Downtown Living Tour

[PLANSIT]

JBrown,

I thought the Sieber rates were pretty high considering the cheap 1 bedrooms only had views of the interior. They are roughly $1.18 per square foot from what I understand. Check out The Sieber > Opening Summer 2008

[metro]

The $1800 a month was for the ground floor, very spacious, ultra luxurious model they had open. Marble everywhere in the kitchen and tons of it. High end appliance and everything else. The other apartments in the Seiber Tower started at about $700 a month for a 1 bed. That's not crazy, there are plenty of newer developments in the burbs that start at that or more for a 1 bed.

[PLANSIT]

I don't know where you are getting this $700 a month from, but the smallest apartment (~800 sq. ft, on the interior) is closer to $1000. Click the "view floor plans" (bottom right corner) in the link above. Prices are given.

[OKCMallen]

ptown is correct. I emailedw ith Marva this afternoon.

[betts]

I think the Legacy's one bedroom apartments are close to a thousand a month, because my son was doing an economics' project for school and had to come up with prices for all sorts of ordinary expenses. I didn't make it to the Seiber, but if they've got granite and high end appliances, it was probably an expensive renovation.

I built a house seven years ago, and I remember now that when I got my quote from Matt Wilson, a well-known local builder, costs were $150 a foot, exclusive of land. There were people who quoted more. That's not with copper guttering, slate roofs and Build-Block construction like Maywood. If these townhomes and condos are being built with higher end features, $200+ a foot may not be that unreasonable for new construction, especially with oil prices what they are. Transportation of materials is probably driving costs up. It may be that smaller size is the only way to get lsignificantly less expensive housing downtown

[betts]

betts, I agree, I think the Brownstones are the best option if money is not a worry. They are priced the best per sq. ft IMO. They are also build to last literally centuries with minimal maintenance. Compared to some of the other $500K+ developments, these are lightyears ahead in quality and energy savings. I also think they have more character that has stood the test of time in Europe and the East Coast. If you end up buying one, make sure to invite us for a party! Haha.

P.S. I didn't see you on the Downtown Living Tour. Did you make it out?


An interesting aside. As a bus tour guide for the tour, I talked to several couples and individuals from out of state, this was their first or second time to OKC. They all seemed pretty impressed and thought the new construction prices were very reasonable. I talked to one couple from Phoenix in particular who are seriously considering buying and moving to downtown OKC. I'm sure there are similar stories from the other volunteers who made this day a success as well. I was glad to hear all the positive comments on OKC from out of state guests. I definitely made sure to point out other things and places going on downtown.

I had to show my house to someone interested in buying it and spent most of the day cleaning madly. Can't move downtown unless I sell my existing house! I will have a party, hopefully before an NBA game, and I'll invite everyone. I did manage to go to Block 42 and the Hill, as those were two I was interested in comparing. Yes, when you look at prices in other cities for downtown housing of this calibre, our prices look fairly reasonable. It's just more than most of us are used to seeing, especially considering they're not on a lot of land.

[metro]

Downtown housing tour opens doors
Daily Oklahoman
By Steve Lackmeyer
Business Writer

Marva Ellard is busy this week signing leases with the first new tenants for the Sieber — and estimates about 1,500 people visited the former MidTown hotel as part of the downtown housing tour Saturday.

"It really was very nice,” Ellard said. "We generated a lot of interest in downtown housing.”

Similar crowd counts were reported at the Block 42 condominiums and the Park Harvey Apartments, also on the tour organized by Downtown Oklahoma City Inc.

"This was the first time we really felt like we had the inventory and there was really something for people to see,” said Kim Searls, marketing director for Downtown Oklahoma City Inc.

"We've been talking about this for a couple of years ... I'd bet some of these properties wouldn't have been ready today if we didn't have the tour scheduled. These people went all out to get things done.”

Some stops had more to offer than others. The Centennial, while on the tour, has been sold out for months. Richard Tanenbaum, developer of the Park Harvey, recently reported all but two of its 168 apartments were leased.

The tour also coincided with the first Symphony Show House to be hosted downtown. The Oklahoma City Orchestra League, which hosts the fundraiser for the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, chose the Brownstones at Maywood Park. Linda Patton, chairman, reported the visitor count on Saturday was 100 higher than for the same day last year.

"It's gone very well,” Patton said. "A lot of people like that we brought it downtown. And we brought it downtown because everything is happening downtown.”

[metro]

If Tanenbaum is correct, that 166 of his 168 apartments of Park Harvey are leased out, I wonder what he is eyeing for his next project. Montgomery stays pretty solidly leased at hefty $2000+ a month lease rates as well.