Lower Bricktown realizations...

[Luke]

After reading Downtownguy's blog today, I realize that as good as everything is going in Lower Bricktown (and don't get me wrong, I'm happy for all the development down there) , Hogan could have done a lot better. He could have been more ambitious and creative.

For example, when you are walking under the Reno Ave. bridge towards the theater, you begin to walk into a concrete canyon, not canal level shops and restaurants. Walk further and you go from building to building as opposed to one continues development at canal level AND street level.

I guess the more I think about it, the more I think it could have been done so much better. I would imagine, however, these problems can be "fixed" with some creative solutions as well as some expensive redoing.

*sigh*

[floater]

Yeah, but I hope it's just the first stage of an evolving district. The quality of Bricktown is much better than it was back in the early years -- and I hope it will be the same for Lower Bricktown. I just wonder: will it require another massive public investment like the canal to jumpstart a Phase II? Or can the private sector still keep things smoking?

[downtownguy]

I wasn't trying to leave you disappointed. And let's put this all in perspective: the original MAPS water color sketch suggested the canal would be surrounded by nothing but trails, some minor landscaping, and lots of parking for the ballpark.

The buildings that you and many others are disappointed in can be seen as place holders. They will help create a critical mass that hopefully will grow, and at some future date, those disposable buildings will be disposed of and replaced with taller buildings with more significant architecture. This has all been a pretty big balancing act. Likewise, remember that the early concepts proposed by Hogan could have been just as deceiving as what we've seen with Toby Keith's Roadhouse. By all appearance, the Toby Keith's shown in the sketch looks like a full two stories. But it's not - it will be a tall one-story building with a two-story facade.
So think of it all this way... the buildings you don't like now will help in the short run, and because they're so cheap, that might just ensure that something better replaces them in 10 to 20 years.
It's not the ideal way of doing development... but....

[BG918]

Lower Bricktown is such a disappointment. It's the city's fault, they let that money grubber Hogan do whatever he wanted building cheap buildings to make a quick buck. He could care less about what the area looks like, all he cares about is money! Blame OKC, they turned a promising urban area into downtown suburbia. God I hope Tulsa doesn't make the same mistakes...

[Patrick]

Well, this is the reason I've been anti-Hogan for many years now. I took the side of Moshe Tal for many years, not because I liked Tal, but because I really saw vision in the plan David Cordish put forth. David Cordish was Tal's partner. For those of you who may not know Cordish, he's the head of the Cordish Corp., a major developer in Baltimore. He's done some very fine developments over the years and is highly sought after.
But Tal himself never seemed to have things together.
Hogan seems to be getting some development down there, but it seems like all of his development is very far from what many of us had hoped for. East Wharf is the biggest example of a Randy Hogan disappointment. East Wharf was supposed to be an extremely first class entertainment area....Hogan has turned it into an office/restaurant park. Sure, it's nice, but nothing like what was originally promised.

Sure, Hogan's developments may be replaced later with something better, but in the meantime we have to put up with a wall of concrete, surface lots, and other disappointments.

BG, you're extremely right....Hogan is out to make a buck. He could care less about creating an urban development. If Hogan respected urban OKC he'd be more like John Hammons....he'd build up and build parking garages to support his development.

One thing you have to realize though.....back when Urban Renewal sought bids for this development (early 1990's), Bricktown wasn't much. If we rebid the development today, I think things would be much different.

If only the city saw the vision David Cordish saw. He thought big, in fact, a little too big. When asked why the city chose Hogan over the Cordish/Tal plan, Urban Renewal answered saying that the Cordish/Tal plan was "too ambitious" for Bricktown! Sounds crazy to me, but that's the truth.

Anyways, I went to Branson this last weekend. It was the first time I'd been there for 10 years. They've leveled many older structures and placed high rises in their place! So we can only hope this will happen in Bricktown one of these days! You have to start somewhere. I guess Hogan is giving us our start. I was just hoping it wouldn't take this long, but I guess Rome wasn't built in a day.

[downtownguy]

Many would argue there was a lot more reason to rejecting the Tal development (and let's remember, it was always led by Tal, not Cordish). For people like Patrick, who have followed this matter closely, the question comes down to this:
Knowing that Tal has sued his own previous lawyers, several judges, dozens of city officials, and other developers, and even his own neighbors, and knowing his brother-in-law was indicted on bank fraud along with Tal's former banker, is this a man you would want to be in business with?

[Patrick]

Yeah, downtownguy is right about this. The plan that Tal put forth looked impressive. But, problem was, he was never able to verify financing for any of his proposed project. He always claimed that financing would come from his foreign investors, none of whom he was ever able to identify. Hogan, on the other hand, had proven financing. That was the main reason he was chosen. I think if Tal's plan had been led by Cordish, and if Cordish would've been able to verify financing, he probably would've been chosen by Urban Renewal.

downtwonguy makes a good point....I'm surprised I was never sued by the guy. Seems like he could've accused me of email harassment or something. LOL! He was extremely sue happy. Wouldn't be surprised if he had obsessive compulsive disorder.

In a way, I wish Urban Renewal wouldn't have bid the project as early as they did. Had they waited until after the canal opened, they might have attracted bigger names to the plate.

But in the long run, at least Randy is getting things started. As downtownguy mentioned in his blog, maybe later we can replace some of these disposable buildings with something that has more substance.

[Midtowner]

Patrick, let's hope so. There's only one Bricktown and it'd be a shame for this city to settle on something that's less than spectacular and world-class.

[Patrick]

At least Hogan's development will allow the north canal to fill up. We have plenty ofspae to lease there for now.
I think the worry that the Bricktown Association has had for years was that the Lower Bricktown development would be so ambitious that it would become the focus of attention and developers would lose interest in the older parts of Bricktown. Although their concern is obviously monetarily related, their point is valid. I'd like to see Sheridan and Main St. remain strong as well. Hopefully as interest in Bricktown explodes over the next 10 years, buildings will fill up, and the need for high rise buildings in Bricktown will become a reality.