Automobile Alley (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Automobile%20Alley) _|_Boathouse Row (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Boathouse+Row)_|_ Bricktown (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Bricktown) _|_Central Business District (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Central%20Business%20District)
Deep Deuce (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Deep%20Deuce%20District)_|_Film Row (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Film%20Row%20Summary)_|_Midtown (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Midtown)_|_Plaza District (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Plaza+District)_|_SoSA (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=SoSA+District)_|_Uptown / 23rd (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Uptown%2023rd%20District)

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/10thstreet.jpg

307 NW 13th (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=307%20NW%2013th&redirect=no) | 816 N. Walker (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=816+N+Walker) | 123 Garage (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=123+Garage) | Ambassador Hotel | Bleu Garten | Broadway 10 | Buick Building | Catholic Charities | Edge @ Midtown | Fassler Hall / Dust Bowl | Fedora | Francis Apartments | Garage Burgers | GE Global Research | Guardian | Jerky.com | LIFT | Lisbon Lofts | Marion | Mayfair Apartments | Metropolitan | OCU Law School | Oklahoma Contemporary | Packard Building | Packard's | Pontiac Building | Pop-up Shops | R&J Lounge and Supper Club | Saint Anthony Expansion | Sidecar | Sunbeam | Viceroy Grille | Walker Building



6/10/14 Update

The Midtown District continues it's frantic pace with close to 30 active projects on NW 10th or within a few blocks. The projects shown in the graphic above total more than $250 million in construction.

The Edge @ Midtown (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Edge+Midtown) is due to welcome it's first residents this summer, and will feature 252 apartments plus retail space. The Midtown Renaissance group will soon open the Mayfair Apartments (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Mayfair+Apartments), adding 18 beautifully renovated units to it's long list of other historical residential properties, including the Guardian (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Guardian), Hadden Hall, and several others. MidtownR is also working on the fragile Marion (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Marion), which will add another 10 units.


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/edgewiki1.jpg
The Edge @ Midtown (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Edge+Midtown)

In terms of apartments, the two largest complexes in all of urban OKC are both just starting construction at opposite ends of the district: LIFT (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=LIFT) with 327 units and the Metropolitan (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Metropolitan) with 330; both should be complete by late 2015. Lisbon Lofts (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Lisbon+Lofts) is the only for-sale multi-family project in the area but it's brisk advance sales means we can expect to see more. (For comprehensive information about urban living, see our Downtown Housing Summary.)




http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/10thshartelwiki1.jpg
http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/metropolitanwiki1.jpg



LIFT (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=LIFT)

Metropolitan (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Metropolitan)



There are will soon be a substantial increase in employment, with Sunbeam Family Services (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Sunbeam) and the GE Global Research Center (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=GE+Global+Research) both under construction. Saint Anthony will start a major expansion in the next couple of months and Catholic Charities (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Catholic+Charities) will soon break ground on their new headquarters. In addition, the Buick Building (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Buick+Building) and Pontiac Building (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Pontiac+Building) will soon be open and feature large amounts of office space on their upper floors. And 307 NW 13th (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=307%20NW%2013th&redirect=no) will host a large energy company, complete with shipping container offices.




http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/catholicwiki1.jpg
http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/gewiki1.jpg



Catholic Charities Headquarters (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Catholic+Charities)

GE Global Research Center (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=GE+Global+Research)



On the hospitality front, the gorgeous Ambassador Hotel (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Ambassador+Hotel) is now open for business, featuring the Viceroy Grille (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Viceroy+Grille) and the top-floor O Bar. It's hard to miss the massive Fassler Hall / Dust Bowl (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Fassler+Hall+Dust+Bowl) structure and the beer garden and bowling lounge is pushing hard towards a fall opening. Garage Burgers (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Garage+Burgers) opened it's very popular concept in a unique setting at the Guardian (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Guardian).




http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/fasslerwiki1.jpg



Fassler Hall / Dust Bowl (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Fassler+Hall+Dust+Bowl)



Another ambitious restaurant project is Broadway 10 Chophouse (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Broadway+10), in the Buick Building (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Buick+Building). Across the street in the Pontiac Building (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Pontiac+Building), the same group will be operating a quaint bar with large a outdoor patio called Sidecar (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Sidecar). The owners of well-loved and respected Ludivine are under construction for R&J Lounge & Supper Club. And finally, Midtown will soon be home to OKC's first food truck court, when the slick Bleu Garten (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Bleu+Garten) opens this fall.




http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/broadway10wiki1.jpg
http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/bgwiki1.jpg



Broadway 10 Chophouse (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Broadway+10)

Bleu Garten Food Truck Court (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Bleu+Garten)



Lots of activity on the retail front as well. The Pop-up Shops (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Pop-up+Shops&highlight=pop-up) will bring their portable geodesic domes to the lot just west of Bleu Garten (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Bleu+Garten) on a semi-regular basis. Sara Kate Studios Shoppe will bring home furnishings and design services to the Pontiac Building (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=Pontiac+Building). And Nault Gallery will be relocating to the newly-renovated 816 N. Walker (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=816+N+Walker) and will share that building with Studio Architecture.

A couple other of major happenings... OCU Law School (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=OCU+Law+School&highlight=central) continues to renovate the old Central High building and hopes to be completed in early 2015. And the area's first parking structure, 123 Garage (http://www.okctalk.com/showwiki.php?title=123+Garage&highlight=123), will be complete in a few months just west of the 10th & Broadway intersection.

Bob Howard :congrats:

The old Guardian funeral home garage will be converted into 22 condominiums that will sell between $170,000 and $370,000. Next door, plans are being drawn up to convert the former Guardian Funeral Home into an event center, but Banta is prepared to change it into offices if a company makes a bid to occupy the entire property.

Yuk, they should rethink this one.

Other than that, sounds pretty impressive ... guess we'll see.

I love the Midtown concept. Even if Banta doesn't consider Midtown a rival to Bricktown, I think that Bricktown does need the competion. With a alternative to Bricktown I think that would only make Bricktown and Midtown that much better.

Yuk, they should rethink this one.

Other than that, sounds pretty impressive ... guess we'll see.

Well yes and no in my opinion. I knew he had planned to do this at the Guardian site for sometime now. There is a need for a smaller events center in downtown/Midtown. It will definitely fill a niche since there are no other places like it downtown/Midtown. Yes there are events centers (Montgomery, Petroleum Club) for banquets and receptions, but Banta plans on using if for weddings (up to 300 people or so, receptions, private events, etc. It will have different sections to accomodate different sizes of parties, etc. I support the need for it, HOWEVER the proposed design (see the rendering in today's paper) is absolutely wrong! It looks like a giant suburban Nichols Hills home. Very suburban in design. The existing building is very unique and they should retain that. Other than that good job Banta! Can't wait until he gets some street level retail going! I wish with his properties at 10th and Broadway he would allow more retail in those and not hold them for a Corporate Office. Automobile Alley has too many corporate offices and businesses and is running out of room to make it a night-time destination. Leave the streetfront for retail and restaurants. I'd love to see an Urban Outfitters in the building on the NW corner of 10th and Broadway, perfect perfect building for them!!

The old Guardian Garage has amazing windows.

Banta is really on the ball. His development is so organic and not fabricated like KC's Power & Light district or Tulsa's East End. Not that those kinds of projects don't work, but it's great to see someone succeeding almost entirely on adaptive reuse.

I was in NYC last week and one thing I noticed is that they have many, many very small restaurants. Even many Zagat-rated establishments are just little hole in the wall places no bigger than The Coach House or The Metro. Midtown would be a great place for those size restaurants. Perhaps more restaurants would make it in the inner city if they weren't designing them all to hold 300 people.

Has anyone seen a master plan for the Banta area? I didn't see anything on their website.

My husband and I are interested in officing in the area and called them in January to get some information. They didn't call us back for a couple of weeks. When we finally did get a return call I asked for some information and still haven't received it. Their website is not much help. I don't know if they are just so busy or what.

I saw a model in his office but it doesn't really tell you anything other than where all the buildings are.

Maybe one of the Okc-Talk, investigative reporters could look into this, and see what the "Banta Plan" is.

Maybe eventually, with his relationship with Bob Howard, he can convince him to urbanize his dealerships along Broadway. It would be ideal to have the enclosed auto galleries facing Broadway with huge windows and good nighttime lighting, and then the actual lots behind. This wouldn't be that difficult, and those luxury dealerships are always renovating and expanding anyways. It would really give it a more classy feel coming down Broadway from NW 23rd into downtown. It would be awesome to make that stretch of Broadway north of NW 10th into a true 'Auto Alley' with urban-scale luxury dealerships on both sides.

I'm really curious which "national retailer" is interested in Midtown, and where the store will be? My guess is somewhere along NW 10th, that seems to be the 'Main Street' of Midtown and where most of the future retail/restaurants will go. That's good because it's a major connector between the Asian District/St. Anthony's and the OU Med. Center. It's also a good transition between Heritage Hills and Mesta Park neighborhoods to the north and the CBD to the south. Maybe a future light rail corridor as well???

oh, I proposed that same corridor to the city's MAPS III "survey". I proposed having a line S on Robinson, N on Harvey or Broadway turn at 10th E-W, also at Reno E-W. On 10th at Shartel or Classen, it could go on to the Asia District and OCU (future extension or current if funding there) and on 10th and Harrison?? it could go toward the OHC and OU Med, then on up to the capitol. The Reno portion would go East on Reno into Bricktown where it could have an intersection at Mickey Mantle (and go up over the bridge into Deep Duece and connect to the Harrison ext. Back to the intersection, it could keep East then have a turnaround in far E Bricktown (with the possiblity of future extension. For the W. Reno route, it would go W to Stage Center and the bus terminal/Montgomery where it could either have a round the block track or turn N toward the Civic Center/City Hall then roll E down Park Avenue or Kerr into the CBD.

That would be a pretty extensive system that would get used, and have the potential for LOTS of routes. That is the key to a successful light rail trolley circular - you want it extensive enough to have creative routes so that you can have the flexibility downtown just like you do a bus. You dont want a line to just go one way in a circle - if its prohibitively expensive, thats better than nothing - but I dont think it will be that expensive to have a rail trolley in downtown OKC. In fact, I think my suggestion above should cost less than $50M, and that would cover pretty much all of our downtown aside from downtown South and West.

I think it sould be done, and fast. With the influx of people downtown and midtown as well as the impending retail boom - there needs to be an efficient transit system downtown NOW so that people can get around without cars/hopefully wont even have one. that is the beginning of a true downtown economy and that is what we should shoot for.

Just think, you leave your townhouse or highrise condo hop on the trolley and head for your job in the CBD then after work you hop the trolley to the store then head home for dinner. After dinner you hop a trolley to the Ford Center to see the Sonics, then hop the trolley to Auto Alley or Midtown for some cocktails or to dance it up. Then hop the trolley home. Should happen soon!!!

Maybe eventually, with his relationship with Bob Howard, he can convince him to urbanize his dealerships along Broadway. It would be ideal to have the enclosed auto galleries facing Broadway with huge windows and good nighttime lighting, and then the actual lots behind. This wouldn't be that difficult, and those luxury dealerships are always renovating and expanding anyways. It would really give it a more classy feel coming down Broadway from NW 23rd into downtown. It would be awesome to make that stretch of Broadway north of NW 10th into a true 'Auto Alley' with urban-scale luxury dealerships on both sides.


I've seen some dealerships in urban areas of Houston that had multi-story garages instead of seas of surface lots. It looked really cool.

Has anyone seen a master plan for the Banta area? I didn't see anything on their website.


okclee, you might want to re-read my original post at the top. it outlines Banta's plans. In speculation, you can't have everything nailed down but you can have a master plan, that is his master plan if you will. As you will re-read in the article, some buildings depends on who decides to be a tenant first. You can't force tenants to move to MidTown so you have to accept what you get to an extent.

Metro, thanks for the original post. I was just looking for more of a aerial map of Banta properties. There isn't one on their website. I really think that Banta has a excellent vision for the area, Okc could use more developers like him.

No doubt. There has been a aerial map posted before. I'll see if I can find it if someone doesn't beat me to it.

Drove by the main Midtown area along Walker and the Plaza Court area last night and up 10th street as well. Okay, the Plaza Court building progress is still coming along slowly, I imagine Irma's Burger shop will open up first then the Prarie Sky Bakery then finally the Irish pub will open last, it barely has any progress going. Then on 11th and Walker the 1492 New World Latin Cuisine is coming along nicely and should be open in a few weeks I imagine. The building on the corner directly south of 1492 is also coming along nicely but I'm not sure what is going in there. Banta's buildings immediately north of 1492 are being remodeled, gutted, and new windows are going in as well as the buildings directly across the street. Work continues on all his buildings on 10th street, slowly but surely. The OKC Community Foundation on 10th and Broadway is nearing completion on the exterior and has really changed the look of the intersection. I just wish they had the forsight to build it another story or two and sell the ground floor for retail and another floor for offices/lofts. Further south on Broadway, Red Prime steakhouse is coming along quickly and should be open on schedule next month.

The buildings on Walker north of the 1492 Latin Cuisine will house a Wine Bar, Dry Cleaners and Bridal Shop.

I saw that 1492 place this morning. I drive by there twice a week and this morning was the first time I noticed the sign.

Then again, I think today was the first day it wasn't raining when I drove by? haha.

Good stuff, thanks for the updates! Can't wait for all that stuff in Plaza Court to open!

What the heck is going on with McNellie's??

They were planning to open by St. Patricks Day and we are now 2 months past that and they still aren't close.

The entire Plaza Court has been the slowest moving development I can ever remember.

Part of the holdup is that Banta has been working with OG&E to remove the overhead lines to eliminate all of the un-sitely wires and poles. He also had to have several transformers installed and he also had to increase the size of the gas lines coming to the buildings to accomodate the restaurants. You may not have noticed but OG&E removed the overhead lines going north from Plaza Court to 12th Street last week. I wish they would remove all overhead lines in Midtown. It would make everything look so much cleaner. Additionally, the street work on Walker north to 13th is just beginning and is not scheduled to be completed for a couple of months. They are widening Walker, replacing sidewalks, adding streetscape and lighting. Banta was wanting all of the utility and street improvements to be done before he had a bunch of restaurants open and the restaurant customers got irritiated because they couldn't get in or out of the parking lots. I think Banta's goal is to have a quality development and if that takes more time so be it.

Wow, that's pretty ambitious of him. I think it's a nice thing to do for the long term, though.

Thanks for the details, trison.

Plaza Court is the real jewel of Midtown and I'm glad to hear they are trying to do things right.

Thanks for filling in the gaps I could not trison. My question though is what is the building SOUTH, not north of 1492 going to be?

Sushi Bar. Gil Gentry is the owner. He has Gaijin's in Norman. I hear it is really good but I have not been there. I don't think that he is scheduled to open until this fall though. I was talking to the construction guys and they said that all but one space in the Plaza Court Building is leased and all of the buildings going north on Walker are leased. That is pretty amazing if you think about how long everything sat empty. It also looks like they have started working on the Osler. That should be a really cool condo project.

Yeah, I mentioned the Osler on page 1. As you probably saw, they took out the old windows and starting gutting some. I bet new windows will be coming soon.

Looks like 1492 is getting really close to opening soon.

Meanwhile, all of the landscaping at the 10th & Walker roundabout is being removed. Perhaps its easier to start from scratch than fix the damage from the concrete trucks driving through the planting beds. They tried to fix up and replace the dead and damaged plant material earlier in the year, but never got it into any kind of decent shape. Saint Anthony and Greg Banta have agreed to maintain the landscaping but have insisted that it be put in good shape before they would take it over . . . the city has been having a hard time getting it to that point, so maybe the third time's a charm.

I drove by and looked in the windows at McNellie's.. it looks like they've made no progress in setting that place up. Has it been scrapped?

I think I heard something about St. Anthony purchasing a statue or something like that for the center of the roundabout.

I think I heard something about St. Anthony purchasing a statue or something like that for the center of the roundabout.

Yeah. Its always been in the plans to put a statue/fountain at the center of the traffic circle... Just a matter of someone ponying up the dough.

Kudos on St. Anthony. I like how in all their new commercials they say '....Midtown. Oklahoma City.'

It does look like Irma's II is making progress, and should be opening within the next couple of months.

The Midtown area of Okc is going to be a great place to live work, eat, and shop in the very near future. I really like what is going on in this area of Okc.

My daughter, who lives in a barely east neighborhood in Atlanta "undergoing gentrification", was here last week, and I took her on a tour of downtown, midtown, and showed her the area designated for C2S. She, who's been pretty negative about OKC since going off to college, was quite impressed, almost excited about what's happening here. And the midtown area got the best reception. It's got a funkier feel than the Bricktown area, and clearly had more appeal for an older twenty something.

betts.......you and your daughter are right about midtown. I am in my early 30's and my wife is in late 20's , we plan to move into midtown at the end of the year. We are still looking around at the condo / lofts , but midtown is the best option for downtown living. It has a feel and a look that can not be created.

Bricktown is the out of town touristy place and is great at being such a place, but midtown has that locals only touch that makes it great. Anyone who buys into midtown now will be loving it in just a few years. Midtown already has everything that the triangle wants to have. St. Anthony hospital right in the middle and Banta properties controlling much of the undeveloped buildings. It is close to the Asian district and there is a grocery store at 16th and Classen. There soon will be an Office Depot being built at the corner of Classen and 11th.

I do think that Midtown is much further along then any other downtown area.

Sushi Restaurant!!!!!!! Gil Gentry from Norman is the operator.

It does look like Irma's II is making progress, and should be opening within the next couple of months.

The Midtown area of Okc is going to be a great place to live work, eat, and shop in the very near future. I really like what is going on in this area of Okc.

Irma's sure looked further along than that to me, They already have the tables, chairs and most of the decor in, as well as the kitchen supplies. I'm thinking they'll be open within one month, not several.

I have eaten many times at the sushi restaurant in Norman, Gajin. It is an excellent sushi restaurant, with many other dishes on the menu that you can not find anywhere else.

My daughter, who lives in a barely east neighborhood in Atlanta "undergoing gentrification", was here last week, and I took her on a tour of downtown, midtown, and showed her the area designated for C2S. She, who's been pretty negative about OKC since going off to college, was quite impressed, almost excited about what's happening here. And the midtown area got the best reception. It's got a funkier feel than the Bricktown area, and clearly had more appeal for an older twenty something.

Betts, interesting and appreciated perspective. I also went to college just outside Atlanta and often visited ATL on the weekends, etc. I'm originally born and raised here but left OKC as soon as I graduated because there was "nothing to do here". I made the move back a year later after the ballpark was completed with the MAPS projects. I saw the opportunity here compared to Atlanta or elsewhere. Sure you can move to a city like that with more offerings, spend more for rent, etc. and get lost in the sea of people. Or you can move to OKC while it's in it's renaissance, and still make a name for yourself and not get lost in the sea of people. But this opportunity won't be here for long, and each day that opportunity is getting smaller as more and more people are finding out about the hot OKC market. I'm glad your daughter who sounds about the same age, felt impressed at OKC's accomplishments since her move to ATL.

Irma's sure looked further along than that to me, They already have the tables, chairs and most of the decor in, as well as the kitchen supplies. I'm thinking they'll be open within one month, not several.

The sooner the better, I was just allowing for any unforeseen problems that could delay the opening. It seems like anything that is in the downtown areas have a much longer timeline then anywhere else in the okc-metro.

Good point okclee. There must be something with planning/zoning/permits/inspections for downtown developments that is holding up projects. I know we discussed this before but surely the city must need to address this issue. Perhaps one of us OKCTalkers can bring it up at a city council meeting.

Kudos on St. Anthony. I like how in all their new commercials they say '....Midtown. Oklahoma City.'

Yeah, I work at their ad agency. They are very proud to anchor Midtown.

Rumor is that Irma's is planning a soft opening next week. Cheeseburgers!!!!!!!:congrats:

Speaking of rumors......I heard that Banta has a health club taking the top floor of Plaza Court......now that's cool!

I drove by today just a few minutes ago and I would say your rumors appear to be very real. I looked in the windows and it looks like everything is ready to go just a few finishing touches. There is even a full menu board in the window and everything seems to be in place for an opening anyday now.

A health club, that is a great idea for the top floor.

There is so much going on there in midtown, as much as anywhere in okc currently. So much potentiel too, I think that midtown is going to be something really special for okc in just a year or two.

Everything seems to be happening really fast in that area. I think St. Anthony's has a lot to do with that, and so does Banta being mainly the sole developer for one specific area. Banta seems to have a grand vision of what he wants in midtown and he isn't waiting for other people to get them done.

Anyone know anything about McNellie's?

Elliott said the steel for the mezzanine and elevator shaft should be here by the end of the month and that he hopes to open in November. Looking through the windows it looks like they poured some concrete to get ready for the steel so hopefully when the steel is in place they can really start moving.

Thank you sir!

I'm really looking forward to having a pub in Midtown.

Yeah, I work at their ad agency. They are very proud to anchor Midtown.

Small world. I've worked with Insight before, thanks to a friend who works there...

November??????? Wow sounds like McNellies may be an overpromiser and underdeliverer. He originally stated an opening of this past St. Patty's Day.

To be fair, I think Plaza Court had turned out to be a bigger project than many expected. hopefully, the delays only mean that it's being done right...

I agree BDP...in fact it looks like OG&E just finished bringing electrical service to the building. Also all of the road work along Walker didn't speed anything up. I think that Plaza Court is going to be the shining example of what can happen with some of the older buildings that are located in Downtown and Midtown. I'm not sure how long the building was empty but it sure seems like they filled it up quickly with great tenants.

I'm hearing rumors that the International Photography Hall of Fame may be moving to Rochester New York. I guess Kodak is offering them some incentives to move the museum there. I had heard that they were considering moving to Midtown. Has anyone heard anything about this. I would hate to see a museum leave the city and the state. I think they have been here for 20 years.

We need a building for them in the Arts District of downtown.

We need more museums and attractions in our Arts District, not JUST a label where we copied off of downtown Dallas.

All of our Halls of Fame or Museum this or that, other than the well established ones in the Adventure District and Capitol District; should have a home in downtown's Arts District.

Think of the critical mass of pedestrians a critical mass of museums, theatres, cafes, and galleries (in addition to the municipal and county govt offices) would draw in a defined area such as the Arts District.

Venues there could feed off each other's successes and a thriving area of commerce/entertainment would ensue.

I agree, we need to have a true arts district, not just in name. I'm not even sure what the boundaries of the art district is. It would be nice to have an area that could house some small galleries and have some outdoor cafes as well as museums. What developer(s) are working in that area?

I hope that's not true. We need a counter offer. MAPS3?

Maps III may be the way to go. Wouldn't it be great if the city would build a large building or complex that provided low rent loft space to artist and a venue in which to display their work. This could also house anything that relates to the arts and send a loud and clear message that Oklahoma City is truly a renaissance city. I would rather see this go on the land at 13th and Walker instead of high priced condos that may or not ever happen. Does the city or urban renewal have any land in the Arts District?

I would prefer the IPHOF have a dedicated building.

How about that parking lot north of the OKCMOA?

I'm hearing rumors that the International Photography Hall of Fame may be moving to Rochester New York. I guess Kodak is offering them some incentives to move the museum there. I had heard that they were considering moving to Midtown. Has anyone heard anything about this. I would hate to see a museum leave the city and the state. I think they have been here for 20 years.

Sounds like we better get an email campaign going to the IPHF and quick!! Let's save this place before it's too late.

I'd like them to be near the OKC Museum of Art not that lot near the memorial.

We need to focus our Halls of Fame and museums around the Art Museum, so that we develop a "true Arts District."