View Full Version : First National Center



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Pete
01-21-2019, 07:43 AM
Steel starting to be removed piece by piece in the east section.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/fnc012019a.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/fnc012019b.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/fncparking2.jpg

mdeand
02-22-2019, 04:17 PM
Slowly but surely the floors are coming down. (From this afternoon).

15169

bombermwc
03-01-2019, 07:32 AM
It's so weird to see the place actually coming down piece by piece like this.

bucktalk
03-01-2019, 08:57 AM
The volume of debris from this job site must be tremendous. I wonder where they are hauling all this debris to?

Pete
03-01-2019, 10:22 AM
The volume of debris from this job site must be tremendous. I wonder where they are hauling all this debris to?

I know Gary Brooks has made a big commitment to recycling as much as possible.

mugofbeer
03-01-2019, 10:48 AM
I'm curious, was the building slated to be a parking garage originally a garage? I know nothing of engineering but it seems a parking garage would have to be built to hold heavier loads than a regular office building.

PhiAlpha
03-01-2019, 11:05 AM
I'm curious, was the building slated to be a parking garage originally a garage? I know nothing of engineering but it seems a parking garage would have to be built to hold heavier loads than a regular office building.

I remember reading somewhere in regard to this project that because office floors usually account for furniture, file cabinets, old large computers and various other heavy equipment that the loads are actually similar to what would be needed for vehicles in a garage.

Pete
03-01-2019, 11:44 AM
^

Yes, I asked Gary Brooks about this specifically.

Office floors are actually engineered to carry more weight than a corresponding level in a parking garage.

So in the case of FNC, they will merely convert what was office space in the center of the buildings to parking.

LordGerald
03-01-2019, 12:39 PM
The weight of the pool will be tremendous.

Pete
03-01-2019, 12:49 PM
The weight of the pool will be tremendous.

It will likely be pretty shallow, like the pool on the roof of West Village.

But you are right, it will still be heavy.

Bullbear
03-01-2019, 12:51 PM
Which weighs more, A ton of cars or a ton of Office equipment ;)

SOONER8693
03-01-2019, 01:05 PM
Which weighs more, A ton of cars or a ton of Office equipment ;)

A ton of feathers.

jn1780
03-01-2019, 04:00 PM
Which weighs more, A ton of cars or a ton of Office equipment ;)

Which planet? ;)

Are office floors shorter or taller than parking garage floors? I am guessing taller since you have drop-down ceilings in HVAC duct work.

Pete
03-01-2019, 04:09 PM
^

Yes, office floors are generally taller.

If you look at the taller garages downtown you'll see they are significantly shorter than the same # of floors in an office building.

Pete
03-18-2019, 12:28 PM
Developers are now asking the city for a $25MM loan.

This would be in addition to all the TIF money and other incentives.

City would have to go borrow the money then charge them about 1% more.


I suspect they are running into serious budget overruns.

GoldFire
03-18-2019, 01:55 PM
Surely this development isn't at risk of falling apart, is it?

mugofbeer
03-18-2019, 02:00 PM
Surely this development isn't at risk of falling apart, is it?

I can only imagine the complexity and the unforeseen expenses of such a huge redevelopment project. Its not surprising there could be cost overruns.

Pete
03-18-2019, 02:14 PM
I'm sure things will be fine but it begs the question: What happens if the city doesn't give them a $25 million loan??

That is a ton of money.

Rover
03-18-2019, 03:20 PM
And all the rents keep going up with cost overruns. This is the practical side of these kinds of renovations. They rarely come in under budget.

Pete
03-18-2019, 03:32 PM
But keep in mind the city is dumping millions into this project, so they can't afford to let if fail, regardless of the "gee it will be cool to have it reborn" sentiments.

$45 million just in TIF.


It's not a matter of it not coming in under budget. It's a matter of already needing a $25M loan and we are only about 1/3 of the way through the construction.

Would be interesting to know how far over they expect to be and how much higher the number could go as we get deeper and deeper into this.

Pete
03-18-2019, 03:37 PM
FYI, when the original redevelopment agreement was signed in October of 2017, the estimated cost of construction was $215M.

Also of important note, even though everyone calls this a Gary Brooks project, the entities that own FNC as all named "NE" for NE Development of Lewisville, Texas. That company is owned by Charlie Nichoals who is also the general manager for all the FNC LLC's (all based in Delaware and Texas) and is the only signatory on all the contracts with the city.

This despite the endless bellyaching by one local business writer about "out of state owners" ruining First National. And nevermind that local owner and developer John Kennedy is the one that split off and kept the attached parking garage from FNC before donating the buildings to a charity, thus requiring this incredibly expensive exercise to use half the property as a dedicated parking garage just to make it viable.

Laramie
03-18-2019, 03:40 PM
And all the rents keep going up with cost overruns. This is the practical side of these kinds of renovations. They rarely come in under budget.

True. If anything is worth saving; especially since a developer has already invested in this project, our first tallest skyscraper (FNC), hope they bring back the glory of this once iconic skyscraper.

Wish we could have saved the old 600 room, 26 story iconic Biltmore, last branded as the Sheraton-Oklahoma Hotel.

CloudDeckMedia
03-18-2019, 03:59 PM
And nevermind that local owner and developer John Kennedy is the one that split off and kept the attached parking garage from FNC before donating the buildings to a charity, thus requiring this incredibly expensive exercise to use half the property as a dedicated parking garage just to make it viable.

"Donating" 1 million square feet to a local charity probably resulted in a pretty nice federal & state tax deduction, don't you think?

Pete
03-18-2019, 04:06 PM
"Donating" 1 million square feet to a local charity probably resulted in a pretty nice federal & state tax deduction, don't you think?

It was to Feed the Children who were 'shocked' by the gift. I don't think Kennedy even spoke to them before.

Anyway, the whole out-of-state-owner blamefest is tired and inaccurate.

jn1780
03-18-2019, 09:44 PM
It's not a matter of it not coming in under budget. It's a matter of already needing a $25M loan and we are only about 1/3 of the way through the construction.



Maybe its wishful thinking, but hopefully they would run into the majority of the cost overruns in the demolition and infrastructure rebuilding phase.

Anonymous.
03-19-2019, 08:59 AM
I have noticed the demolition of the east side of the building seems to be taking forever. It appears they are slowly cutting the structure from the top down and removing it beam by beam, but it has seemingly looked about the same for 2+ months. The drone shot Pete posted in post #2461, it looks like it has only lost that one floor worth of structure since.

Pete
03-19-2019, 09:33 AM
^

Yes, I took some shots for a distance on Sunday and it has been very slow going.

Understandable given the close quarters and having to cut it down piece by piece, and that has to be incredibly expensive.

GoldFire
03-22-2019, 09:12 AM
https://i.imgur.com/8rJSrrm.jpg

baralheia
03-22-2019, 11:32 AM
According to Gary Brooks on Twitter, the crane is there because they're replacing some of the building mechanical - specifically, elevator motors and associated gear.

Pete
03-24-2019, 05:59 AM
You can see they have removed about 3-4 floors of the east building:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/fnc032319a.jpg

Pete
04-02-2019, 07:20 AM
http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/fnc033119a.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/fnc033119b.jpg

kevin lee
04-02-2019, 07:46 AM
Gary Brooks deserves a statue if he pulls this off. This is painful just watching. I would've detonated and rebuilt from scratch.

HOT ROD
04-24-2019, 10:17 PM
Does anyone recall what brand will be going into the refurbished First National Center? I looked through the thread but can't find it.

I hope it is an upscale or luxury flag.

citywokchinesefood
04-24-2019, 10:20 PM
Does anyone recall what brand will be going into the refurbished First National Center? I looked through the thread but can't find it.

I hope it is an upscale or luxury flag.

The anchor restaurant will be a Ruth Chris Steakhouse and the attached hotel will be managed by Coury Hospitality (Ambassador & Colcord.)

jonny d
04-24-2019, 10:36 PM
Does anyone recall what brand will be going into the refurbished First National Center? I looked through the thread but can't find it.

I hope it is an upscale or luxury flag.

Autograph Collection, maybe?

Pete
04-25-2019, 07:52 AM
Autograph Collection, maybe?

Yes, Marriott Autography (5-star).

Pete
04-25-2019, 07:53 AM
You can see they have taken down more than half of the east building now. I count 8 of the 14 levels have been removed.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/fnc042219a.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/fnc042219b.jpg

jn1780
04-25-2019, 08:36 AM
Seems to be speeding up .

BoulderSooner
04-25-2019, 08:53 AM
Yes, Marriott Autography (5-star).

i have been told that they are still tossing around the idea of getting a flagged hotel but if not they will be shooting for "The Luxury Collection" which is a tier above the autograph collection

Pete
05-04-2019, 10:26 AM
Taken this morning:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/fnc050419a.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/fnc050419b.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/fnc050419c.jpg

pw405
05-04-2019, 11:09 AM
Hopefully they can pull it off... I didn't realize they were having cost overruns already. Certainly not surprising given the complexity of all this.

Snapped a few pics the other day while downtown:

https://i.imgur.com/JeotUwU.jpg?1

https://i.imgur.com/oIAoWcI.jpg?1

https://i.imgur.com/nOd5Hcx.jpg?1

turnpup
05-04-2019, 11:15 AM
That second picture is just fabulous!

pw405
05-04-2019, 11:22 AM
That second picture is just fabulous!

Thanks! Kinna funny how the statue on the left winds up being a timely metaphor for this phase of the project.

bombermwc
05-06-2019, 08:14 AM
Love that statue shot.

Is it just me or does it feel like the demo went on overdrive? I guess the closer you get to the ground the easier it is to get the demo rubble out. Only a handful of floor left.

Pete
05-10-2019, 09:11 AM
From Twitter:

@GaryDBrooks
2h2 hours ago
More
Did some tests on building lighting at First National last night. This is 8 lights, plans call for over 100 on the upper floors. Hundreds of color combinations. More testing next week. Pretty cool.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/fnc051019a.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/fnc051019b.jpg

SagerMichael
05-10-2019, 09:31 AM
Gamechanging for our skyline... almost time to retake the night shots

David
05-10-2019, 09:55 AM
Oh man, that is going to be fantastic.

Dustin
05-10-2019, 12:59 PM
Isn't the same company that did the Empire State lighting doing the First National lighting as well?

Anonymous.
05-10-2019, 01:39 PM
Aren't the penthouses up there? I wonder what that is going to be like, blackout curtains on order.

jedicurt
05-10-2019, 01:43 PM
Aren't the penthouses up there? I wonder what that is going to be like, blackout curtains on order.

having stayed on the top floor of a few hotels with lights like these, you get used to them and they are hardly noticeable by the third night

Jersey Boss
05-10-2019, 02:29 PM
having stayed on the top floor of a few hotels with lights like these, you get used to them and they are hardly noticeable by the third night


https://youtu.be/q40fKsRsHFU

Southsider2
05-10-2019, 03:06 PM
Gary stated on twitter that they will indeed have blackout curtains

SEMIweather
05-10-2019, 07:47 PM
That's great, now if only we could get Devon to stop with the dancing lights almost every night, as I tend to think those look terrible. They did something interesting for a couple of nights last week with solid colors rotating between green and blue, would love to see that more often.

SagerMichael
05-10-2019, 09:07 PM
That's great, now if only we could get Devon to stop with the dancing lights almost every night, as I tend to think those look terrible. They did something interesting for a couple of nights last week with solid colors rotating between green and blue, would love to see that more often.
Agreed. The dancing lights aren’t a good look.. Solid dark blue is probably my favorite that Devon does

GoldFire
05-10-2019, 09:14 PM
Oh wow this is looking even better than I was expecting! Can't wait to get my drone up there once the lights are all installed.

SEMIweather
05-10-2019, 09:27 PM
Agreed. The dancing lights aren’t a good look.. Solid dark blue is probably my favorite that Devon does

I like that one, and wish they would have done it for more Thunder home games this year. My favorite is probably the solid changing colors that they will program once in a blue moon. I would settle for the solid light blue that they did for a while, up until about 4-5 months ago. I know that ~ 10% of the lights aren't working (which in itself is disappointing to me), but I still think solid lights with 90% of them working are better than the dancing lights.

Bullbear
05-11-2019, 09:56 AM
That is going to look great!! As for Devon I'm sure they thi k the dancing lights hides the fact that so many lights dont work. I km now we have beat that horse to death but for such a beautiful building it's a real black eye.

SEMIweather
05-11-2019, 11:08 AM
That is going to look great!! As for Devon I'm sure they thi k the dancing lights hides the fact that so many lights dont work. I km now we have beat that horse to death but for such a beautiful building it's a real black eye.

I'm sure that's what it is as well. You would think that for a gorgeous $750m building they would be able to find the money to replace the last few lights that aren't working, but oh well.

Anyways, on a more positive note, I do think that those First National lights really are going to look great. Between that, Sandridge lighting up their building again, the convention center hotel, and an eventual crown on the BancFirst tower, I'm very excited to see what the skyline looks like in a year or two.

David
05-28-2019, 04:52 PM
A few more images from the lighting tests from https://twitter.com/adgokc/status/1133489768568971265:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D7r26TGW0AIrlfH?format=jpg&name=4096x4096

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D7r26SrXsAEwnRZ?format=jpg&name=4096x4096

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D7r26SrXYAEBwE3?format=jpg&name=4096x4096

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D7r26TqWkAA4DQ4?format=jpg&name=4096x4096

Swake
05-28-2019, 05:20 PM
That looks cool, if they can light the roof and spire it would be outstanding.