Sieber Apartments

[jbrown84]

Seiber Hotel. It's in the tread title.

[mecarr]

Seiber Hotel. It's in the tread title.

yea, but there has been discussion in this thread about the Marion, which was the subject of my first question. Anyway, both Marion and Sieber look nice.

[jbrown84]

I apologize. Didn't see where you quoted about the Marion.

[mecarr]

I drove by the Seiber apartments yesterday because last I heard in June was that they were planning on opening in July. After looking into the place, they have a long way to go. The flooring was all ripped up, and the walls obviously need some paint jobs too. It looked like they were still in the early stages of remodeling the lobby area.

[metro]

Actually, I think they have a few people moved in the renovated units, although they do have a lot of work to go in the public areas, such as the lobby as you mentioned. Glad to see such an historic landmark being restored.

[metro]

Owner sees Sieber Hotel as MidTown’s pivotal site
Oklahoman
BY STEVE LACKMEYER
Published: January 29, 2009

After listening to plenty of doubters over the past decade, Marva Ellard’s face is a mix of satisfaction and wear.

It was in October 1997 that Ellard submitted the low bid for the Sieber Hotel at an auction in an adjoining parking lot. The building was a shambles — windows boarded up, the interior scarred by numerous fires set by transients the previous 15 years.

A prior group had tried to turn the hotel around in the early 1980s and was in the midst to installing carpeting and doors when the failure of Penn Square Bank ground everything to a halt. Ellard took her time; she carefully plotted how to rebuild the landmark while staying within guidelines to capture historic tax credits and loans from the Murrah district revitalization fund.

Now Ellard and partners Robert Magrini, Todd Scott, Mike McDonald and Tom Stapleton are celebrating the project’s completion.

"It wasn’t for the money,” Ellard said. "My background is preservation, but with much smaller projects. I just never thought this part of MidTown would be what it could be unless the Sieber was rehabilitated. It was a pivotal property in this part of town. And we’ve torn down way more than we ever should have.”

Magrini, who has law offices nearby, is stunned by the progress of not just the Sieber, but MidTown as a whole. He said a business acquaintance recently observed that with the opening of hip restaurants and shops in MidTown, the city has come around to a vision that most thought was crazy.

Ellard recalls an early visit with one banker who lived in Edmond.

"He said ‘who would ever live there?’ I thought he was teasing,” Ellard said. "But I could tell the banker wasn’t teasing.”

A recent tour of the renovation shows a building that has been completely rebuilt; the hotel that once featured more than 80 rooms is now home to 38 apartments and space for ground floor restaurants and shops.

Apartments designed by Michale Stapleton offer modern amenities and yet reflect the Art Deco era of the hotel’s heyday.

Since leasing began in the fall about half of the apartments have been rented without any publicity or advertising (units start at $1,000 a month). Incoming president of Downtown Oklahoma City Inc., Jane Jenkins, is among the incoming residents. Those touring the building include a top executive with Hinz, which is developing the new Devon Energy tower.

Ellard said the waiting, the hard work, the uncertainty was all worth what she sees today.

"It was a beautiful building and somebody needed to do something,” Ellard said. "And it was us.”


There are pics in the Oklahoman.

[metro]

Sieber grandchildren recall darker times for building
Oklahoman
BY STEVE LACKMEYER
Published: January 29, 2009

Ray McMinn and Joanie Elder are stunned as they tour the top floor apartment of the Sieber Hotel that was once home to their grandparents, Robert and Nora Sieber.

They can still picture their aunt, Del Rose, at the piano that stood under the east window. They can hear their grandfather whistling a happy tune as he did every morning before starting work.

They recall large family gatherings in the hotel — good times that ended when Mercy Hospital moved away from MidTown and the area was overrun with blight in the 1970s.

McMinn and Elder recall their grandfather as a hardworking entrepreneur who built the adjoining two-story building first in 1922, operating it as a butcher shop and grocery. The Siebers then built and operated the six-story, U-shaped Sieber Apartment Hotel starting in 1928.

McMinn called the hotel "home” in the 1950s and has high praise for the recent renovation by developer Marva Ellard.

"It was a regular hotel back then,” McMinn said. "People were living here — it was packed. With all the hospitals around here, there were a lot of people in from out of town.”

McMinn said his grandfather, while a serious businessman, was a lot of fun when out on family picnics, fishing trips or gatherings.

Elder stayed at the hotel, as well. Her mother, DeLois, and her twin sister, Del Rose, kept the books and helped in the shop. When Robert Sieber died in 1962, the sisters took over operations that included a theater.

Times changed and by the 1970s, Elder said.

"I remember my aunt was afraid to go out on the street,” Elder said. "The whole area had gone down so much. It was dangerous to take money to the bank.”

After selling the hotel and moving to Bethany, Del Rose Sieber became despondent over the property’s demise.

"She said she wanted the Sieber name taken off the hotel because she didn’t want it to be something that dishonored my grandfather,” Elder said.

Touring the hotel, Elder thinks her aunt would think differently today.

"I think she would be so happy,” Elder said. "She would be out of her mind with gratitude.”

[mecarr]

Glad to see this has finally opened. I think it's a beautiful building.

[Pete]

What about the restaurant/retail space?

Congrats to Marva Ellard for doing things right and sticking with a very challenging project. We need more developers like her and her partners.

[jbrown84]

I love the Sieber. I wish I could afford to live there right now.

[okclee]

That is a fair price for that location. One bedroom, 800 sf. starting at $1000. per month, and that includes everything but electric and cable.

[benman]

I love all the renovation that is taking place in midtown, but i think there needs to be some new development not just restoration. Does anyone else feel the same?

[Pete]

Here's a great video of the Sieber from newsok.com.

Looks like they've done a fantastic job of not only restoring the building, but using high-end materials:

http://newsok.com/multimedia/video/9446736001

[CCOKC]

I took the downtown living tour last year and the Seiber was part of the tour. They did a great job of renovating the spaces while using materials that totally looked in place for the period. A great space, a great location.

[Steve]

Thanks Pete. We're putting a lot of effort into these videos. I'm definitely multi-tasking these days and we've got a great video crew putting these productions together.

[metro]

I love all the renovation that is taking place in midtown, but i think there needs to be some new development not just restoration. Does anyone else feel the same?

There will be, if Overholser Green ever gets off the ground.

[jbrown84]

That is a fair price for that location. One bedroom, 800 sf. starting at $1000. per month, and that includes everything but electric and cable.

I wasn't trying to say that it was overpriced, just that it doesn't fit my budget at this time.

[metro]

Sieber seeing success as residents move downtown
by Kelley Chambers
The Journal Record February 24, 2009
The Journal Record - Article

OKLAHOMA CITY – Marva Ellard took a seat in the lobby of the old Sieber Hotel on Monday and announced that her 12-year labor of love was nearly complete.


Marva Ellard sits in a model unit at the Sieber apartment building Monday. (Photo by Maike Sabolich)

Ellard and a group of investors purchased the dilapidated Sieber buildings on North Harvey Avenue in 1997 when the only occupants were pigeons and transients squatting in the vacant hotel. But Ellard had faith that people would want to live downtown and set out to breathe new life into the former grocery store building, built in 1922, and the hotel built in 1928 by the Sieber family.

The result is 38 apartments ranging from 800 square feet to 1,500 square feet, many with views of the downtown skyline and the state Capitol.

The hotel closed in the 1980s and sat vacant until last October, when the first tenants moved in on Halloween.

Funding for the $8.5 million renovation came from a mortgage-guaranteed loan, funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and money from the city of Oklahoma City as part of the Murrah Revitalization District.

The final unit count is 38, with 30 units in the six-story building and eight in the grocery store building.

Ellard has 60 percent of the units leased. Rents range from $1,000 to $1,900 per month.
About 4,000 square feet of retail space on the first floor on the north and south sides of the lobby is available.

“Historically there’s always been a restaurant on the south side of the lobby,” Ellard said.
The lobby features the original mosaic tiles and restored skylights that spill abundant natural light through the lobby, which is fitted with several sitting areas.

Despite a downturn in the economy, Ellard said she is not surprised that there has been so much interest in the Sieber.

Andy Burnett, with commercial real estate firm Sperry Van Ness, said people want to live downtown, but many are watching their wallets. He said projects like the Sieber, and several other rental properties, are alluring to many.

“There’s obviously a lot of demand for downtown housing,” he said. “People want to be downtown, and the product that’s affordable has done very well.”

Burnett said rental units, and condos in the $200,000 range, will continue to do well downtown. Buyers likely will not be lining up in 2009 for condos that cost more than $400,000, several of which have come online in the past year.

“The product that’s suffering is the product that’s at a premium price,” Burnett said.
Kim Searls, marketing director for Downtown OKC Inc., ran through a list of about 700 residential units, both condos and apartments, which have come online in the past few years or are under construction.

Searls said the rental market and lower-priced condos will continue to draw residents to downtown this year, while the high-end condo market likely will slow.

“There is still a market for downtown housing,” she said. “With the economy, it seems like people are interested in that lower price point right now.”

Ellard said she is just glad to have the Sieber nearly done after more than a decade.

“When we got into this in 1997, we would have never dreamed it would be 2009 before we were finished,” she said. “But all of the partners are very pleased with the results.”

[Pete]

First time I had seen this project in person and it's incredible.

There is empty retail space on the southeast corner that has the same original tile. The small building immediately north looks full leased.

[wdj]

About two months ago when I was looking for a new apartment, I had contacted Marva to get some info on prices, square footage, etc. and to set up a viewing, but after only replying to one e-mail, she never responded to me again. Called and left messages, no response. E-mailed a few more times, no response.

Love the work she's done on that building, but color me unimpressed with my experience.

[Spartan]

I think she has the building booked solid?

[ljbab728]

If that's original tile work it looks amazing.

[Larry OKC]

Agree...sharp looking stuff

[Rover]

I think she has the building booked solid?

Maybe, but still not very professional not to respond. All they have to do is respond back and tell them so. You shouldn't just be attentive when you need them, but ignore them when you are through with them. Not a way to run a business or gain support for other projects.

[CCOKC]

That really turned out to be a fantastic project. My husband and I toured some of the units on the downtown living tour a few years ago. The units are very nice. My husband would love to live there. I am sure they are 100% leased but there must be a waiting list that wdj could get on if he/she could get a call back.