Even taking out the space of the first national tower OKC's downtown office space vacancy rate is over 22% which is not going to support any kind of rental rates for any speculative office space downtown, sorry, it's not going to happen..

I just received information from The Journal Record ( a very reliable information source when it comes to all things Oklahoma City) that downtown office vacancy rates fell below 20 percent for the first time in a number of years, and those vacancy rates are continuing a slow but steady decline. Not accusing you of being wrong, swake, just thought I'd pass that along FYI.

Class C space will not see the absorption. Class A office space downtown is close to 9 percent. Class B space is close to 12 percent.

I believe we need to shift our focus from Bricktown at this point. Now that ball is rolling on residential development north of Bricktown, I have no doubt that Bricktown will take care of its own problems. The focus is now on downtown. With the Skirvin reopening soon, and the Colcord is heading in the same direction, there is no doubt that downtown itself will see a real comeback, not just Bricktown. I also would like to see things really take off in Automobile Alley. I don't know if anyone notices, but it is truly an urban street. No chains, all local businesses, and there are several lofts along this part of downtown.

Not much else can happen south of downtown until I-40 is relocated. By then, we need to hammer city officials with letters urging them to have a master plan ready to put into action once the new downtown boulevard is complete. This could be a chance for OCURA to redeem itself. Well, maybe. Only God knws what disaster they could assimilate.

The benefits of locating in a true urban area often come down to synergy and competition for human resources. Office parks do well for companies where all of its necessary functions are under one roof. However, financial, administrative, and consulting firms that use each other's services benefit greatly from being able to walk a few blocks to clients and/or partners to meet, exchange information, and recruit new businesses. Most people in Oklahoma do not understand the benefits of having dense urban business districts because they've never lived or worked in it. But, more often than not, walking just a few blocks is way more convenient, quicker, and cost effective than driving all over the 600 square miles of sprawl (more when you consider Edmond and Norman) to do business.

OKC’s downtown also has a great benefit because it's centrally located amongst the city’s sprawl. So if you're doing business all over the city, downtown is actually very convenient place to be located, especially with its ample parking and very low traffic congestion.

I think the benefits of being able to do business within a 10 block radius is obvious, especially compared to driving around the outer loop of the massive area that is OKC.

I just received information from The Journal Record ( a very reliable information source when it comes to all things Oklahoma City) that downtown office vacancy rates fell below 20 percent for the first time in a number of years, and those vacancy rates are continuing a slow but steady decline. Not accusing you of being wrong, swake, just thought I'd pass that along FYI.

Class C space will not see the absorption. Class A office space downtown is close to 9 percent. Class B space is close to 12 percent.

I believe we need to shift our focus from Bricktown at this point. Now that ball is rolling on residential development north of Bricktown, I have no doubt that Bricktown will take care of its own problems. The focus is now on downtown. With the Skirvin reopening soon, and the Colcord is heading in the same direction, there is no doubt that downtown itself will see a real comeback, not just Bricktown. I also would like to see things really take off in Automobile Alley. I don't know if anyone notices, but it is truly an urban street. No chains, all local businesses, and there are several lofts along this part of downtown.

Not much else can happen south of downtown until I-40 is relocated. By then, we need to hammer city officials with letters urging them to have a master plan ready to put into action once the new downtown boulevard is complete. This could be a chance for OCURA to redeem itself. Well, maybe. Only God knws what disaster they could assimilate.


That may be correct, my info is from CBRE, they ARE going to be correct on publicly managed buildings, but for instance if Devon owns and manages thier own buildings, they will not be included in the total.

In Tulsa for instance, the 2 million sq ft Williams Center and BOK Tower are not in CBRE's total since Williams privately owns and manages that complex. That complex oddly does not include the Wiltel building or the Williams Towers One and Two.


www.cbre.com, info on office space anywhere in the world, and will also be the Journals source for info too, but they may well have a local contact they can speak with for the most updated information.

people on this thread have such good arguments on both sides of the issue that i have become torn on wether i think its a good idea for a new office building or not. very entertaining and informative thread.

If the information on office space is accurate, then I would say that having a 9% vacancy rate in Class A space is tight enough to justify new construction in the near future. I think we can all agree that Class C space is pretty much going to be converted to other uses, so it would be safe to say that the REAL vacancy is hovering around 10-11% overall in the CBD. I wonder if anyone in City Hall or the Chamber has a vision of downtown expanding in the number of skyscrapers anytime soon? That is really the only thing that is missing when it comes to our booming economy. During the oil boom of the 70's and 80's, there WAS new construction downtown. I predict that demand will be there fairly soon when you combine absorption of office space and Class C space being converted to housing and mixed use. I also predict that the next tower will be built for one of the local energy giants. Kerr-McGee really needs a new office. The current one is rather plain looking and if you notice, the building is getting dirty from years of pollution being washed away from the atmosphere. They could clean it up the same way that Founders Tower was cleaned up by sandblasting and putting some lighting on it or putting their new logo on all sides so that outsiders will know where they are located and it would add to the skyline at night. I really think that the Chase Tower should be outlined at night with blue or green the same way that the Bank of America tower is outlined in green in Dallas. There should be some creativity at least if we can't build right now. I always liked the way the First National Building was lit up in different colors occasionally. It looks like they quit doing that a while back. Does anyone know if any of the local architectural firms in town have any designs that are being considered for downtown? If so, I would like to see some pictures or designs. It would really be neat to see.