JBrown,

You raise a fair point. Why is it such a big deal? Because currently, despite these other projects under way, there is little to no housing for sale available in the central core of our city. This is not the sign of a bustling inner-city housing market.

The main reason it's a big deal is that:

1. They have capitulated toward renting, which appears to be a failure.

2. For sale housing is clearly not going to be available at an affordable price point for average people (and young people, and artists, etc.) in our central city. That is a shame.

Could the Tannenbaum's not offer condos starting at, say, $110,000? What's wrong with that? Why does everything have to begin at $200k?

The only people who can afford these prices are established families and the idle rich. That is not a recipe for downtown improvement.

Even worse, for those who were interested in buying in the Classen, why would they now? The value of their investment was just undermined by the decision to offer rental units instead.


And Mr. Brown, currently 100 percent of the available apartment stock in downtown OKC is RENTAL. There are more rental properties under way, such as the building at Park and Harvey. When you add in Legacy and Deep Deuce, as well as numerous properties due to be rehabbed and rented in midtown, there is plenty of opportunity available for interested renters.