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https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2021/11/10/half-billion-dollar-industrial-park-south-okc-project-leadership-richard-tanenbaum/6345629001/

"Site work is expected to begin by spring on what will be a $500 million mix of industrial, office and retail space on an industrial reserve set up by the Oklahoma Industries Authority.

A partnership led by Richard Tanenbaum was chosen from among seven competing groups for the development of the 577 acres at Bryant Avenue and Interstate 240. The proposal for OKC 577 is likely to include a new headquarters and distribution center for Locke Supply, a company that expressed interest in two of the other six proposals. "

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Great! This is a few miles from me. I was wondering how they would develop around the pump jacks. And they went with a proven commodity in Tanenbaum. They will need to repave Bryant, Eastern, and 89th, as well as the frontage road.

This is a big deal.

Seems like a good use of that square mile of land that is more or less doing nothing right now.

This is the property:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/okc577a.jpg

A ton of new potential clients coming to Little Dick's Halfway Inn

This'll be huge for Crossroads Mall!

This'll be huge for Crossroads Mall!

Wish they could bulldoze that and start from scratch.

Awesome. Looks like they are going to put in an industry rail spur to BNSF Flynn Yard too.

Awesome. Looks like they are going to put in an industry rail spur to BNSF Flynn Yard too.

Hopefully it goes over the road because the last thing we need is another damned at-grade rail crossing around 240.

I just built a house near here and moved in a few weeks ago. I REALLY enjoy being able to get right down Eastern. NOT looking forward to the freaking rail lines I just moved away from on Sooner.

Industry tracks probably get used about 3 times a week at max, and usually only a few cars at a time. You could probably go years without ever having a crossing interfere with your commute. And of course, that is even if any of the tenants want rail access.

Everyone doing business there can enjoy the occasional fresh northern air on a windy day.

Everyone doing business there can enjoy the occasional fresh northern air on a windy day.

I'm roughly half a mile South of 89th and I can't smell it. I also worked about a mile North of the one off of I 40. I can smell the one from my 40 if the wind blows right but not most days.

Everyone doing business there can enjoy the occasional fresh northern air on a windy day.

I haven't seen you post in a long time!

I'm roughly half a mile South of 89th and I can't smell it. I also worked about a mile North of the one off of I 40. I can smell the one from my 40 if the wind blows right but not most days.

The only one that's really bad, IMO, is the one at NE 36th & Sooner. No idea how anyone in the subdivisions around 50th & Sooner can deal with that consistently given that the wind here seemingly blows from the SSE for about half of the year.

ODOT really needs to get on the ball with putting a 6 lane I-240 on the 8yr plan. Every time I’m on this road I’m surprised at the amount of traffic.

Here are some better images.

The second one is high-res; open in a new window/tab and you can zoom way in.

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/okc577c.jpg


HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/okc577b.jpg

If QT wanted to build another stop this would be a good location for them.

ODOT really needs to get on the ball with putting a 6 lane I-240 on the 8yr plan. Every time I’m on this road I’m surprised at the amount of traffic.

I agree, this is long over due. With the new infrastructure bill passing, this might actually happen.

Yeah when we moved from Sooner to Eastern, one of the things i thought was, dang, there isn't a gas station anywhere near me now!

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/240bryant111421a.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/240bryant111421b.jpg

The scale of this project is massive.

Hi Pete,

Do you know what's going on with the red dirt moving across the freeway? About a mile or two east of this, I believe Commonwealth is building something, is that an apartment complex or a hotel? I drive by this area almost everyday, always curious to know what's going on.

Thanks,

Hi Pete,

Do you know what's going on with the red dirt moving across the freeway? About a mile or two east of this, I believe Commonwealth is building something, is that an apartment complex or a hotel? I drive by this area almost everyday, always curious to know what's going on.

Thanks,

I believe all that red dirt is just part of shifting material around in the landfill to the north.

After I took those photos I did research and there aren't any building permits on those properties.

Project received $8 million from ARPA funds:


$8 million infrastructure installation at OKC’s 577 commerce park located in southeast OKC near I-240 between Eastern and Bryant avenues.

The OKC 577 project will facilitate the development of a 577-acre site into a premiere industrial park for future tenants. It will include the relocation of various utilities such as water, sewer, electricity, and natural gas as well as other infrastructure to provide state-of-the art facilities and amenities to its tenants. The Oklahoma Industries Authority acquired the property in 2021 through a land swap with the Oklahoma Commissioners of the Land Office.


- https://www.velocityokc.com/blog/policy/state-lawmakers-approve-63-million-in-arpa-prep-funds-for-chamber-supported-okc-projects/?back=super_blog

Wish they could bulldoze that and start from scratch.

Seems like this would make an incredible location for distribution warehouses with it's highway access in nearly every direction and rail access.

Seems like this would make an incredible location for distribution warehouses with it's highway access in nearly every direction and rail access.

That's probably what a lot of it will be. But I would prefer a lot of manufacturers there. Anyone have any idea when work will start on this?

Seems like this would make an incredible location for distribution warehouses with it's highway access in nearly every direction and rail access.

That's probably what a lot of it will be. But I would prefer a lot of manufacturers there. Anyone have any idea when work will start on this?

Those of us that are near by, just prefer it's something that doesn't create a whole bunch of noise and light pollution.

FedEx, for example, on Bryant has lights that you could land the space shuttle with.

Personally, i'd prefer to not have something like the dog food plant up off Broadway in Edmond. The smell....omg the smell. I'm just north of 27th in Moore and we can't smell the landfill at all here. Last thing I want, is some manufacturing thing like that Alpo plant, to move in and create a cloud of stink. I can't believe that places like that haven't had some code created yet to help scrub that out for all those people that have to live near that thing.

Photo from Saturday:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/240industrial100822a.jpg

I take it they are going to work around the horse head wells there?

I take it they are going to work around the horse head wells there?

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/okc577a.jpg

Perfect. I figured this was the case. Glad they are able to be fairly dense, even while working around them.

Any idea when construction is supposed to start?

Why has this large chunk of land never been developed or redeveloped before? Is it cause of the oil wells? Anyone know the history behind this land?

Why has this large chunk of land never been developed or redeveloped before? Is it cause of the oil wells? Anyone know the history behind this land?

For a long time that property was owned by C.A. Henderson and partners. He developed a lot of schlocky retail centers that usually included a TG&Y (C.A. got his start working for TG&Y). I'm sure he thought this would be prime land due to Crossroads but never did anything there which is probably a good thing.

After he died, the State bought it from his estate and has been sitting on it waiting for the right time to develop.

Interesting. I wonder how much a square mile of land in the middle of a large city would go for on the open market!

Pete, have you heard anything about a possible start date on anything related to this? I know they just received some money to begin development on the infrastructure.

I'd love it of someone would come in and throw money at buying up the Flynn Railyard. It's never gonna happen, but it sure would be nice to shut those trains up at night.

Where do you propose BNSF move?

Where do you propose BNSF move?
Indeed, where could you move them?. And from Pete’s picture, since I retired, the BNSF has added two new tracks next to the old piggyback tracks. And if you look closely at the bottom, Crowley Tar has 7 tank cars on their spur, business is good.

Also, why have them move? A sprawling development like this could make use of railroad traffic.

Also, why have them move? A sprawling development like this could make use of railroad traffic.

The site plan even allows for industry spurs throughout the complex. It’s a match made in heaven having leads right into a yard. That cuts switching costs down tremendously if they don’t have to send a local job out to your facility and can switch cars straight into the yard.

It looks like site work has begun here. A bit sooner than I was expecting.

You can see they've started to add the new divided entry road in the NW corner:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/240eastern050123a.jpg

You know what i never paid attention to? The addition of a 240 frontage rd. I may be reaching, but i dont know how else you'd get to the Retail and Office on the north end without them adding one. That would be nice to have since it's one of the few sections along that side of 240 that doesn't have one.

Now if they'd only turn the one over by the Heart Hospital into an ACTUAL frontage rd at the hospital. But that wont ever happen.

You can't see much at all from the street, just piles of dirt and gas pipelines being put around the perimeter of the whole reserve. Wonder where the cows will go?

And guess what they graded over the last week or so? The frontage road. LOL.

You know what i never paid attention to? The addition of a 240 frontage rd. I may be reaching, but i dont know how else you'd get to the Retail and Office on the north end without them adding one. That would be nice to have since it's one of the few sections along that side of 240 that doesn't have one.

Now if they'd only turn the one over by the Heart Hospital into an ACTUAL frontage rd at the hospital. But that wont ever happen.

You can't see much at all from the street, just piles of dirt and gas pipelines being put around the perimeter of the whole reserve. Wonder where the cows will go?

The proposed map on post #32 makes it look like there is going to be a frontage road along the north side.

I do like the fact that the massive warehouse spaces are mostly nestled in the middle where they won't be as visible. From the outside of the square mile, it appears that it will mostly look like a normal mix of small house sized offices, medium office space, and reatail/etc.

What I am wondering though, is this a masterplan waiting for developers for each plot, or is this the city actually actively developing the land? If it's just a masterplan, then who knows what it will actually look like. We could be left with a woefully disappointing situation.

You can see they are moving dirt in the NW and SE corners -- image is looking due east:

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/240080623a.jpg

You can see they are moving dirt in the NW and SE corners -- image is looking due east:

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/240080623a.jpg

Glad this is getting started! Great shots!

I think Stephens & Johnson are drilling as many wells as they can there before construction gets into full bore. Basically had a drilling rig in that area continuously for 7 months.

I may be one of the only ones here with this opinion, but this is (along with U-Haul lot) is the development I'm looking forward to most, when it comes to watching it develop. I want a lot more industrial (especially manufacturing) development, and this development is simply huge.

Drove by it today. Seems like they are still pushing dirt around like in the photo above.

Drove by it today. Seems like they are still pushing dirt around like in the photo above.

Yeah, unfortunately, ground prep takes a long time. I drive by there from time to time to see the progress because I'm anxious to see this huge development unfold.

You can't see much, mostly just dirt piles slowly building up.

The Locke area is probably the most visible at 89th/Bryant. It's starting to form into something.

There is a pile of roof beams sitting visible from 240, but it's not near anything so i dont know if they are just putting Locke's stuff there to keep it out of the way (a mile away) or what the deal is there.

OG&E and ONG have been doing a LOT of prep work all over the place. Some is more conspicuous than others (like the pipe that's 10ft in the air at 89th/Eastern.

You can't see much, mostly just dirt piles slowly building up.

The Locke area is probably the most visible at 89th/Bryant. It's starting to form into something.

There is a pile of roof beams sitting visible from 240, but it's not near anything so i dont know if they are just putting Locke's stuff there to keep it out of the way (a mile away) or what the deal is there.

OG&E and ONG have been doing a LOT of prep work all over the place. Some is more conspicuous than others (like the pipe that's 10ft in the air at 89th/Eastern.

Any updates on this?

Any updates on this?

They are moving quickly. Building roads, there is a building going up at 89th and Bryant, as well. It's moving.

Nice, haven't been that way in a while, so I was wondering. Might drive by this weekend for a view.

Nice, haven't been that way in a while, so I was wondering. Might drive by this weekend for a view.

Give it a year, and it will be completely different. Hopefully it draws some restaurants that way.