Founders National Bank building

[BLJR]

I see something to this. There have been a few buildings in the last few years that the community wanted saved. But while passion was high among those desiring to preserve history or tradition no passion seems to be present among those with the funds to do anything. So buildings are purchased by those with money to do whatever they want. If buyers can’t be found that want to repurpose the existing buildings then the buyers should be able to do what they want with their investment. The city should not be able to tell an investor that their building must sit vacant and useless because it’s of a certain design of which no one wants to occupy.

Summed up nicely. It was a very cool building, and I am willing to bet the owner would have sold it to someone that had the $ to buy it. If you are upset don't support whatever goes in there.

[BDP]

... there are multiple local examples of historic, architecturally remarkable buildings that sit empty and deteriorate for years/decades because it's not practical to repurpose and/or no one wants to buy a building that has more headaches than financially feasible to sustain.

You just described Bricktown, the Plaza district, the Plaza Court, the Paseo, Automobile alley, etc. Now these things more or less define the heart of OKC.

The only thing that saved these areas, really, is that there was actually ZERO money or interest to even tear them down for years. I guess we've grown up to the point where investors want the land under the historic or interesting structures outside of those areas because it's the best place for a Taco Tico. I guess that can be called progress?

I think most people are mainly asking for more due process and public input out of respect for the community. I don't think that's an unreasonable thing to suggest. It's not unprecedented either. There are a lot of places in the city where you can't just do what they did on this site and for good reason and someone can't just slap a fast food joint next door to your house. I think people are just asking for some balance, but, yes, at the end of the day the real tragedy here is that the area had not been recognized as historically, culturally, or architecturally significant enough to take it off "free for all" status or that investors did not see any value in the current inventory. The reality is that was pretty much everyone's take on almost all of OKC for 50-60 years. At least, that has changed significantly in some areas of the city. It just seems like anything above 50th or so is still not worth much more than, say, strip mall pad sites.

[traxx]

I love the mid-century modern aesthetic, but this building had been retrofitted so much that the clean, simple look had been ruined long ago.

[YeahIKnow]

So...what’s the over/under odds on this lot becoming an OnCue? Yes, I know there’s one on N.W. 36th and May, but there’s no other gas stations in that particular area. There’s a 7-11 on N.W. Expressway that’s close, but nothing else. The OnCue at Blackwelder seems to have stalled, so maybe they were holding out for this location? Just a theory. But, if not, you heard it here first.

[Pete]

I'm quite sure this is be redeveloped with the help of the company that led to the scraping of Dot Wo for Del Taco and AAA and the scraping of the old Johnnies on NW Expressway for a smaller Johnnies and Del Taco.

This won't be a Del Taco but I bet it will be at least one fast food with another of the same or of a similar size.

[Rover]

I'm quite sure this is be redeveloped with the help of the company that led to the scraping of Dot Wo for Del Taco and AAA and the scraping of the old Johnnies on NW Expressway for a smaller Johnnies and Del Taco.

This won't be a Del Taco but I bet it will be at least one fast food with another of the same or of a similar size.

Would that be Hunt Properties out of Dallas?

[Pete]

Yes, Hunt Properties.

They don't own this property (nor did they the others I mentioned) but they partner with the owners and brokers to redevelop.

[BlackmoreRulz]

How long had this building sat vacant before destruction?

[Pete]

How long had this building sat vacant before destruction?

About a year I think.

But I think they chased Bank of America out, as is did not renew their lease.

[emtefury]

Don’t be a jerk. Seriously.

I am not being a jerk, just speaking reality and it hurts sometimes.

[emtefury]

I see something to this. There have been a few buildings in the last few years that the community wanted saved. But while passion was high among those desiring to preserve history or tradition no passion seems to be present among those with the funds to do anything. So buildings are purchased by those with money to do whatever they want. If buyers can’t be found that want to repurpose the existing buildings then the buyers should be able to do what they want with their investment. The city should not be able to tell an investor that their building must sit vacant and useless because it’s of a certain design of which no one wants to occupy.

Thank you for explaning with a little more tact than I was able. You put a great perspective on the situation.

[Rover]

About a year I think.

But I think they chased Bank of America out, as is did not renew their lease.

Not sure how much BofA would pay for all that space. Like a number of their locations it was way oversized or not necessary. They never seemed to have customers in the building and rarely even at the atm... like at Britton and May.

[PaddyShack]

Not sure how much BofA would pay for all that space. Like a number of their locations it was way oversized or not necessary. They never seemed to have customers in the building and rarely even at the atm... like at Britton and May.

I like to think that the decrease in physical customers at BofAs is due to their push into online banking. They force customers to basically do everything via the online portal or app. As a result they only ever have one teller and one banker in their locations and have reduced opening hours. Most locations now have hours of 9am to 4pm, please tell me who works full can make it to the bank before or after work? And their Saturday hours are less. I don't doubt that BofA really fought to stay.

[Pete]

Until recently I was a BofA customer for decades.

When they closed that May location, every other site was unbearably crowded and that was the final straw.

[mugofbeer]

Its sad for me. Working at that bank location was my first job out of college. l made a lot of great friends at that job, one of which is still a friend over 30 years later. Was there asbestos in the building because it has always been a great bank location- maybe a bit bigger than most wanted.

[Teo9969]

I see something to this. There have been a few buildings in the last few years that the community wanted saved. But while passion was high among those desiring to preserve history or tradition no passion seems to be present among those with the funds to do anything. So buildings are purchased by those with money to do whatever they want. If buyers can’t be found that want to repurpose the existing buildings then the buyers should be able to do what they want with their investment. The city should not be able to tell an investor that their building must sit vacant and useless because it’s of a certain design of which no one wants to occupy.

To speak to this sentiment overall of "If you want to save it, buy it": How many people do any of you know who have the money to purchase this kind of real-estate in a Tier III US City? The vast majority of the public probably knows 0 people with those kinds of resources/connections. Another sizable minority might know 1 or 2 people and you can't just approach those people and ask them to buy a building for the good of OKC. The very small minority who know a variety of players who could purchase this property for redevelopment are already playing in that circle.

So my understanding of this sentiment is that we're all comfortable with this small minority making all of the important decisions in this city (This logic, of course, should necessarily extend beyond just Real Estate holdings for those inclined to agree).

The reality in Oklahoma City is that this flawed logic pervades the thought process of the average citizen and I don't think we're going to beat that anytime soon -- that being said, I think an interesting solution to ponder is for the city to create a task force to identify buildings that are exemplary architecture for any given period and which should be marked for special scrutiny due to their historical quality. These buildings (and their lots) should then be placed on a special list wherein the city can offer an equal value swap of property/land. Post-swap they would be able to issue an RFP for the property to review what a whole list of potential investors would be willing to create for the property rather than the limited reach of whoever happens to own that property at the time that they are considering demolition.

[catch22]

I hate the argument of “if you want to save it you should have bought it”. While it applies in some cases (saving your balcony view), it does not apply in all. The entire purpose of our government is to subsidize the greater good. It’s rare for the private citizen or groups of citizens to have the capital and muscle to save these things, and as correctly pointed out they may not make a business case to do so. The government is firstly for the people and by the people. This structure, and many others who have seen a similar fate, were doomed long before the sham demo permit process. As Teo mentions, the city should have identified certain buildings and structures of interest that the city could either provide assistance to renovate or operate, or buy directly themselves to serve a public purpose.

The ACOG master plan identified this corner as a possible NW metro transit hub. It would have been a perfect adaption of the building, and with the large lot would have allowed great bus egress. Would have had room for a park and ride for a future rail or BRT line down NWX/Classen to downtown.

Now, we will end up with a Tide laundry store and an Arby’s. OKC has to keep the things that make it “not bland”. Tulsa is full of things that visually set it apart from OKC. They have the river and hills, but they also have an amazing amount of interesting stock of buildings from many eras. OKC is hastily eliminating as many as possible in the name of The Shoppes at Tuscany Pointe

[shawnw]

Regarding a list of such places, Preservation Oklahoma maintains a list of most endangered buildings

[Rover]

I hate the argument of “if you want to save it you should have bought it”. While it applies in some cases (saving your balcony view), it does not apply in all. The entire purpose of our government is to subsidize the greater good. It’s rare for the private citizen or groups of citizens to have the capital and muscle to save these things, and as correctly pointed out they may not make a business case to do so. The government is firstly for the people and by the people. This structure, and many others who have seen a similar fate, were doomed long before the sham demo permit process. As Teo mentions, the city should have identified certain buildings and structures of interest that the city could either provide assistance to renovate or operate, or buy directly themselves to serve a public purpose.

The ACOG master plan identified this corner as a possible NW metro transit hub. It would have been a perfect adaption of the building, and with the large lot would have allowed great bus egress. Would have had room for a park and ride for a future rail or BRT line down NWX/Classen to downtown.

Now, we will end up with a Tide laundry store and an Arby’s. OKC has to keep the things that make it “not bland”. Tulsa is full of things that visually set it apart from OKC. They have the river and hills, but they also have an amazing amount of interesting stock of buildings from many eras. OKC is hastily eliminating as many as possible in the name of The Shoppes at Tuscany Pointe

Unfortunately, Tulsa has demolished unique structures too.

[dankrutka]

Oklahoma City: The city without a history.

City processes are obviously broken. This is absurd and terrible for the city.

[Bill Robertson]

Granted, the percentage of the population of OKC that can afford to save the buildings that have been in question or demolished in the past few years is very, very small. But, is the percentage of the population of OKC that truly cares about the buildings in question being saved very much larger?

[Bill Robertson]

Duplicate

[Rover]

So, is the idea here on this board that we should have the city administration designate certain structures untouchable except for faithful renovations? Who is the body that decides?

[Pete]

So, is the idea here on this board that we should have the city administration designate certain structures untouchable except for faithful renovations? Who is the body that decides?

The city -- through the Planning Department -- is already working on this.

More or less inventoring buildings outside design review districts and make a list of those that are important, historic, etc.

Then, for those buildings, a special review process would be required before a demo permit could be issued.

[shawnw]

To start with, we just want a 30-day waiting period and public hearing option for any full building demo permit issued. I don't feel like that's a lot to ask.