Very well said, Pete. I am really amazed, looking back, that we never thought Mid-town was that bad. I don't think we realized just how bad it was. To us, it was just the area between downtown and Heritage Hills, how could that be Skid Row? Skid Row was somewhere else. In fact, when you realize how bad the other areas were that kept us from realizing how bad Mid-town was, you have to wonder if we had ANYTHING going for ourselves back then. Bricktown was hardly desirable, Film Row was Skid Row, Deep Deuce was just crappy greenfield mowed over by ODOT, and so on. This underscores the progress, the possibility that we are just now realizing how bad Mid-town was.

Now Deep Deuce is pretty awesome. Bricktown is over-glorified, but still pretty good, could be really amazing though. Mid-town is another huge area that is emerging. Film Row just came out of nowhere. This is the undeniable state of downtown today. So, please take all of mine and other like-minded's criticisms in the proper context. We take for granted what we have now, but we shouldn't get complacent either because a really awesome urban city is right within sight--so close it's hard not to expect it now.

I don't think it's possible to overstate how awful things were in Central OKC in the 80's and 90's. I remember the Gazette had a little cartoon sometime in the late 80's that said, "What can you say about a town where the only construction downtown is a new jail?" It really stuck in my mind because it was 100% painfully true!! Not only downtown but Midtown and really everywhere else but perhaps Memorial Road.

People forget the Skirvin was closed for decades! Closed!! As was Plaza Court, for goodness sake. And those are beautiful, valuable, iconic structures... So you can imagine the state of just about everything else. Auto Alley was beyond pathetic, Deep Deuce was a crack zone, The Paseo was in pretty shabby and mostly vacant shape, 23rd Street looked like something out of Detroit... I could go on and on.

I agree, I don't think anybody really realized or wanted to talk about how bad things were back then because they were just huge areas that nobody cared about. Most people never even saw them anyway. And I don't even remember anyone calling the area 'Midtown' or 'Deep Deuce' or 'Auto Alley', other than maybe a few people that were trying to market some rag-tag properties. Those were just areas of town that were easily avoided and pretty much forgotten.

To illustrate this point further -- and this just now occurred to me -- I was a commercial real estate broker throughout the 80's in OKC and can't remember anyone in my office even considering listing any of the buildings in any of the areas I mentioned. My company (Coldwell Banker Commercial, at the time) was by far the biggest in town yet we never even drove through those areas, much less tried to market them. It's incredible now that I think about it.


But looking back, here we have dozens and dozens of great renovation and infill projects with tons more in the works and there are *still* huge gaps in every direction. I think only with this progress can we really get a handle on how incredibly bad things had become -- so bad the city had to pay St. Anthony to not move to the southside!


I really believe that when DD is nice and solidified -- and this will happen in about a year -- that will help Midtown and some of these other areas greatly. At least people in OKC will see what is possible and be willing to get out in front of some of these trends by being pioneers themselves.

http://blog.newsok.com/okccentral/2011/08/02/perspective-2/

I think only with this progress can we really get a handle on how incredibly bad things had become

This is a beautiful paradox. All of this begs the question... we know it was bad, but this is a question that nobody has dared to ask, still: What if we were, perhaps, the worst inner city in America? I mean, even DT Detroit has at least one bright spot and some new projects here and there, because it is an urban city. OKC had completely abandoned its inner city, totally, and was no longer an urban city. I don't just mean blight, crime, craziness, etc., but perhaps something worse: nothingness. There was no real "community" whatsoever that used downtown, it was just a worthless, washed-up, devoid of life vacuum.

I feel pretty confident that we can make the OKC-80s-90s-sob story sound worse than the worst sob stories from Detroit, Fort Wayne, Gary, Buffalo, Cleveland, Newark, etc. I've been to Buffalo and Cleveland and those are actually awesome cities. Some crackpot publication named Grand Rapids the worst city in America, and that is definitely not true either, though I've never been. Just be thinking about it hard, it seems plausible that OKC could have been one of the worst cities, even though we never got a nationwide "mini Detroit" rap.

This discussion is really starting to make me excited. We signed the lease on an office space today in Midtown. It's at 9th and Robinson so it is technically in Midtown but only a block from Auto Alley and the new Hideway Pizza. We have wanted to move to Midtown for 4 years and finally bit the bullet and did it. Now I just have to convince my clients that I am not downtown.

It was really bad, I can vouch. We lived near downtown in Denver and when we moved here and saw the downtown I was totally appalled. I remember when the Spaghetti Warehouse opening up in Bricktown was a big deal and it was about all that was open in Bricktown or downtown. I do remember the Newport and Aunt Pittypats in Midtown, though.

This discussion is really starting to make me excited. We signed the lease on an office space today in Midtown. It's at 9th and Robinson so it is technically in Midtown but only a block from Auto Alley and the new Hideway Pizza. We have wanted to move to Midtown for 4 years and finally bit the bullet and did it. Now I just have to convince my clients that I am not downtown.

Congratulations! What type of business do you have?

It's hard to compare to other cities but I can say there was almost zero New Urbanism until the 80's and it took a while for most cities to embrace it. The flight to the suburbs really started after the prosperity that followed WWII when everyone could afford a house and car. That and racial tension led to huge sections of most inner cities being abandoned which resulted in mostly ill-conceived urban renewal projects of the 60's and 70's. Oklahoma City had it worse than most places though, that's for sure.

I worked downtown from 1982 to 1989 and it wasn't horrible. Leadership Square opened in the mid-80's, First National Center was actually pretty vibrant, etc. It was really the late 80's and early 90's when things turned bleak in the CBD, yet still most the bigger buildings stayed pretty full.


It is sometimes shocking to not only think how bad things had become in the areas surrounding the CBD but also how nobody even seemed to notice or care for the longest time.

I hate to say it but even in the 80's and most of the 90's there wasn't a lot of new blood coming into OKC and there was nothing like the internet and all the various communication channels we have now to make people realize 1) things are bad, and 2) there are better ways.

We were just slow to gain the proper perspective which is why we are still playing catch-up in so many ways.

My husband and I own an accounting practice that does about 1/3 taxes, 1/3 business compilation/payroll etc and 1/3 audit services.

I don't think anyone would have any problems driving downtown. Well, maybe the Edmond customers. They complain about crossing Memorial Rd. from my experience.

I used to be an auditor. You will really like being close to the capitol and the law firms downtown. We were constantly taking trips to law offices downtown.

If I was a small business looking for a location, Automobile Alley and Midtown would be my top choices.

They are relatively affordable, easily accessible from anywhere in the Metro and there is plenty of free parking. And from an employee standpoint, there are lots of great restaurants nearby, with plenty to do after work.

It's hard to compare to other cities but I can say there was almost zero New Urbanism until the 80's and it took a while for most cities to embrace it. The flight to the suburbs really started after the prosperity that followed WWII when everyone could afford a house and car. That and racial tension led to huge sections of most inner cities being abandoned which resulted in mostly ill-conceived urban renewal projects of the 60's and 70's. Oklahoma City had it worse than most places though, that's for sure.

I worked downtown from 1982 to 1989 and it wasn't horrible. Leadership Square opened in the mid-80's, First National Center was actually pretty vibrant, etc. It was really the late 80's and early 90's when things turned bleak in the CBD, yet still most the bigger buildings stayed pretty full.


It is sometimes shocking to not only think how bad things had become in the areas surrounding the CBD but also how nobody even seemed to notice or care for the longest time.

I hate to say it but even in the 80's and most of the 90's there wasn't a lot of new blood coming into OKC and there was nothing like the internet and all the various communication channels we have now to make people realize 1) things are bad, and 2) there are better ways.

We were just slow to gain the proper perspective which is why we are still playing catch-up in so many ways.

I think there is also a remarkable correlation between when a national trend in development emerges, spread across many cities, and when that trend makes it to OKC. This is the case with urban renewal--OKC hadn't undergone urban renewal at the time that it was initiated in other major cities, and after these cities recognized that folly and other cities were talking about what a bad experiment it was, OKC doubled down and persevered through a plan that eventually kept downtown out of the game for decades. I think there was probably some convincing reasons to back out, and there was probably a Chamber junta that had finally decided to do urban renewal after all these years, and was going to get it, come hell or high water. And thus, downtown was killed.

Not to go all Ed Shadid. I just like that phrase "Chamber of Commerce junta."

It's funny you mention Edmond clients. I did an examination of our clients and found that of our individual tax clients we had more clients from the Edmond zip codes than any other part of the metro. They didn't seem to mind driving to 14th and Council twice a year so I figure they won't mind it if I make their trip 20 minutes closer. I deal mostly with the business clients who could care less where we are since they e-mail or mail me their information every month.

OKC started urban renewal a little late and then HAD to do something. We cleared out more than half of the CBD and made all these super blocks, so something had to be put into them.

The Myriad plugged one big hole but even the Myriad Gardens took forever to get off the ground. Then that left the gaping hole that was to be the Galleria and by that time we had to do something with it, so we basically sold our soul to Vincent Carrozza who cherry-picked the best parcels for office development then skipped town without delivering a hotel or retail.

We couldn't even find a developer for a huge section of prime real estate in the middle of downtown... Most of that property was converted to surface parking, so you can imagine the lack of interest in Midtown and other surrounding districts.

I can't tell you much joy I experienced when the last of the Galleria surface parking was torn up for the Devon complex. I always viewed that lot as a ugly reminder of how bad things had been for so long.


I still worry that we are trying to ride too many horses with one behind in terms of all these burgeoning urban districts. For decades we didn't have one and now we are trying to bring 10 on-line all at once.

But, for the most part this is happening organically with lots of people involved who really seem to care about these neighborhoods. I'd just like to see us complete a couple of these areas and I know it's going to take time with Midtown.

This discussion is really starting to make me excited. We signed the lease on an office space today in Midtown. It's at 9th and Robinson so it is technically in Midtown but only a block from Auto Alley and the new Hideway Pizza. We have wanted to move to Midtown for 4 years and finally bit the bullet and did it. Now I just have to convince my clients that I am not downtown.

That's great! And you'll be right on the streetcar line as well. Tell your clients what all their lunch and dinner dining options are within a five block radius and I think they'll be sold. Parking is easy on Robinson and there will be no confusing one-way streets anymore.

I look forward to us having this conversation again in five years. I enjoy these discussions ....

Once the streetcar tracks start going in the ground people are going to be amazed at how much construction there is along the route. The only question that will be asked is, "Why didn't we do this sooner?"

The streetcar changes the ecnomics of development because much less space needs to be dedicated to parking, which in turn allows more of a lot to be used for revenue generation. Developments that were previously not economically viable in any part of OKC, will suddenly become viable along the streetcar route. When I was in Memphis there were multiple hotels downtown that didn't even provide parking at all. We stayed at the Residence Inn (right along the streetcar route) and I had to park in a City garage 3 blocks away. Did I mind? Nope, because everything we wanted to do in Memphis was within walking distance of the hotel (they could have used some places for dogs to go to the bathroom though - my dog almost made it to the park 2 blocks away. I cleaned as much as I could off the sidewalk. Sorry Memphis.)

I don't think anyone would have any problems driving downtown. Well, maybe the Edmond customers. They complain about crossing Memorial Rd. from my experience.

I used to be an auditor. You will really like being close to the capitol and the law firms downtown. We were constantly taking trips to law offices downtown.

That caricature of Edmonites and north OKC citizens amuses some who want to believe it, but is not accurate. Most in that area support OKC downtown pretty strongly and understand the requirement for a vibrant core. I dare say the ticket situation with the Thunder, the Lyric, the Broadway Series, the Oklahoma Ballet, the Museum of Art, the orchestra, etc. would take a pretty big hit if you eliminated Edmonites and north OKCitians.

Part of the problem in OKC has always been that there is much segregation. By that I don't mean just racial, but also socio-economic, geographic, cultural, etc. At last the city area has come together to support common ambitions....most of which have centered on improving downtown. So instead of appreciating the total support, some want to continue to segment and divide.

Though I live north, I think it is absolutely essential to fully develop our core, including Mid-town. When I have business associates in I almost always have them stay downtown and we entertain downtown frequently..including and especially in Mid-town as we enjoy Stella, Cafe Brazil and 1492 in particular. Many of my friends do the same.

The issue is not how to build a city of downtown OR suburbs, but a strong city which includes both. It is not just an issue of having transportation, but different desires in lifestyle. So instead of taking pot shots at fellow citizens, invite them to experience the richness we are building in the core and appreciate their spending of time and resources in the area. And from that others will choose to live and grow there too.

Great news!

Pete, if you don't mind me asking, where do you get all of your permit info? I tried toying around on the city website the other day and had no luck.

Although Deep Deuce has become an active and vibrant neighborhood, I think there is one glaring omission to the fabric of this area. A park. While we are discussing the surplus of land in Midtown, it's interesting to note how Deep Deuce is rapidly running out of land for a neighborhood park. I would argue this area will not reach it's potential without some open space.

As a quality of life issue, there needs to be some organized park space to exercise, walk your dog or just reconnect with nature. And before any of you argue that the little patch of land West of the new Aloft Hotel is open space, it is not. It could be if the Oklahoma Ave. corridor between Bricktown and Deep Deuce were developed. The abrupt ending of Oklahoma Ave. for the sake of surface parking is one of the worst urban design flaws our urban core has.

Where are the neighborhood leaders and developers in this area when it comes to proposing much needed green space?

There are open spaces between some of the apartments. Check just east of the DD pool. They should put up some benches and stuff to make it more attractive...

if you don't mind me asking, where do you get all of your permit info?

http://www.okc.gov/access/

There are open spaces between some of the apartments. Check just east of the DD pool. They should put up some benches and stuff to make it more attractive...

I lived in DD for 10 years and this regularly came up. There is a storm water drainage conduit for I-235 running across the complex that could easily accommodate a rectangular pocket park.

It is just that it's ODoT's land and they would have the right to remove whatever is put in to gain access to this drain. Thus, where does the money come from for improvements considering the risks involved? That was what we were faced with when trying to raise money.

Although Deep Deuce has become an active and vibrant neighborhood, I think there is one glaring omission to the fabric of this area. A park. While we are discussing the surplus of land in Midtown, it's interesting to note how Deep Deuce is rapidly running out of land for a neighborhood park. I would argue this area will not reach it's potential without some open space.

As a quality of life issue, there needs to be some organized park space to exercise, walk your dog or just reconnect with nature. And before any of you argue that the little patch of land West of the new Aloft Hotel is open space, it is not. It could be if the Oklahoma Ave. corridor between Bricktown and Deep Deuce were developed. The abrupt ending of Oklahoma Ave. for the sake of surface parking is one of the worst urban design flaws our urban core has.

Where are the neighborhood leaders and developers in this area when it comes to proposing much needed green space?

I think Maywood Park, the sculpture that they built with TIF funding, has interesting potential to become a neighborhood icon. I don't think it will really qualify as open space, but that is OK, I can still love Deep Deuce. But you're right, Mid-town will need a park. The area feels kind of similar to the Brady Arts District in Tulsa, and so I think a park could develop along those lines (although I don't know if it should have the same racial historic context).

There is a park. In fact, it is a WPA park across from the Auto dealerships. It could be redeveloped into something grand. Certainly it could be "skirted" with prime development once the "quiet zone" goes into place.

By the way, just passed Hideaway and it was packed with people.

It would be nice if we could just sell Campbell Park off to Bert Belanger to include as open space for his development, if he ever gets around to it (reportedly being planned for a while now).

Not only is that overly simplistic, I think that would be too easy unfortunately..

There is a park. In fact, it is a WPA park across from the Auto dealerships. It could be redeveloped into something grand. Certainly it could be "skirted" with prime development once the "quiet zone" goes into place.

By the way, just passed Hideaway and it was packed with people.

Any idea when the quiet zone goes into place? What takes so long to get a quiet zone approved and into place? I know they've been saying one is to be added in Norman at Classen and Boyd for 2 years now and nothing has happened.

There are special barriers that have to be built for a quiet zone to be established. I believe they're sort of like a maze that makes it very, very difficult to go through a crossing gate that's down. IIRC, I was told it would cost about $2million to build all the necessary barriers to establish a quiet zone from 13th south. Where that money comes from is at least one of the issues.

They decided to spend much more than that in renovations to an arena that will probably be torn down anyway just to "lure" an AHL team. On the other hand, they've spent almost 7 years doing nothing on the quiet zone and can't even come up with $2M for the crossings.

They decided to spend much more than that in renovations to an arena that will probably be torn down anyway just to "lure" an AHL team. On the other hand, they've spent almost 7 years doing nothing on the quiet zone and can't even come up with $2M for the crossings.

If the overall cost for the construction of the crossings is only $2M, then I don't see why BNSF isn't willing to partner up and pay half the cost. Considering that not only will their whistles be silenced, their chances of colliding with a pedestrian or a vehicle will be much, much lower due to those barriers. I know that Union Pacific has a quiet zone through Okay, OK (over by Muskogee) for their route cause people there got tired of hearing the trains all hours of the day. If it can be afforded there, it can be afforded through downtown.

I know that Union Pacific has a quiet zone through Okay, OK (over by Muskogee) for their route cause people there got tired of hearing the trains all hours of the day. If it can be afforded there, it can be afforded through downtown.

It's a matter of priorities, and that would just make too much sense. That is an awesome town name, though.

It's a matter of priorities, and that would just make too much sense. That is an awesome town name, though.

I am not sure if this was a priority situation for Okay, OK as opposed to the situation here. If you look, there is one corner/intersection involved in Okay, with 2 crossing streets in close proximity. Look at street-view and you will see that there is no special hardware at the intersections and no special routing involved. I suspect all they did was petition the railroad to limit trane speeds and amount they can blow their whistle. What Okay did in no way reflects the same requirements in OKC.

Found this rendering for the back (east) side of 1212 N. Walker:

http://www.taparchitecture.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/image-1212-2.jpg

Looks good. Going to be a great project (even if those balconies don't provide much of a view - parking lots)...

I was driving down 10th street today and nearly every other building between Classen and Broadway has some type of construction taking place. This street is going to be amazing in another year or two. There were contractors working on so many buildings along this route it is difficult to remember each one.

With all of this work do we expect to see retail, restaurants, or more housing? (more specifically 10th & Robinson/Broadway, but St. Anthony's has many offices with interior renovations too.)

Midtown is really becoming a great place to live or a night out dining. Can't wait to see what is in store for Midtown in the near future!!

If anyone is in the area I'd love to see some pics of the progress at 1212 (Walker) and some of the other Midtown projects...

Looking great! Thanks!

Wow, nice pics.

This is exciting. I think these kinds of developments solidify mid-town as a great "lifestyle", as opposed to DD and BT as a FUN lifestyle. I bet mid-town gets the 30-40 somethings that move over from the 20 something areas. I think mid-town will wind up way more diversified than DD.

What's happening with the building next to it? Any progress?

Rover the building next to it is planed (early) to be a hotel something in the same form as the colcord ... but it is still a couple of years off

Rover the building next to it is planed (early) to be a hotel something in the same form as the colcord ... but it is still a couple of years off

So, it is going to be a full service hotel? Seems like it would be more of a true boutique hotel.

I thought the last plans had it as condo...when did it get switched back to a hotel?

The developers mentioned about a month ago they'd like to turn it into a boutique hotel but it didn't sound like they had anything solid.

They also said they wanted to maintain the right mix of uses, from office to retail to residential -- not load up too much in any one category.

I'm sure they could convert this into apartments and easily lease them but it sounds like they want to hold out until the area develops a bit more than find a hotel operator.

I said it before and I took a beating for it, but I am going to say it again. All those companies building headquarters out on Memorial are going feel real stupid once the urban core becomes 'the place to be'. Good luck selling your mostly empty sprawling office buildings and 20 acres of parking when everyone else realizes how much better 'high density' is.

All those companies building headquarters out on Memorial are going feel real stupid once the urban core becomes 'the place to be'. Good luck selling your mostly empty sprawling office buildings and 20 acres of parking when everyone else realizes how much better 'high density' is.

I do not see your logic. If you are implying that Memorial is "out in the middle of nowhere" I guess it depends on where your employee base lives. My understanding is a lot of the jobs up there on memorial, at least the office buildings are more for people with experience/education, meaning they probably have a family as well and living on the "Far NW Side" is convenient since there are good schools and affordable suburban style houses.

If the drive from Norman/Moore is too much, sell your house and move to the NW side, housing and schools are comparable.

I said it before and I took a beating for it, but I am going to say it again. All those companies building headquarters out on Memorial are going feel real stupid once the urban core becomes 'the place to be'. Good luck selling your mostly empty sprawling office buildings and 20 acres of parking when everyone else realizes how much better 'high density' is.

I think you're right on that.

Or, in another way, they're going to regret it when a newer, nice strip mall is built and all the businesses start leaving for it. That's exactly what's happening in Norman with Ed Noble Parkway. The new UNP is cannibalizing those business. I'm willing to bet that strip mall will have a 20% occupancy rate in 5 years and be dead soon after that.

One Path to Better Jobs: More Density in Cities (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/opinion/sunday/one-path-to-better-jobs-more-density-in-cities.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all%3Fsrc%3Dtp&smid=fb-share)

I said it before and I took a beating for it, but I am going to say it again. All those companies building headquarters out on Memorial are going feel real stupid once the urban core becomes 'the place to be'. Good luck selling your mostly empty sprawling office buildings and 20 acres of parking when everyone else realizes how much better 'high density' is.

You just don't get it do you? Memorial corridor is still growing. In fact, the Kilpatrick is set to expand lanes, not shut down. That doesn't happen because traffic is getting to be less. Things are being built in that area. Get over it. There is ALSO a great lifestyle in that area of the city. Lots of taxes are generated in that area too.

This idea that it is EITHER downtown OR Memorial is juvenile competitiveness and naivety. BOTH can and will progress. The idea that the ONLY good option is downtown is silly. Many people like yards, space and suburban life. That will not change. Others prefer high density urban. There is a market for both. You would probably be amazed at how much suburban style development there is around New York City, Chicago, San Francisco. You need to get around more to understand that.

NM - posted in wrong thread.

Steve's latest take on Midtown:

http://newsok.com/urban-design-risks-are-paying-off-in-oklahoma-citys-midtown/article/3605717?custom_click=lead_story_title

You just don't get it do you? Memorial corridor is still growing. In fact, the Kilpatrick is set to expand lanes, not shut down. That doesn't happen because traffic is getting to be less. Things are being built in that area. Get over it. There is ALSO a great lifestyle in that area of the city. Lots of taxes are generated in that area too.

This idea that it is EITHER downtown OR Memorial is juvenile competitiveness and naivety. BOTH can and will progress. The idea that the ONLY good option is downtown is silly. Many people like yards, space and suburban life. That will not change. Others prefer high density urban. There is a market for both. You would probably be amazed at how much suburban style development there is around New York City, Chicago, San Francisco. You need to get around more to understand that.

I have to agree with this. It's not an either/or situation. There is no "right" way to do a lot of things and this is one of them. It is what it is.

The property on the southeast corner is also getting a major facelift as well. It appears as if there is some sort of stone facade going on it. I get the pleasure of watching all of this take shape from my office window every day.

Are you talking about the SE corner of 10th and Robinson or 10th and Harvey? SE corner of 10th and Harvey is the old Cline Hotel building which will be apartments.

That's really neat that you have that view whenever you look out!

I believe he is talking about the building on SE corner at Harvey. Some lawyers purchased ir and it appears they are taking the stucco off down to the original brick, "yay"! Also the Cline is under construction so either way it is a win- win for Midtown.

I share in your excitement over the stucco removal.... I'm looking forward to seeing what the building looks like. Have you noticed the car junk is back across the street at the old gas station?

I share in your excitement over the stucco removal.... I'm looking forward to seeing what the building looks like. Have you noticed the car junk is back across the street at the old gas station?

it never really left

I share in your excitement over the stucco removal.... I'm looking forward to seeing what the building looks like. Have you noticed the car junk is back across the street at the old gas station?

I did Steve! And I remember the debacle about a while ago too. Funny how it's back to exactly how it was. OKC has some serious enforcement issues. Especially when it comes to city appearance.

In regards to this project. I know the parking looks cool, but has anyone else realized that basically, the whole western half of that block is a parking lot? Not trying to be a pest, but the way I see it, if we're going to scrutinize paved parking lots created in other urban districts then we should hold Midtown to the same accountability. Here's to hoping that the parking lots north of this proposal, bordering 11th street, are turned into something to help minimize the effect. The streetcar is supposed to go right through that corner so hopefully I'm right.

Here's to hoping that the parking lots north of this proposal, bordering 11th street, are turned into something to help minimize the effect. The streetcar is supposed to go right through that corner so hopefully I'm right.

Yes, the current plan is to be going northbound on Robinson with a broad left turn onto 11th westward to Dewey. I am particularly excited about the streetcar servicing the new market concept and the new housing Midtown Renaissance is doing.

This just happened a few minutes ago. Moving out they say!

990

I share in your excitement over the stucco removal.... I'm looking forward to seeing what the building looks like. Have you noticed the car junk is back across the street at the old gas station?
Hate to say it, but I don't think the stucco is being removed. Those uncovered patches have been like that for a number of weeks, and the stuff stacked in the sidewalk and going on the facade in those photos appears to be some sort of cast stone material going OVER the remaining stucco. Pretty sure this indicates they were hoping to remove all of the stucco, did some test removal, were unhappy with the results. They appear to have decided to clad the building yet again, but this time in a sturdier and better-looking material. Regrettably, sometimes brick can't be brought back from reckless stucco projects of the past in a cost-effective way.

I believe he is talking about the building on SE corner at Harvey. Some lawyers purchased ir and it appears they are taking the stucco off down to the original brick, "yay"! Also the Cline is under construction so either way it is a win- win for Midtown.

Just a quick note about CCOKC, metro. That is a female not a "he". She mentioned her husband in another thread. I know there is no way to tell from the name though.

Hate to say it, but I don't think the stucco is being removed. Those uncovered patches have been like that for a number of weeks, and the stuff stacked in the sidewalk and going on the facade in those photos appears to be some sort of cast stone material going OVER the remaining stucco. Pretty sure this indicates they were hoping to remove all of the stucco, did some test removal, were unhappy with the results. They appear to have decided to clad the building yet again, but this time in a sturdier and better-looking material. Regrettably, sometimes brick can't be brought back from reckless stucco projects of the past in a cost-effective way.

I drove by the building yesterday. Looks like you're right.

Oh well, I just hope they keep the historical markings*? on the building. American Legion Post 35 I believe.