North side of NW 10th from ~Western to ~Virginia

[Teo9969]

I drove this stretch of NW 10th yesterday as I was going to look at a house for sale in CTP.

The north side lots are almost entirely empty land. I went through the assessor to see who (if one entity) owns the lots, and lo and behold it's OKC possessing most of them.

I wouldn't have thought much about this except that this stretch is only 2 to 12 blocks away from the recently announced massive developments going in on Shartel. 10th street is actually a really nice drive into downtown anyway, but once all these projects in Midtown are actually built, the view coming in will be quite spectacular.

Any idea when OKC plans on putting out an RFP for some of these lots? I'm thinking between 3 and 6 years? I think with the right developer, this area could be a modern 23rd St.

[Pete]

Those lots were all acquired in the mid 90's to 2000, so some time ago.

Also, they are owned by the City of OKC and not the Urban Renewal Authority, which is their arm for acquiring properties for redevelopment.

So, I have no idea why the City would acquire dozens of single family homes and have them all demolished then let them sit there for almost 20 years.


The City did undertake a big study/plan for the 10th Street Medical District but that stopped at Classen.

[Bellaboo]

Those lots were all acquired in the mid 90's to 2000, so some time ago.

Also, they are owned by the City of OKC and not the Urban Renewal Authority, which is their arm for acquiring properties for redevelopment.

So, I have no idea why the City would acquire dozens of single family homes and have them all demolished then let them sit there for almost 20 years.


The City did undertake a big study/plan for the 10th Street Medical District but that stopped at Classen.

I could be wrong, but I thought the city aquired these when they widened and improved 10th street ? They could be very shallow lots if that's the case.

[Teo9969]

West is the only direction that the current trend of dense urban development can go without leaping some boundary: 235 to the East, The River or I-40 to the South, and HH/MP to the North, though there is some room for a vein up Broadway. I think some half versions of places like The Edge, Mosaic, et. al. would do well here once that area on Shartel/10th gets settled in. And with empty land, it would be a lot easier to make that happen (as opposed to 23rd, where to accomplish that, you'd have to require a variety of existing structures and demolish all of them).

Some amount of restaurant/retail/entertainment on that segment of 10th in concert with the Plaza would box in CTP and really help the area take off. There are some really cool homes in that area and some real eyesores…and it seems to be a really cool diverse neighborhood as well.

[Teo9969]

[Pete]

I could be wrong, but I thought the city aquired these when they widened and improved 10th street ? They could be very shallow lots if that's the case.

You are absolutely right.

I looked back on the 1995 aerial and 10th had not been widened nor did it have the median.


The better question is: Why the heck did the City pay millions for these lots and displace all those people just to widen 10th for a mile??

Especially since Linwood is only four blocks south and is already a wide, little-used boulevard?


And now all that land will just sit there fronting 10th with no possible purpose.

Why not use all the land and create some sort of park or bike boulevard or something??

[Teo9969]

Can they not just grant the land over to URA?

[HangryHippo]

You are absolutely right.

I looked back on the 1995 aerial and 10th had not been widened nor did it have the median.


The better question is: Why the heck did the City pay millions for these lots and displace all those people just to widen 10th for a mile??

Especially since Linwood is only four blocks south and is already a wide, little-used boulevard?


And now all that land will just sit there fronting 10th with no possible purpose.

Why not use all the land and create some sort of park or bike boulevard or something??

Strikes me as another example of the wonderful planning we get in this city.

[Pete]

Can they not just grant the land over to URA?

I'm sure they could but what possible use would there be for all those shallow lots?

There would have to be decent setbacks from the street.

[Teo9969]

What's a decent setback?

[Pete]

Setbacks are usually 25 feet from the sidewalk.

Looks like those lots are only about 100 feet deep, so only 75 feet in terms of buildable depth. Plus, they have to be set back from the properties behind them.


You could build there but it would have to be a funky configuration.

[warreng88]

How deep are the lots in the SOSA district?

[Urbanized]

The City actually actively worked to redevelop the land shortly after acquisition. If I recall there even was an RFP issued. But I know there was a proposal for significant housing fronting 10th that was pretty well-received in the planning and architectural community, but was pooh-poohed by residents of Classen-Ten-Penn who demanded that instead there be services located there such as grocery stores, doctors offices, etc. Since there was no real-world way to snap their fingers and make this happen, the City abandoned redevelopment efforts, and it has sat empty ever since.

And yes, the land was acquired to facilitate the widening of 10th. This was a pet project of Paul Brum.

[Pete]

I wonder why this property isn't in the hands of OCURA?

Until it is, there is obviously no effort to seek redevelopment.

[Urbanized]

That's a good question. Especially as downtown expands to the west and as Classen-Ten-Penn appears to be developing a bit of urban pioneer momentum (fueled by Plaza District, largely), it seems like a fair time for the City to revisit this. If there were some solid development on 10th to be the other bookend to Plaza District, it could really help CTP.

[Teo9969]

Even with 25 ft setbacks, there's plenty of.space

[Spartan]

I don't know if this will be a good site for private redevelopment. Do we really need all of that space developed and added to the market? I question how responsible that would be.

I liked the vision for the Tenth Street Peace Park. Too bad it's no longer happening
http://www.okctalk.com/general-civic...eace-park.html

[Teo9969]

I think in 5 to 10 years, why not? Most of Downtown will be developed or committed to peer developments...and outside of C2S, anything left downtown would hopefully be Major developments (8+ stories with major anchors)

[Pete]

I suppose this just isn't on the front burner due to emphasis on the JFK neighborhood and buying up properties around the new Central Park.

In 5-10 years that will likely change.

[UnFrSaKn]

Maybe this could be another district in the 5-10 year time? Imagine the city by even 5 years.