Oklahoma there are 860 pending applications before the FAA. Matteson making is making a big deal out of the clearance for Legends Tower but it's a very common procedural issue that has nothing to do with it's massive proposed height.

FAA clearance like you said isn't a big deal and is done by many developers before they've probably even done core samples, etc. It doesn't cost a ton of money and people like Matteson use it as a PR tool and most people are unfamiliar with the development process so they think it's a huge deal. Frankly it is just another reason why it's hard to take this guy seriously because any other legitimate developer wouldn't even bother mentioning they had even applied for FAA approval. As long as a building isn't on a direct flight path or in a sensitive area it is a rubber stamp approval process. I could literally file an application on my house parcel for a building 3,000 feet with the FAA if I wanted too and they'd probably approve it. Doesn't mean I would build it or even be allowed to build it by the city.

^

There isn't even a fee to apply with the FAA. Just send them an email with some basic information.

It's probably just so the FAA can check to see if it's in a flight path or not.

I guess Devon didn't have to go through hoops on their original 925' building.

Anyway - I'll let this play out, it's way too partisan on here.

https://www.thorntontomasetti.com/sites/default/files/styles/paragraph_slideshow/public/devon_5.jpg?itok=ydvdj8FW

IIRC you mentioned the Devon Tower's original 925' tall rendering which was later reduced by 4 floors to 844' present tower height making it the tallest in Oklahoma.

That original 925' structure would have put Devon Tower 4' taller than Dallas' Bank of America Tower (921') which is the tallest in downtown Big D.

I guess Devon didn't have to go through hoops on their original 925' building.

Anyway - I'll let this play out, it's way too partisan on here.

Of course they did, as did almost every construction project.

The difference is, they didn't make a big deal out of a silly procedural step. In fact, I've never heard this mentioned by a single developer in OKC.

The Legends tower is still blowing up big on social media. I know the algorithm is doing its thing, but it is wild to see people all over the world posting about this tower. I like to read the comments on the posts and get a vibe of what people in other cities and countries think.

The general themes I am seeing under the posts:
-Tornado
-But why?
-OKC has no other buildings (many of the posts are using the rendering that does not show any real OKC background/skyline)
-Cool, but then you have to live in OKC.
-America! ('sticking it to the libs' on the coasts by using oil money to build a giant middle finger)

These are the true 'Partisan' themes and they all missed the most important theme: Traditional media taking everything the developer says at face value with no research at all.

These are the true 'Partisan' themes and they all missed the most important theme: Traditional media taking everything the developer says at face value with no research at all.

I figured the parties were: People who refuse to acknowledge reality and take every word the developer says as gospel vs. those who have read both sides of this and aren’t too gullible to be skeptical of the entire project.

^
I would like to think the modern engineering thing holds true. But I would have to see such a building survive the 90s tornado that left a swath of bare dirt through Moore before I'd stay near such a building in a bad storm.

^
I would like to think the modern engineering thing holds true. But I would have to see such a building survive the 90s tornado that left a swath of bare dirt through Moore before I'd stay near such a building in a bad storm.

Very few buildings of any size will survive an EF-5 tornado.