Devon Energy Center

[Pete]

To put this investment into perspective, the $750 million Devon plans to spend downtown is more than TWICE what was spent on MAPS.

And we all know what kind of catalyst that provided.

[BG918]

I don't work downtown (at least right now) but I would happily be inconvenienced by the construction of this tower. Just seeing it rise each day would be enough for me to have to walk a few more blocks if my parking was moved elsewhere. There is plenty of parking around the CBD if you are willing to walk a few minutes longer in the morning/evening. What about taking a bus? Then you don't have to worry about parking at all.

My hope is that this tower and potentially more office or residential projects which will be built because of it will put more pressure on the City and Mayor to invest in mass transit as part of MAPS III. Commuter rail, light rail, and bus service to downtown is a very important issue that needs to be addressed as we add more density there and PLAN for more density in the future. Building parking garages is a short-sighted solution IMO.

[Lauri101]

A $750 million construction project is huge for the economy of OKC.

Not to mention the fact there will be many design elements that will be for everyones use and not just Devon's employee's.

Its amazing how backward thinking some Oklahoman's are and our obesity rates are what they are at. No one wants to walk anywhere. Now I know why we get the rap we do from outside of Oklahoma.

It appears the literacy rate is worse - I said I didn't want to walk that far for safety reasons. FYI, I walk 3-4 miles a day.

What I didn't care for was the time my co-worker had her purse snatched as she was dragged 10 feet across the asphalt. Walk a mile in my shoes before you start making ass-umptions.

Disagree with me all you want - I'm used to arguing my POV. Your comment was personal and inappropriate.

[Pete]

I worked downtown throughout the construction of Leadership Square. And that was a real mess due to demolition and then construction which caused a street to be permanently closed and all the activity right in the heart of the CBD.

Yet, it was really cool to watch it come together. And when complete, I loved walking over and enjoying the atrium. Used the restaurants, bank, etc.

I don't remember parking costs going up much afterwards and LS added very little parking -- just a couple of levels underneath.

[UnFrSaKn]

I hope they add Devon Tower to this C2S animation. It will be much more impressive.
http://skylineink.com/animations/c2s.mov
http://www.skylineink.com/animations/midtown.mov

[progressiveboy]

Edit - lets please stay on subject here and spare the personal attacks. Thanks, Pete.

I think the inconvience will be worth it. OKC must progress and sometimes progress can cause a little inconvience and rattle our little collective minds.

[Kerry]

Edit - Again, let's not get into personal attacks. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Thanks, Pete.

[Pete]

Given the fact that Nichols & Devon BOUGHT the Colcord expressly because of their concern of inconvenience, I'd give them the benefit of the doubt when it comes to the parking situation.

I highly doubt they haven't considered the impact on those that are currently using the west garage.

If they end up saying "screw you" to those currently using that structure -- which I think we all realize is highly unlikely -- then you have a legitimate gripe.

For now, nothing has changed.

[UnFrSaKn]

Anyone ever notice this?
Devon Energy Tower - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[OKC74]

On my way home from work on one of the animated billboards...there's already a picture of the new building on the Devon advertisement! It says something like "Reaching New Heights"...!! They got that up fast (the pic)!!! Of course since those signs change frequently in rotation, you have to be driving by the signs at just the right time to see it. However, I thought it was cool that it's already there.

Also...how much merit is there to these "naysayers" who keep saying "it'll never happen", etc. Why do they keep saying that? Obviously some of it may be jealousy...but what else? Is it just too big of a project for them to fathom? Or are there grounds for this argument? I'm interested in hear what you have to say on this Pete and Steve. At any rate...I am so freakin' excited!!!!!

[fromdust]

can anyone get their hands on the other designs? im interested in seeing what this was up against.

[progressiveboy]

On my way home from work on one of the animated billboards...there's already a picture of the new building on the Devon advertisement! It says something like "Reaching New Heights"...!! They got that up fast (the pic)!!! Of course since those signs change frequently in rotation, you have to be driving by the signs at just the right time to see it. However, I thought it was cool that it's already there.

Also...how much merit is there to these "naysayers" who keep saying "it'll never happen", etc. Why do they keep saying that? Obviously some of it may be jealousy...but what else? Is it just too big of a project for them to fathom? Or are there grounds for this argument? I'm interested in hear what you have to say on this Pete and Steve. At any rate...I am so freakin' excited!!!!!

The one concern I have is why are they waiting until the end of 2009 to start the construction? Is management at Devon taking a conservative approach and seeing what the energy industry will do (such as plummet) remember the 80's?? It seems with all their employees scattered about in 5 different buildings then it would take on a "sense of urgency". Maybe it has to do with the leases on each of the current buildings that are being leased out to Devon. I know several people from Tulsa saying "it will never happen" Even in the DFW Urban forum the "naysayers" are saying "this will never happen"??? Any thoughts???

[Pete]

OKC74, I think some people are 1) either naturally negative; 2) thinking this may be too good to be true; or 3) have seen similar grandiose projects get cut way back.


However, I think there is very little reason to worry here given Devon's financial position and motivation.

Plus, Larry Nichols is waaaay out on a limb on this. Don't think he'd do that if he wasn't pretty darn confident in getting this done.

[OKC74]

Good points. Thanks!

[johnnyincog]

does anyone have a good explanation for how 54 stories will take up 925 ft? that works out to about 17 ft per floor. seems high to me.

[Pete]

The one concern I have is why are they waiting until the end of 2009 to start the construction?

For such a massive undertaking, it takes that long just to get everything engineered, planned and bid out.

You have to understand the scale... I've managed big office expansion projects in the past (a few floors) and I can't begin to describe the amount of detail. You have to spec every single surface, fabric, wood, light fixture, etc. And the complexities of a building this size are just staggering.

[progressiveboy]

For such a massive undertaking, it takes that long just to get everything engineered, planned and bid out.

You have to understand the scale... I've managed big office expansion projects in the past (a few floors) and I can't begin to describe the amount of detail. You have to spec every single surface, fabric, wood, light fixture, etc. And the complexities of a building this size are just staggering.

Makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the insight!

[ndmoore]

The one concern I have is why are they waiting until the end of 2009 to start the construction?

The groundbreaking on the Devon Tower will begin late summer 2009.

They have to prepare the site. Take into consideration the demolition of the current parking structure the new building will sit on. They will also start building the other 5 floors of the West Parking garage before they begin on the building, it will take approximately 9 months to complete.

[shane453]

Nichols, not civic-minded? Really? Giving us a 2.5 acre public park and making it clear that he wants to make improvements to neighboring Myriad Gardens and designed the building so that it would be complementary to the city's long range development plans for Core to Shore? Is not civic-minded?

[Pete]

does anyone have a good explanation for how 54 stories will take up 925 ft? that works out to about 17 ft per floor. seems high to me.

On one of the graphics Doug uploaded from the press kit, it broke down the height by sections.

The first 7 floors are almost 20' each (130' total) because they tie into the adjacent rotunda/atrium.

The next 47 floors average just over 15' each (715' total), which is typical of a modern office building.

Then there is a mechanical floor (20') and the unoccupied 'crown' (60') that extends upward for architectural effect (80' total).

Thats how you get to the 925'.

[lonestarstatesux]

Here's an idea of what the skyline view from afar might be similar to - at 901 feet, Williams Tower in Uptown Houston.

[FritterGirl]

This article from Business Week really sheds some light on the project.

Thanks, Pete!

On another thought, I guess our widdle tower isn't good enough for the Dallas forums. The thread is gone.

[HOT ROD]

I seem unable to leave this thread and actually get to the work of putting my blog article together! But, since I've not gotten to that yet, let me say that the architect who made the main presentation (Jon Pickard) made a big deal of showing what he called the "Harvey" axis and how it ran through downtown as we know it and as it will come to be with "Core to Shore" down to the Crosstown relocation, and how that was a factor in their design. The focal point of the Devon project, he said, was the Rotunda which sits squarely on that axis ... as a point of ingress and egress both north and south along that axis line.

In his presentation, he had several images displayed which showed the interrelationship and flow lines ... unfortunately, none of those images are included in the press kit ... but he was trying to show how everything in the Devon project "tied together" with that "axis" as relates to Core to Shore planning. Of course, if his Harvey "axis" remarks are correct (as they appear to be), the Devon project would be smack in the middle of that axis ... as it doubtless deserves to be.

Guys, I thought of something real funny but probably very true.

I imagine, when looking at the skyline driving from Edmond on I-235, I wonder if it will look like OKC is flipping you off - lol.

the existing towers being the curled fingers, with Devon being the middle 'f-you' finger.

LOL!

OK enough fun.

I imagine the drive in from the West or (especially East) will surely be AMAZING!!!!!!

[OUGrad05]

This is super exciting but we're in for a super long wait

(not by building standards but it will seem like an eternity nonetheless)

This building is fantastic, lets hope the energy market stays at least afloat and doesn't sink below 60 dollar oil or 5.50 nat gas for long and this thing should easily become reality.

[HOT ROD]

My one, greedy, thought is that if the "crown" could be made slightly taller, we could have the tallest building west of Chicago!

But frankly, if this gets built as shown I'll be dancing in the streets.

Pete, you have a point.

If you look at the upper glass curtain, it does appear that if you extend them upward, they will eventually meet at a common point since they start to taper in and the floor sizes decrease, creating a continuous spire upwards probably 1200 feet.

This indeed would make it the tallest west of Chicago and would be hard for anybody to beat (outside of Chicago and New York of course).

Hmmm, I wonder.

But yes, I agree - the current design with the curtain stopping is phenominal.

Hmmm, what if they just extend the three curtains 75 feet - we'd be at 1000 feet, a supertall!

I would venture to say, that this building would be in the top 5 in the nation for the most beautiful almost-Supertall skyscraper. Definitely puts OKC on the map - and probably will surprise the hell out of anyone who visits not knowing about this ahead of time.