Myron's a good friend and my neighbor.


Study may prompt cheaper housing for downtown Oklahoma City
Journal Record
July 17, 2008

OKLAHOMA CITY – Myron Stout likes living and working in downtown Oklahoma City. He and his wife, Emeline Stout, are young professionals who moved downtown in May 2007 to the Legacy at Arts Quarter apartments. But when the Stouts, fresh out of law school, began looking downtown, renting was the better option, over purchasing a condo that would have greatly eaten into their budget.

The couple was not willing to invest as much as a quarter- to a half-million dollars in a condo.“We’ve got our share of student loans but I don’t consider us poor,” Myron Stout said. “We just work hard.” The couple, and other young professionals who want to live downtown, will likely be the focus of a proposed, updated downtown housing study.

In July 2005 Downtown OKC Inc. published a study by CDS Market Research, Spillette Consulting, that explored the budding residential market downtown and potential demand. That report showed little downtown housing development in 40years. It showed that since 1980 only 492 new units were permitted downtown – most of those in the northwest portion and the Deep Deuce area. At the time, 700residential units were planned downtown with a shift toward units for sale, but the 2005 report also mentioned for-rent units like Legacy. Since then, numerous rental and condo projects have been completed downtown.

The condos, however, have been expensive; now the focus will likely shift to work force housing that costs approximately $100,000 to $150,000. Kim Searls, director of marketing for DOKC, said last year her office budgeted $15,000 to do an updated housing study. Since then, the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, Urban Renewal Authority and the city have all signed on to partner with DOKC in the project, which will cost about $75,000.“We kind of put this money on the shelf and said let’s see what happens,” Searls said. “And now this opportunity is there and so we’d love to go ahead and commit to them this $15,000 to do this new study.”

Oklahoma City Planning Director Russell Claus said now that a market has been established in downtown housing, the next step will be to look at the depth of the market and focus on work force housing.“We would like to get a better understanding of what that work force housing demographic is and what they’re looking for,” he said. Several condo projects downtown have come online in the past year, like Block 42 and the Centennial, and many of the highest-priced units have sold, with more planned.

Rental units like Legacy and the Park Harvey have also filled with tenants who could be potential buyers if the price is right. The last housing study took about three months to complete. JoeVan Bullard, executive director of Urban Renewal, said a new report would also take about 90 days. Claus said a lot of things have changed since the last study when downtown residents and nonresidents alike were polled to see if they would like to live downtown even though there were few to no options.

Myron Stout said he would welcome a new housing study. In addition to work force housing, he said a new study should also address a downtown grocery store, transportation and recreation facilities for downtown residents. Rather than wait for a more affordable option, the Stouts purchased a home in January on the northwest side of downtown in an area known as the Cottage District. The neighborhood is undergoing a resurgence with renovations and new construction and the house cost substantially less than a new downtown condo.

Myron Stout said he and his wife, and many other couples in their 20s and 30s, like a dense urban setting and would gravitate downtown if there was more affordable housing.“Downtown was just the obvious choice,” Myron Stout said. “We just didn’t want that suburban lifestyle. Not yet.”



The Deep Deuce at Bricktown apartments are shown on Second Street, east of downtown Oklahoma City. (Photo by Chris Albers)