Devon Plans Downtown Skyscraper

[jbrown84]

True, but it's cool to see it in the skyline. Look how much it dwarfs the Colcord and it's not even as tall as it will actually be.

[Kerry]

Doug - I looked at the link Sgt. Pepper provided. The old post office is awesome. I didn't even know that building was there. Anyone know what it is being used for now? It is building #44 on Doug's map.

[jbrown84]

I believe it's federal offices or courts. It's a great building that I didn't discover until a few years ago myself.

[OKC74]

I believe I read on here that the renderings would be available on 8/20. Does anyone know if these will just be initial sketches, or will this be when we see the final designs?

[Pete]

I would imagine that the plans submitted to OCURA on 8/20 for approval would be conceptual at this point and subject to some modifications as they do the final planning and engineering.

However, I'm sure it will be about 90% accurate as to what they end up building because they are anxious to move this forward so they can consolidate their employees and have the necessary space to facilitate their rapid growth.

[OKC74]

I was reading what people had said on one of the Tulsa forums and they were saying that they think this will turn out like the Oneok building there, which was originally supposed to be 60 stories (I think) and instead only ended up being like 18. Personally I think it's jealousy talking on their part (ha!)...but I sure hope they get this UP and going before too long...I'm SO anxious to see it!! And I think the circumstances surrounding the Oneok building at that time in Tulsa, and thus the reason it didn't end up being as tall as originally planned, are circumstances that HOPEFULLY Devon will NOT face. Anyone remember what they were??

[flintysooner]

I was reading what people had said on one of the Tulsa forums and they were saying that they think this will turn out like the Oneok building there, which was originally supposed to be 60 stories (I think) and instead only ended up being like 18. Personally I think it's jealousy talking on their part (ha!)...but I sure hope they get this UP and going before too long...I'm SO anxious to see it!! And I think the circumstances surrounding the Oneok building at that time in Tulsa, and thus the reason it didn't end up being as tall as originally planned, are circumstances that HOPEFULLY Devon will NOT face. Anyone remember what they were??

It was the Cities Service Co HQ. Occidental bought Cities Service and moved the HQ to Houston. Owned by Venezuela now. more or less.

[OKC74]

Ahhh...okay. Thanks Flinty.

[proud2Bsooner]

[edited at request of poster ~ Pete]

I'm sure there will be critics, but the new buildings will be much better than anything that has ever been done in downtown OKC.

[Pete]

All that certainly sounds consistent with other reports and makes a lot of sense.

I suppose the tower will be at the far west end of the block with an atrium extending to the east, followed by a green open space, then the meetings/event structure tied into the Colcord.

At 750', the tower would be 50% taller than Chase Tower and easily the tallest in the state.

[mheaton76]

I just noticed on NewsOK that Devon is making arrangements to purchase the Colcord. That would certainly make some sort of meetings/event structure tie in that Pete suggests a likely reality at some point....



www.unitedstatesofmichael.com

[Pete]

Perhaps the layout will look something like this, with the meeting space being tied into Corporate Tower and thus the Underground, which Nichols has stated as a previous priority:

[sroberts24]

very possible, i would love that

[Pete]

With this layout, if Devon continued to grow rapidly they might be interested in acquiring Corporate Tower and/or Oklahoma Tower and make them part of their complex.

[OKCMallen]

Doug - I looked at the link Sgt. Pepper provided. The old post office is awesome. I didn't even know that building was there. Anyone know what it is being used for now? It is building #44 on Doug's map.

Federal Bankruptcy Court is in that building, as well as other things. The Courtrooms are art deco; very pretty.

[OKC74]

This is all so exciting...I hope this all comes out to be true! 750' would be awesome...if I'm reading correctly, BOK in Tulsa is 667'...so this would surely be taller. Awesome!

[HOT ROD]

AWESOME insight and very incredible news. This will put downtown OKC on the level that we need to be from an image prospective - competing with other Tier II cities in the nation.

a 50 storey all glass tower + an 8 storey glass monument building, assuming 22500 floorplate and FSR of 15 gives us a 750' skyscraper and 1.305M sq ft total (assuming a box).

I am very excited about it being all glass (hopefully mirror'd or kool midnight blue glass); it's going to totally redefine downtown Oklahoma City as a business location and certainly OKC's image as a up and coming city.


WOW, Im excited - can't wait until the renderings/speks come out.

Thanks Sooner for the insight -

[Pete]

750' would be taller than anything in Denver or Las Vegas. West of Chicago, the only buildings taller would be 6-8 in Dallas & Houston, a couple in Minneapolis, and a few in California and Seattle.

In fact, only 14 states would have a taller building.

[HOT ROD]

would be AWESOME!! Indeed Pete.

And like I said, we (OKC) can finally join the largest city/skycraper club; as in I think OKC is the ONLY Largest City of a State that does not have the state's tallest building. OKC is definitely the biggest city who doesn't have its state's tallest building.

There might be much smaller cities in much smaller states (maybe Casper WY is taller than Cheyenne for example), but OKC is the ONLY major city I can think of that doesn't have the tallest building in its state.

On a lighter note though, I do suppose this will change since San Francisco is building the Transbay (which will be taller than anything currently in LA) - but SF gets a pass since it is a world class city and California is such a big state. lol

[shane453]

I thought they will only have control over the western part of the new city center garage. Of course, it's not like they would have an issue buying the rest of the properties if they decide they want them.

[OKC74]

Was the entry earlier made regarding the 50 stories and 750' removed for any reason? I hope it wasn't because it wasn't true...I was starting to get excited!!

[soonerfever]

There might be much smaller cities in much smaller states (maybe Casper WY is taller than Cheyenne for example), but OKC is the ONLY major city I can think of that doesn't have the tallest building in its state.

Well OKC isn't as bad off as you might think. They only have to build about 170 feet to be the states tallest. Now Austin on the other hand would have to build about 320 feet to gain the title. Austin beats OKC on this one, but thats ok they can be #1 on this stat.

[Swake2]

would be AWESOME!! Indeed Pete.

And like I said, we (OKC) can finally join the largest city/skycraper club; as in I think OKC is the ONLY Largest City of a State that does not have the state's tallest building. OKC is definitely the biggest city who doesn't have its state's tallest building.

There might be much smaller cities in much smaller states (maybe Casper WY is taller than Cheyenne for example), but OKC is the ONLY major city I can think of that doesn't have the tallest building in its state.

On a lighter note though, I do suppose this will change since San Francisco is building the Transbay (which will be taller than anything currently in LA) - but SF gets a pass since it is a world class city and California is such a big state. lol

Tallest building in each state is always in the largest city? That’s not even remotely true,.

In Texas the largest metro is DFW (6.2 million) but the tallest building is in Houston (5.2 million), the JPMorgan Chase Tower. The same is true in Missouri, the tallest building in the state is in Kansas City (1.9 million) and not in St Louis (2.9 million).

Now if you are going purely on city size and not metro your argument is even worse. In both Missouri and Texas the tallest building is in the largest incorporated city. But not in Florida, the tallest building is in Miami, but Jacksonville is nearly twice as large as Miami. In Ohio the largest city is Columbus, but the tallest building is in Cleveland. In Tennessee the tallest building is in Nashville, but Memphis is larger. In Alabama the tallest building is in Mobile, which is actually the third largest city (and metro).

In most states the largest metro area has the tallest building, but that’s usually because most states have a metro that is definitively larger than any other metro (states like New Mexico, Nebraska, Utah, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, New York, Illinois). But in states where there are two (or more) metros of relatively similar size, the second largest metro (or third) more often has the taller building, that happens today in Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas, Virginia, Alabama and soon to be California. States will two or more similar metros where the largest metro has the tallest would include North Carolina, Ohio, and Tennessee and that’s about it.

[HOT ROD]

Houston is the largest city and has the tallest building.

Gateway arch is the tallest building in Missouri.

I do agree with your argument of Miami and Columbus. I stand corrected.

I suppose I was thinking in terms of city population (and then lumped in Miami, Cleveland, Memphis, and others who used to be larger or have larger metros).

Thanks for the correction. I agree with your synopsis Swake.

[Swake2]

You can't have it both ways, Dallas is the largest metro and doesn't have the tallest building. Houston the city is larger.

But in Missouri, if the gateway arch is the tallest, which may be, but the reverse of Texas is true, Kansas City is the larger incorporated city and does not have the tallest.