OKANA Resort & Indoor Waterpark

[Laramie]

Something about this area that may make the $42 million MAPS 4 Multipurpose Stadium more attractive. Let's go ahead with
funds to expand this stadium to 18,500 thru naming rights, make it attractive to lure a USFL franchise and host many future OSSAA
class 4A, 5A and 6A high school football championships.

[jn1780]

That crane has been busy the first week it's been on the job site. They have some preassembled formwork already in place for the second floor.

[Pete]

bump

[catch22]

Wow! Not wasting any time!

[Pete]

First floor of the hotel is up; footings starting on the convention center.

[HFAA Alum]

@Pete
This construction team is straight up cooking. It seems like they're doing it all at once (though that may not be the case).

[Pete]

@Pete
This construction team is straight up cooking. It seems like they're doing it all at once (though that may not be the case).

They are doing all of this first phase at once: hotel, convention center, indoor waterpark, restaurants and retail, parking garage and lagoon.

Will be really fun to watch this come together in the next year or two.

[Laramie]

This $400 million resort and water park will feature an 11-story, 404-room hotel, 79 offices, six conference rooms and a multipurpose area for training and events. An anticipated opening is targeted for the Spring of 2025.

The resort is expected to draw 500,000 visitors annually, with 53% coming from out of state,

[OKCBayou]

They are doing all of this first phase at once: hotel, convention center, indoor waterpark, restaurants and retail, parking garage and lagoon.

Will be really fun to watch this come together in the next year or two.

The convention center also doubles as a family event center. This project is going to be huge for OKC. Can't wait to see how the rest of the area develops.

[jn1780]

Are they running the water park or are they bringing in a 'brand'? Kind of hope they are, because I don't want to pay Great Wolf Lodge prices or some other major water park.

[G.Walker]

It will be all about programming and marketing. However, pricing will need to be competitive. You won't want to make it too cheap, nor too expensive. But I think it will be programmed as 2-3 day getaway vs. 1 day come and go.
Once the Aquarium gets added, that will make it even a bigger tourist attraction.

[G.Walker]

Moreover, I wouldn't be surprised if the vacant lot to the immediate east across Eastern will be developed into La Quinta hotel, McDonalds, and a OnCue. I said it first, lol.

[stlokc]

Moreover, I wouldn't be surprised if the vacant lot to the immediate east across Eastern will be developed into La Quinta hotel, McDonalds, and a OnCue. I said it first, lol.

LOL!
With this operation striving for high-quality distinction one would hope that the surrounding area would develop in a complementary fashion (I.e. not gas stations and fast food) but that's probably too much to ask for.

[Pete]

Moreover, I wouldn't be surprised if the vacant lot to the immediate east across Eastern will be developed into La Quinta hotel, McDonalds, and a OnCue. I said it first, lol.

That property is owned by the city and was just specifically included in the new TIF that also contains OKANA.

I'd bet dollars to donuts the Chickasaws are working on something for that site as well.

[Laramie]

When do they expect the 11 story 404 room hotel to top out. Are they on schedule...

BTW, with the Chickasaw's strength in the hospitality industry, this could be a good resort for the Women's College World Series
teams when it's fully operational in 2026.

[Pete]

The red arrow in the first photo indicates an area that I believe will be the location for the waterpark equipment room; there will be a large wave pool and a bunch of slides.

The second photo shows the city-owned property east of Eastern and along the river that was recently included in a new TIF. I suspect the Chickasaws have plans there.

And if you look closely, you can see the bridges that were recently installed on the bike/pedestrian trail on the north side of the river. Looks like they are close to opening that section and thereby creating one huge loop around the city.

[5alive]

Just a random thought. Is any of that area considered to be in a flood plain?

[HFAA Alum]

I don't think it would be considering that the dams have control measures in place to keep the river from overflowing. And plus it's mainly a manmade river at that, precautions have been thought of and made. So any development along the rivers is going to be a safe bet.

But those insurances aside, they may label it as floodplain just as a precautionary measure should those systems fail due to mechanical failure.

[OKCBayou]

I know for a fact some of that area is old river bed. The river used to snake right through some of that property. Visible in old aerials.

[KayneMo]

The site is indeed in the river's floodplain. The floodplain can be seen here in this color-coded topographic map, the arrow indicates the FAM & OKANA site.

[Pete]

It's hard to see in the drone shots but the museum itself sits on an elevated area.

Also, before they started construction on the hotel (which is closest to the river) and the rest, they brought in a massive amount of fill. There is now about a ten-foot difference in elevation between the river and the OKANA area.

And as mentioned above, the river level now is highly controlled by dams and locks.

[Martin]

that's a pretty cool map... never would have realized that there is a 200ft change in elevation between yukon and choctaw.

[Pete]

that's a pretty cool map... never would have realized that there is a 200ft change in elevation between yukon and choctaw.

If you are ever out in the Piedmont area you can see all the way to downtown.

[BoulderSooner]

https://fema.maps.arcgis.com/apps/we...b8e485bb64ce44

okana site is almost all in the .2% Annual chance of flood level so basically very very little chance ever

[SEMIweather]

If you are ever out in the Piedmont area you can see all the way to downtown.

On a clear day, you can see the Devon Tower as far north as Cashion, and also on Highway 37 to the west of U.S. 81 outside of Minco.