Campus Corner

[GoGators]

Then why has literally every university that had an off campus arena brought it back to campus or has plans to? Name one university moving basketball further from campus next to the highway?

Because universities quickly realized how terrible off campus arenas were so they fixed/ are trying to fix their mistake. Off campus arenas have been generally known to be universal failures since at least the early 1990s.

Anyway, I’ll get back to topic regarding CC. It’s just funny some want to move the arena to be closer to better “amenities” (target and discount tire?) while campus corner has much better amenities and is actually in an appropriate location. And I doubt someone from okc is going to suddenly decide spending 2.5 hours at a basketball game on a weeknight is now worth it because the drive there would be 8 minutes closer to their house. That math is just not adding up

[BoulderSooner]

Then why has literally every university that had an off campus arena brought it back to campus or has plans to? Name one university moving basketball further from campus next to the highway?

literally every university hasn't the most profitable college basketball program in the country has an off campus arena

[BoulderSooner]

Because universities quickly realized how terrible off campus arenas were so they fixed/ are trying to fix their mistake. Off campus arenas have been generally known to be universal failures since at least the early 1990s.

Anyway, I’ll get back to topic regarding CC. It’s just funny some want to move the arena to be closer to better “amenities” (target and discount tire?) while campus corner has much better amenities and is actually in an appropriate location. And I doubt someone from okc is going to suddenly decide spending 2.5 hours at a basketball game on a weeknight is now worth it because the drive there would be 8 minutes closer to their house. That math is just not adding up

OU has no issue selling basketball tickets .... they have an issue getting those with tickets to go to the games ...


it is almost like OU has done tons of surveys and research about this topic with those that actually buy tickets ..

[Boop]

https://twitter.com/JoeCJr29/status/1552007839274749953

Raising Cane's used to be good but their quality has gone downhill

[Boop]

Dede Westbrook is opening a new restaurant on Campus Corner:

https://www.facebook.com/EndzoneEats

That is sweet! I will have to try it!

[dheinz44]

Diamond Dawgs announced on their Instagram today that they will be closing

[Anonymous.]

Dang that is sad. Those hotdogs saved my life a few nights.

[shavethewhales]

That sucks. Fond memories of them around 2012ish when they were new.

Lot of competition on campus corner, but it feels like some of the good stuff is getting edged out. At least that new korean place is awesome. I would have eaten there literally as much as I could afford when I was back in school. I know it's a (small) chain, but they hit the mark.

[FighttheGoodFight]

That sucks. Fond memories of them around 2012ish when they were new.

Lot of competition on campus corner, but it feels like some of the good stuff is getting edged out. At least that new korean place is awesome. I would have eaten there literally as much as I could afford when I was back in school. I know it's a (small) chain, but they hit the mark.

The Korean cup place was good when it opened but it is very unclean now. Went not long ago and had flies around tables and the floor was very dirty. No go for me.

[Boop]

The Korean cup place was good when it opened but it is very unclean now. Went not long ago and had flies around tables and the floor was very dirty. No go for me.

It is just flies, not roaches

[Soonerinfiniti]

I heard a rumor that a development group from Texas wants to pretty much buy all of Campus Corner and build a huge multi-use retail/residential complex. The rumor says with OU going to the SEC, the game day revenue should increase substantially (They said Tuscaloosa has a $30 million revenue per game day and Norman is $10 million). Pretty wild stuff - anybody hear anything about this?

[Pete]

I heard a rumor that a development group from Texas wants to pretty much buy all of Campus Corner and build a huge multi-use retail/residential complex. The rumor says with OU going to the SEC, the game day revenue should increase substantially (They said Tuscaloosa has a $30 million revenue per game day and Norman is $10 million). Pretty wild stuff - anybody hear anything about this?

Very hard to believe because the properties on Campus Corner have a bunch of different owners; somewhere around 20-30.

[king183]

I heard a rumor that a development group from Texas wants to pretty much buy all of Campus Corner and build a huge multi-use retail/residential complex. The rumor says with OU going to the SEC, the game day revenue should increase substantially (They said Tuscaloosa has a $30 million revenue per game day and Norman is $10 million). Pretty wild stuff - anybody hear anything about this?

I also find this very hard to believe, not only because of the disparate ownership of the area, but also because there would be massive protests from residents against such a change to campus corner. Norman is a development-averse city, especially in the core.

[HangryHippo]

I’ve actually heard a similar rumor. But my skepticism matches Pete’s.

[Pete]

What could be happening is that plans are underway to acquire a large chunk of property, like from First Presbyterian or something similar.

Campus Corner is currently very full and active. I hope if something was to happen there it would not disrupt the fabric of that district, which is pretty great as it is.

There are plenty of un- or under-utilized properties that could be infilled with higher density.

[SEMIweather]

I can't imagine that moving to the SEC is going to substantially increase the economic impact of gamedays in Norman. OU already sells out just about every home game. Maybe there will be a small boost due to most likely having one fewer 11 a.m. kickoff per year. The larger impact might be well down the line if the increased TV revenue with the move to the SEC allows for OU to build a basketball arena next to the football stadium in 15-25 years, because right now I feel pretty confident in saying that Norman is losing out on a large amount of economic impact on basketball gamedays due to the LNC being so disconnected from Campus Corner/Main Street. Lots of people just driving to and from those games without making a day out of it like they do for football.

[Pete]

The only significant change with the move to the SEC will be quite a bit more traveling fans.

The SEC requires a larger block of tickets to be allocated to the visiting schools, and SEC fans are very good about traveling to see their teams.

And with the novelty of Oklahoma and Texas being added to the rotation, I think you'll see lots more visiting fans that any time before.


I've been saying that the area around OU needs many more hotel rooms, not just for football games but for the hundreds of events and activities all year long. OU itself should partner with operators to develop a couple of mid-sized hotels on campus. There is tons of room.

Boren also had the unfulfilled dream of adding housing for alums near the campus. I lived near a college campus in California and it was absolutely fantastic. Great places to walk and tons of things happening: sports, theater, lectures, performances, and much more. If OU wasn't so far from everything I loved in OKC, I'd already be living next to the campus.

[BG918]

If OU wasn't so far from everything I loved in OKC, I'd already be living next to the campus.

Would having commuter rail access from Norman to downtown OKC (with easy connections to the streetcar) change your opinion?

[Pete]

Would having commuter rail access from Norman to downtown OKC (with easy connections to the streetcar) change your opinion?

No, because I want to be able to quickly check on things, which I do almost every single day.

[dankrutka]

Would having commuter rail access from Norman to downtown OKC (with easy connections to the streetcar) change your opinion?

Amtrak leaves Bricktown for Norman every morning at 8:25am and heads back to OKC about 9pm. That's something.

[king183]

I imagine if there were a major group looking for development opportunities to take advantage of any SEC fan influx, they could create a pretty cool development at and around the Lloyd Noble Arena. Still pretty close to the football stadium. Campus Corner will be extremely difficult to redevelop that maintains the fabric the city loves about the area. The guy who built the new, tall building on White Street had substantial pushback due to its design and the height not fitting in with the area, though he ultimately succeeded.

[dankrutka]

I've posted before that I'd love to see parking-surrounded-structures like Lloyd Noble and malls build mixed use retail/apartments around them on the surface parking to revitalize them into larger walkable neighborhoods. I've never really seen this tried before... is there some reason why it's not viable?

[Pete]

I imagine if there were a major group looking for development opportunities to take advantage of any SEC fan influx, they could create a pretty cool development at and around the Lloyd Noble Arena. Still pretty close to the football stadium. Campus Corner will be extremely difficult to redevelop that maintains the fabric the city loves about the area. The guy who built the new, tall building on White Street had substantial pushback due to its design and the height not fitting in with the area, though he ultimately succeeded.

Virtually all of south campus is under-utilized.

All those weird, small continuing education buildings and other remnants of the army base years.

The university also owns a lot of land near the Duck Pond that is just sitting there. Then you have the OU Research Park which after 50 years is still only built out about 25%.


Norman has so much going for it: tons of trees and beautiful space, the university of course, great bones downtown and that area is really coming around, strong public schools, plus it's a suburb so lots of population growth.

Really unlimited possibility in Norman.

[ditm4567]

Been saying it for years, but that Amtrak route needs a gameday service between OKC/Norman.

[Pete]

Look at all this land that could easily be developed... And this is not counting University North Park and the airport and former 'North Base' or Reeves Park right next to campus: