I've heard on other social media of plans for a 10-story residential tower at Memorial and I-35. I guess this is technically OKC, but with 200+ units apparently planned, this would be a significant development for Edmond schools.

I've heard on other social media of plans for a 10-story residential tower at Memorial and I-35. I guess this is technically OKC, but with 200+ units apparently planned, this would be a significant development for Edmond schools.

Where did you see this?

I haven't seen any permits or planning docs.

Link to tomorrows planning commission agenda with more info. Looks like a 10 story apartment building by Kalidy.

https://destinyhosted.com/agenda_publish.cfm?id=33666&mt=ALL&vl=true&get_month=1&get_year=2025&dsp=agm&seq=20793&rev=0&ag=30492&ln=139030&nseq=20794&nrev=0&pseq=&prev=&vl=true#ReturnTo139030

^

Thank you.

Here is a rendering. I can't think of any new-construction housing built in the OKC area over six floors since the Regency Tower in the 1960s.

I wouldn't have guessed this was within Edmond city limits, but it is.

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/kalidy1.jpg

HTTP://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/kalidy2.jpg

I've heard on other social media of plans for a 10-story residential tower at Memorial and I-35. I guess this is technically OKC, but with 200+ units apparently planned, this would be a significant development for Edmond schools.

just barely in Edmond City limits ..

Project Name 4691 W. I-35 Frontage Rd.
Project Owner Kalidy, L.L.C.
General Location of PUD Approximately 1.5 acres at the NW Corner of E. Memorial Rd. and W. I-35 Frontage Rd.
Current Zoning D-2 – Neighborhood Commercial District / I-35 Corridor
Project Description/Concept Residential Development

just barely in Edmond City limits ..

we will see what the nimby's do

This seems a very strange location for a mid-rise when exactly zero housing developments over 6 stories have been built anywhere in the OKC area in almost 60 years.

My God.. ask and OKCTalk delivers!

This would probably force school redistricting in Edmond as this would be within the Chisholm ES district--and Chisholm is already Edmond's largest ES with ~900 students.

we will see what the nimby's do

There's a lot of development in the area. I live over in this area.

There's also on and off talk of developing the Holiday Farms property at Memorial and Bryant, which is both OKC and Edmond city limits.

I'm not sure I'm really all that opposed to it except that it is pretty mismatched to any of the other development in the area.

Maybe with more of this we can get a grocery store?

we will see what the nimby's do

That's when you buy the property to the west of Arch Technology Solutions across the street and you build a 15 story building in OKC city limits. :)

A woman was complaining on News9 at 5:00. The usual more traffic, crowded schools, etc. argument, plus her mother who is in hospice would not want it.

I'll believe it when I see it

There's a lot of development in the area. I live over in this area.

There's also on and off talk of developing the Holiday Farms property at Memorial and Bryant, which is both OKC and Edmond city limits.

I'm not sure I'm really all that opposed to it except that it is pretty mismatched to any of the other development in the area.

Maybe with more of this we can get a grocery store?

This would def lead to more development along the I35 service road between Memorial and 33rd.

This would def lead to more development along the I35 service road between Memorial and 33rd.

Kalidy owns more property along Memorial. He owns the old BancFirst which he sometimes illegally stores cars at and is sometimes a homeless camp. That area is OKC. I’m concerned we might end up with lots of development and lots of traffic. This area is all suburban with pretty large lots. It’s pretty strange to see these very few urban proposals for this area.

And if he builds this, I doubt he’s done with building these kinds of things over here.

If my memory serves me right, Edmond is planning to make both service roads directional one-way. If so, this will have no southbound entrance to I-35. You would have to backtrack to 33rd street or four lanes down to NW 122. Of course not a deal killer, but a pain.

If my memory serves me right, Edmond is planning to make both service roads directional one-way. If so, this will have no southbound entrance to I-35. You would have to backtrack to 33rd street or four lanes down to NW 122. Of course not a deal killer, but a pain.

ODOT is working on this project right now .. the current phase is building the turnarounds ...

the next phase is reworking all the on/off ramps to be on the "correct" side of the intersections .. when that happens there should be a south bound onramp ..

I have seen this as well. some NIMBYS are trying to stop it

I have seen this as well. some NIMBYS are trying to stop it

Folks in Edmond are going to fight anything which doesn't fit what the community already mostly consists of--suburban homes on big lots with large setbacks. This is 1.5 acres of land which might host 500+ residents. It doesn't fit at all with what the rest of the community consists of. There are million dollar homes within 1/2 mile of this location. You'd better believe folks are going to fight it.

Folks in Edmond are going to fight anything which doesn't fit what the community already mostly consists of--suburban homes on big lots with large setbacks. This is 1.5 acres of land which might host 500+ residents. It doesn't fit at all with what the rest of the community consists of. There are million dollar homes within 1/2 mile of this location. You'd better believe folks are going to fight it.

They may and prob will fight it. The issue I have with fighting it is this is along I35 corridor which will grow with more retail, restaurants and such and does nothing to hurt anything to the west. I am sure it will lead to improvements for traffic and streets.

we will see what the nimby's do

Didnt neighbors do a initiative petition to block a previous apartment deal in this spot?


A woman was complaining on News9 at 5:00. The usual more traffic, crowded schools, etc. argument, plus her mother who is in hospice would not want it.

Haha! Mom in hospice wouldnt like it is definitely a new one in NIMBY arguments


They may and prob will fight it. The issue I have with fighting it is this is along I35 corridor which will grow with more retail, restaurants and such and does nothing to hurt anything to the west. I am sure it will lead to improvements for traffic and streets.

Thats my thinking, this is I35, how can NIMBYs really believe they have a good argument blocking commercial development?

Near Memorial & 35
Developer's Plans

Kalidy LLC, the developer, wants to build a 10-story apartment tower containing:
204 units with a rooftop deck A 4-story parking garage outdoor amenity space
The project also calls for 9,000 square feet of office or retail space on the ground floor.
Here’s the link to the News9 article.

https://www.news9.com/story/677c699d74129ecf39628de6/proposed-10-story-edmond-apartment-complex-faces-backlash

While I can see some of the concerns, I don't think it should be that big of an issue. If anything, it helps Edmond build a profile for those looking to live reside outside of the city core, someplace with fairly good schools. I may be wrong on the actual impact of local community, but I don't hear much of Edmond having really bad traffic outside of the typical work rush.

Not going to happen.

Not going to happen.

And you know this how?

Near Memorial & 35
Developer's Plans

Kalidy LLC, the developer, wants to build a 10-story apartment tower containing:
204 units with a rooftop deck A 4-story parking garage outdoor amenity space
The project also calls for 9,000 square feet of office or retail space on the ground floor.
Here’s the link to the News9 article.

https://www.news9.com/story/677c699d74129ecf39628de6/proposed-10-story-edmond-apartment-complex-faces-backlash

Eugh, not a fan of Kalidy, but vertical growth is good. Hopefully the Edmond NIMBYs don't shoot this down

I have heard zero good things about Kalidy as a landlord, which between that and the odd location (would this not be more attractive five miles up the road at Covell?) does not make me optimistic for whatever the finished product ends up being here.

I have heard zero good things about Kalidy as a landlord, which between that and the odd location (would this not be more attractive five miles up the road at Covell?) does not make me optimistic for whatever the finished product ends up being here.

I love how negative so many get so fast. Here’s a high density project with good amenities proposed and immediately Kalidy is disparaged.

Kalidy has had a large inventory of rental houses, so it would be unusual not to have a few disgruntled renters. But, he’s been pretty successful building a business and has been more clever about many things than the traditional names we tend to know better. I’m pretty familiar with their operations and I’m not aware of them not paying their bills or being a bad landlord on their commercial properties, etc.

All Edmond wants to do is increase their tax income through sales by population increase as they do not get money from property taxes. Infrastructure is now becoming clogged and miserable from when I first moved here (Edmond). The US economic model is based on growth. No growth, unhappy sad face but the problem with that is the infrastructure cannot handle that growth. I just looked up that the US has over 100 million more ppl now than in the 80s. Personally, I would rather have the population of the 70s and 80s and frankly it was much better than now. Now it's so difficult to get anything done due to horrible infrastructure. But, let's keep building. Paved over paradise to put up a parking lot.

I know this about Kalidy.... they hired and employed a person at a fairly high visibility position that is an absolute POS human being. And, it doesn't take more than a very quick public search on the internet to know how much of a POS this person is so it's not something that could have just been missed when hiring this individual. Yet they employed them at a high level for a significant amount of time. So, ever since that happened I have always viewed Kalidy as a shady operator.

All Edmond wants to do is increase their tax income through sales by population increase as they do not get money from property taxes. Infrastructure is now becoming clogged and miserable from when I first moved here (Edmond). The US economic model is based on growth. No growth, unhappy sad face but the problem with that is the infrastructure cannot handle that growth. I just looked up that the US has over 100 million more ppl now than in the 80s. Personally, I would rather have the population of the 70s and 80s and frankly it was much better than now. Now it's so difficult to get anything done due to horrible infrastructure. But, let's keep building. Paved over paradise to put up a parking lot.

n/m misread ..

this is for sure why edmond needs to do all it can to expand its retail ..

Is this Kalidy the same as Kalidy Kia? Kalidy Kia was, well, interesting to buy from.

the city gets almost no money from property taxes ..

That's what I said, yes?

That's what I said, yes?

my apologies was reading on my phone and completely misread that ..

I think ODOT is auctioning off the land they own that surrounds this parcel.

lol, Karen Drive is literally a couple hundred feet west of the proposed development.

n/m misread ..

this is for sure why edmond needs to do all it can to expand its retail ..

But why? How much is enough? How much suffering do the ppl need to endure to satisfy the City of Edmond's thirst for tax income increases? TBH, This happens all over and is not unique to Edmond. It's a poor economic model.

But why? How much is enough? How much suffering do the ppl need to endure to satisfy the City of Edmond's thirst for tax income increases? TBH, This happens all over and is not unique to Edmond. It's a poor economic model.

I mean, as citizens keep moving there, more services are required. And if Edmond wants more people, then they need to offer more retail/restaurants to get people in.

But why? How much is enough? How much suffering do the ppl need to endure to satisfy the City of Edmond's thirst for tax income increases? TBH, This happens all over and is not unique to Edmond. It's a poor economic model.

suffering?? because of new retail and a higher tax base ..

again what??

But why? How much is enough? How much suffering do the ppl need to endure to satisfy the City of Edmond's thirst for tax income increases? TBH, This happens all over and is not unique to Edmond. It's a poor economic model.

When I think of Edmondites, "suffering" is not high on the list of words I would use to describe us

lol, Karen Drive is literally a couple hundred feet west of the proposed development.:lol2::lol2::lol2::lol2::lol2::lol2::l ol2::lol2::lol2::lol2:

But why? How much is enough? How much suffering do the ppl need to endure to satisfy the City of Edmond's thirst for tax income increases? TBH, This happens all over and is not unique to Edmond. It's a poor economic model.

Suffering? Poor economic model? LOL.
Why do people hate on Edmond so much? It has become a stereotype for non thinkers to use.

suffering?? because of new retail and a higher tax base ..

again what??

Congestion, traffic, = Suffering. Bringing in more population without building infrastructure = Suffering. Sitting in traffic because of City Sales Tax hunger = Suffering. Planning, or lack there of = Suffering.

Congestion, traffic, = Suffering. Bringing in more population without building infrastructure = Suffering. Sitting in traffic because of City Sales Tax hunger = Suffering. Planning, or lack there of = Suffering.

Awe, having to deal with stuff people in EVERY city have to deal with. Forgive me for not being upset. The benefit to having a store nearby for what you need or restaurants for when you don't want to cook is traffic (very light, compared to other places it's size). Forgive me for not shedding many tears about their horrible plight.

There is a huge project right now to expand all the I-35 interchanges in the Edmond area and widen Waterloo to the west. Also redoing the frontage roads near the interstate.

We are growing up as a city and we still have tremendous capacity in our highways and section-line roads.

I live near NW Ex and Penn, one of the most frequently reviled intersections when it comes to traffic. And it just isn't anywhere close to a problem.

Congestion, traffic, = Suffering. Bringing in more population without building infrastructure = Suffering. Sitting in traffic because of City Sales Tax hunger = Suffering. Planning, or lack there of = Suffering.

Sounds like a Yogi Berraism. Nobody goes there anymore because it is too crowded. LOL

If sitting through a stop light is "suffering" to you then you have a charmed privileged life.

Congestion, traffic, = Suffering. Bringing in more population without building infrastructure = Suffering. Sitting in traffic because of City Sales Tax hunger = Suffering. Planning, or lack there of = Suffering.

the population is already growing that is not going to stop .. with or without new retail ..

you need to the retail grow to have more money to provide for the pop growth

Awe, having to deal with stuff people in EVERY city have to deal with. Forgive me for not being upset. The benefit to having a store nearby for what you need or restaurants for when you don't want to cook is traffic (very light, compared to other places it's size). Forgive me for not shedding many tears about their horrible plight.


Sounds like a Yogi Berraism. Nobody goes there anymore because it is too crowded. LOL

If sitting through a stop light is "suffering" to you then you have a charmed privileged life.

Amazing responses... Like pigs living in mud never care to elevate their situation. That's the way it always has been, why change?


the population is already growing that is not going to stop .. with or without new retail ..

you need to the retail grow to have more money to provide for the pop growth

The problem is not retail, never said anything about that. The original comment was about the City of Edmond having a myopic view of only caring about increasing their tax base. If I have a retail shop or restaurant, do I care about how difficult it is for customers to get to my shop. When you look for a site to have a shop, do you care about parking?

Amazing responses... Like pigs living in mud never care to elevate their situation. That's the way it always has been, why change?



The problem is not retail, never said anything about that. The original comment was about the City of Edmond having a myopic view of only caring about increasing their tax base. If I have a retail shop or restaurant, do I care about how difficult it is for customers to get to my shop. When you look for a site to have a shop, do you care about parking?

It's Edmondites closed-mindedness that cost them Classen Curve, essentially (the expansion of Spring Creek Plaza). I have no sympathy for them.

You say the city has a myopic view of things, i say the citizens do, as well. And they appear to be antithetical. So until a common ground is reached, Edmond will mire in mediocrity.

It's Edmondites closed-mindedness that cost them Classen Curve, essentially (the expansion of Spring Creek Plaza). I have no sympathy for them.

You say the city has a myopic view of things, i say the citizens do, as well. And they appear to be antithetical. So until a common ground is reached, Edmond will mire in mediocrity.

Spring Creek Plaza? You support that? That was a disaster move if it went through. So glad it didn't. I've lived in many other places than Edmond and have seen unplanned urban sprawl. What it is effectively is developers in hand with city officials going at it while the residents suffer. Developers make money, City makes money, Citizens deal with the consequences.

expansion of a retail arena in the MIDDLE of Edmond is the opposite of "unplanned urban sprawl "

Is this Kalidy the same as Kalidy Kia? Kalidy Kia was, well, interesting to buy from.

Different subject, but yeah, I called about buying a Kia EV9 they were advertising the price of and offered cash. Was informed that is the LEASE price and that the cash price is several thousand dollars higher.

And then they did quote me the EV9, but it wasn't the model I was wanting and it was just a generally shady vibe. There are also all kinds of reports online about them charging BS fees like a "friends for life" fee. Too many red flags for me, but that's a car dealership and I'm not sure how much direct involvement he has with how that works. I'd imagine he hired a GM and the GM is doing everything he's allowed to do in order to push sales.

Different subject, but yeah, I called about buying a Kia EV9 they were advertising the price of and offered cash. Was informed that is the LEASE price and that the cash price is several thousand dollars higher.

And then they did quote me the EV9, but it wasn't the model I was wanting and it was just a generally shady vibe. There are also all kinds of reports online about them charging BS fees like a "friends for life" fee. Too many red flags for me, but that's a car dealership and I'm not sure how much direct involvement he has with how that works. I'd imagine he hired a GM and the GM is doing everything he's allowed to do in order to push sales.

Thanks. I was just curious with how bad the above posts talked about Kalidy and how shady Kalidy was when I bought my new car there. I guess it only makes sense both subjects (land and car) are operated similarly.

They listed the price of my car online (MSRP, dealer discount, and sales price), but wouldn't come close to that once I was in the store (didn't meet all the qualifications, like in the military and Kia loyalty, etc.) Fortunately, I had printouts of all the information on their website and a spreadsheet when they started trying to trick me with their numbers (like the 4 square tactic without the 4 square). But they tried every trick in the book (exhaustion, talk to manager, playing with number, etc.). I still made a slightly better deal there than I would have likely got elsewhere, but at the expense of 2.5 hours after I decided on the car (test drive not included, just negotiating the price and terms). Post-covid car buying is a struggle!

And you know this how?

I don’t like being negative and I’m very pro development. From what we know about this so far it just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. It’s a bad site for multi and necessitates structured parking, which costs a fortune. In the burbs with a lot of land verticality (especially with parking) is not your friend when it comes to feasibility. It’s also much easier to push a development like this through in OKC but from the posts above it appears that it’s Edmond city limits where the developer will encounter significant NIMBY pushback. I’ll reserve further judgement until we know more. There are a few multi developments in the metro that have been executed well, I’m just not very confident in this one based on the information available.

Kalidy has never done any substantial commercial development as far as I know.

Seems ambitious, especially since there hasn't been a residential complex over 6 stories in 60 years in the OKC area.

Tons of experienced developers in OKC haven't found a way to make this work, even in the core.


I'm skeptical.

Agreed ^ Aside from that aspect this just isn’t the right location. If it were near downtown Edmond or along the Belle Isle/NW Expy corridor I could at least somewhat understand the thought process but not here.

Kalidy has never done any substantial commercial development as far as I know.

Seems ambitious, especially since there hasn't been a residential complex over 6 stories in 60 years in the OKC area.

Tons of experienced developers in OKC haven't found a way to make this work, even in the core.


I'm skeptical.

He's an ambitious guy. If you drive around this area--far NE OKC and SE Edmond, you'll find Kalidy signs almost anywhere that's not already developed.

He is slow-developing at least one housing addition not very far away, he owns a large lot with the former BancFirst location on Memorial just east of the new Atwood's.

I'm guessing he has similar plans for all of these tracts he owns.

In this case, he has a 1.5 acre tract and has clearly planned to really maximize the profit he can derive from it. I'm not a developer myself, but the fact that his land aquisition cost for a 1.5 acre tract--corner lot--would that factor in to what you seem to be arguing is an overdevelopment of the land?

Is there a reason other developers won't go past 6 stories? It seems a lot are stopping at 3-4 stories because I'm guessing that's the maximum allowable height for a wood framed structure.

This is out very near my home and less than a mile from my mother's home--which funny enough, sits on a similar size tract of land as this proposed monstrosity. I still flip flop on whether I like this idea or not. If it gets built, other things will get built--and we will probably see more amenities built in the area, so I can't be too mad about it. More than anything else, I would have questions about how the property would be managed.

But why? How much is enough? How much suffering do the ppl need to endure to satisfy the City of Edmond's thirst for tax income increases? TBH, This happens all over and is not unique to Edmond. It's a poor economic model.

The alternative is you stop commercial development, sales taxes and city revenues remain flat or fall, and your city services and infrastructure upgrades dont happen. And things continue to get worse. You should want more retail and restaurants if you want roads, infrastructure and quality of life things to improve. Otherwise homes and other housing still gets built yet the city benefits very little from them.


I don’t like being negative and I’m very pro development. From what we know about this so far it just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. It’s a bad site for multi and necessitates structured parking, which costs a fortune. In the burbs with a lot of land verticality (especially with parking) is not your friend when it comes to feasibility. It’s also much easier to push a development like this through in OKC but from the posts above it appears that it’s Edmond city limits where the developer will encounter significant NIMBY pushback. I’ll reserve further judgement until we know more. There are a few multi developments in the metro that have been executed well, I’m just not very confident in this one based on the information available.

Well its a good thing you arent investing in this project then if its a bad idea. But I would be interested to know why you think this site is bad for multi level and structured parking? Have you done a soil report or something?

Edmond NIMBYs should want stuff like this right were its proposed because its in the corner of the city, close access to the interstate and wont have any effect on the stack of cars at the red light at Covell and Kelly.

Well its a good thing you arent investing in this project then if its a bad idea. But I would be interested to know why you think this site is bad for multi level and structured parking? Have you done a soil report or something?

Edmond NIMBYs should want stuff like this right were its proposed because its in the corner of the city, close access to the interstate and wont have any effect on the stack of cars at the red light at Covell and Kelly.

It's nothing to do with the soil, Regent Bank just north of here has a small structured garage so I'll grant that this property probably has similar characteristics. Going vertical drastically increases your costs so it's really a numbers game of whether the added benefit (higher valuation via higher rents and monthly parking fees) is commensurate with the elevated costs. My argument is that this makes much more sense, for instance in downtown Edmond (The Oxley), Classen Curve (The Canton) or even Chisolm Creek (Argon). These places already have, or are anticipated to have, substantial density and some form of walkability.

This site is not in a dense or walkable area. If you're going to build 200+ units in Edmond knock yourself out, I'm just saying to do it on a site where the underlying land is best suited for multifamily. In the current environment it's already difficult enough to get more conventional garden-style deals off the ground, so when you account for the added risk, investors would required a higher return which is difficult to achieve right now. Anyway, this site has characteristics that align much closer with retail than multifamily.

I typically disagree firmly with NIMBYs, particularly in Edmond. It's pretty well known by multifamily peeps in the OKC Metro that for MF you want to be OKC city limits but Edmond "Vibe". It's not impossible to do multifamily in Edmond but it is harder to get the appropriate approvals.

It's nothing to do with the soil, Regent Bank just north of here has a small structured garage so I'll grant that this property probably has similar characteristics. Going vertical drastically increases your costs so it's really a numbers game of whether the added benefit (higher valuation via higher rents and monthly parking fees) is commensurate with the elevated costs. My argument is that this makes much more sense, for instance in downtown Edmond (The Oxley), Classen Curve (The Canton) or even Chisolm Creek (Argon). These places already have, or are anticipated to have, substantial density and some form of walkability.

This site is not in a dense or walkable area. If you're going to build 200+ units in Edmond knock yourself out, I'm just saying to do it on a site where the underlying land is best suited for multifamily. In the current environment it's already difficult enough to get more conventional garden-style deals off the ground, so when you account for the added risk, investors would required a higher return which is difficult to achieve right now. Anyway, this site has characteristics that align much closer with retail than multifamily.

I typically disagree firmly with NIMBYs, particularly in Edmond. It's pretty well known by multifamily peeps in the OKC Metro that for MF you want to be OKC city limits but Edmond "Vibe". It's not impossible to do multifamily in Edmond but it is harder to get the appropriate approvals.

regent bank has a part of that development .. along with chicken foot hatch sidecar chicago title a dental office and maybe more .