downtownguy had a great blog Wednesday. I thought I'd post it here. It's great to learn that progress is being made on the OKC Town Square Concept. I truly believe that in the near future this will become on the nicest mixed use developments in the city....and it will be urban! And downtownguy raised a question about the old KerrMcGee surface lots in this area.......it seems to me like Luke Corbett, as downtown-minded as he is (afterall, he used to be president of the OKC Chamber of Commerce), would sell this property for this project. He'd be dumb not to. Afterall, he's not using the property anymore. KerrMcGee's presence has been reduced so mcuh in downtown OKC that I don't think they'll ever need that parking space again, unless they just decide to move offices back to OKC from Houston, which I highly doubt. There have been rumors for years that KerrMcGee will someday officially move its headquarters to Houston. They have two large office towers in downtown Houston.....their headquarters might as well already be there. I think they're just keeping it here for historic purposes.

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"OKC Town Center
The magnitude of OKC Town Center is starting to come into focus as the development group, led by Bert Berlanger and Anthony McDermid, secures more property in the area known in recent years as the "Flatiron District." Drive the area between Interstate 235, Harrison Avenue and Northeast 2nd and you discover a handful of signs identifying major properties and buildings as part of the development. They have also begun mowing tall weeds and cleaning up the previously neglected parcels.

All of this comes just in time; work will begin soon on rebuilding of the Walnut Avenue bridge and conversion of Walnut Avenue into a two-way street and main entry to Bricktown and Deep Deuce.

This corridor will be heavilly traveled once open, and the possibility of an upscale residential, office and retail development popping up along that entryway means the outskirts of downtown may soon be a source of pride, and not embarassment.

The big question remains: can Berlanger and McDermid convince Kerr-McGee to let go of vast surface parking lots the corporate giant abandoned long ago. Previous efforts to persuade the company to sell the lots went nowhere. But word in the development community is Kerr McGee is listening this time - and a deal might be possible.

- The Downtown Guy
www.downtownguy.blogspot.com"