Legacy Summit at Arts Central

[Patrick]

As you may have read in the Oklahoman or in downtownguy's blog, developer of the Legacy Summit at Arts Central, right next to Syacmore Square (home of our very own, Midtowner), will begin next month. There will be 300 units, and guess what? Parking will be in a 5 story garage. This is purely urban! Now why couldn't Randy Hogan do this for his Bricktown development?????? I also like the fact that the parking garage will be built BEHIND the residences. This means the residences will be buitl close to the street. Hmmmm....doesn't that fulfill downtownguy's requirement for being urban? Yup!

Anyways, I'll be looking forward to keeping up with this development. It's great to see all of these residences built downtown. One can only hope that these residences will attract more retail downtown. I've always been told, retail follows rooftops! I believe that!

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"Downtown apartment plans win approval


By Steve Lackmeyer
Staff Writer

Oklahoma City Urban Renewal commissioners approved final construction plans for a $26 million downtown apartment complex, clearing the developer to start building within the next month.
Planning for Legacy Summit at Arts Central has been under way for two years, with the site at Robert S. Kerr and Walker avenues cleared for housing by Urban Renewal more than 25 years ago.

JoeVan Bullard, the agency's executive director, said developer Mike Henderson is close to obtaining a building permit from the city.

"Technically, he could be moving dirt today," Bullard said.

Commissioners also were told financing for the project is complete.

Plans include construction of a 300-unit complex facing Robert S. Kerr, Walker and NW 4, with a five-level garage to be built behind the residences.

The deal also calls for the city to reopen Dewey Avenue between the development and Sycamore Square -- a condo and apartment complex built in the early 1980s.

The first floor of the new residences will include space for small retailers with parking spaces to be added along Walker Avenue.

The project, once complete, will join a half dozen new downtown residential projects that include lofts along Automobile Alley, apartments in Deep Deuce and the upscale Montgomery.

"We'll be closing in on our goal of 1,000 new units downtown," Commissioner Fred Hall said. "This is great."

[Patrick]

By the way, here's downtownguy's blog from Thursday:

"New Downtown Housing
Did you catch the story in today’s Daily Oklahoman about the construction plans being approved for the Legacy Summit at Arts Central apartments?

This will be huge for downtown – especially the arts district. They’re going to start work next on month on the urban-style four story buildings, all facing Walker Avenue, Robert S Kerr and Northwest Fourth. We’re talking about 300 units, with retail on the first floor.

And it’s all within walking distance of the Civic Center Music Hall, Oklahoma City Museum of Art and Myriad Gardens. Oh, and let’s not forget The Montgomery, which is opening this month. Great article about that appeared in last month’s Downtowner:

Downtown Monthly - September 2004
The Montgomery
By John Parker

Besides the art deco geometry and designs trimming The Montgomery, the most noticeable exterior element of the 75-year-old landmark is more than a dozen massive windows bordering the sidewalks on three sides. Like the building’s loading docks in the alley, they were designed in 1929 for a practical purpose: to sell.

The Montgomery Ward company – one of the Wal-Marts of its heyday, but now a catalog- and Internet-only retailer – was in transition from a mail-order business to the concept of multi-floor “department stores” in major cities. In business since 1872, the company announced in 1929 it would build 10 department stores nationwide. Fast-growing Oklahoma City would get one at 500 West Main. More than 300 people in the state’s first combination department store and mail-order branch would work in its 10 stories (later scaled back to six), the company said.

For city folks and rural visitors accustomed to catalog shopping, it was a big deal to see items firsthand – so big that a newspaper reported that Paul B. Phillips, experienced at three retail stores, was appointed the important job of display manager. Montgomery Ward’s staff architects gave Phillips plenty to work with. The building’s windows – wide as a freight truck and adjoined to the second-floor windows – showcased goods such as wood furniture-style Airline radio sets, Gyrator washers, Western Field shotguns and the latest suits by Man-O-Fashion.

The windows were ringed in pink-tinted cast stone. Above them were ornamental cast-iron spandrels with sunrise and floral designs – all elements now covered by a post-1970s exterior coating to seal leaks. In 1982, widely known architecture critic Hiroshi Watanabe visited Oklahoma City and deemed the building one of many “outstanding” restoration structures downtown.

Bob Blackburn, now the executive director of the Oklahoma Historical Society, wrote the building’s successful nomination document in 1979 for its inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. He described it as the last art deco commercial structure in Oklahoma City.

“Structures such as the Montgomery Ward Building are disappearing rapidly in Oklahoma City, giving way to glass and steel office buildings, apartments and parking lots … If the Montgomery Ward Building is preserved and renovated, it will add to the human environment of this revitalized district of Oklahoma City, serving as a reminder of the past and a legacy to a unique architectural style.”

A department store until 1966, the Montgomery passed through periods of vacancy, use as a furniture store warehouse and an office and retail center in the 1980s and 1990s. Bought last year for $1.65 million, the 125,000-square-foot building will be reincarnated this fall as a first-class, luxury residential complex.

The Gardner/Tanenbaum Group will lease more than 50 apartments to individual and corporate customers while grooming the lower floors to capitalize on downtown’s residential, entertainment and business revival. The developers are aiming for an upscale restaurant on the first floor that will take advantage of the building’s wine cellar, also designed for residents. Other planned amenities include concierge service, a private theater, a business center and a 16,000-square-foot health club (open to nonresidents).

Guiding the multimillion-dollar renovation is Richard Tanenbaum, chief operating officer of the Gardner/Tanenbaum Group. He moved here from Houston seven years ago and sees Oklahoma City’s downtown boom as identical to recent residential redevelopment successfully established in Houston, Dallas and Denver.

“We have always viewed it as a mid-rise luxury apartment house – that’s our goal and we’re there,” he said. “We plan to have maid service, limo service, a doorman and valet.”

Tanenbaum has a personal connection to The Montgomery’s history.

“My father-in-law, who for 27 years was my partner in all my developments, remembers coming down to the Montgomery Ward around 1929 with his Mom and Dad and buying his first bike. He thinks they bought it the basement.”

Interior designer Glenna Tanenbaum has tried to keep as many of the original elements as possible in the multimillion-dollar renovation, but interior gutting and damage over the years limited restoration. However, art deco-style fixtures and accents will be part of the renovated first-floor rotunda, which will be finished with granite and tile. The repainting of the exterior in Rockwood blue-green, classical white and bagel also emphasized The Montgomery’s original art deco designs. Massive martini glass support columns remain in the interior, along with apartments with exposed pipes and some with original painted brick walls. Certain apartments have stunning big-window views of downtown, made even more dramatic with 18-foot ceilings. Apartments will range from 800 to more than 1,500 square feet.

“I love working with my husband because we’re a very good team,” said Glenna, a veteran of numerous commercial and residential renovations. “He has a lot of faith in my decisions, so it makes it very easy to work with him, and I don’t have to check every thing with him. I’ve done deco jobs before, so I have some wonderful ideas I’ve used before. We’re not reinventing – just enhancing the building.

“I go in there and I think to myself, ‘Oh, my god, it’s so incredible. Oklahoma City is so lucky to finally come around and realize that downtown living is so great. It’s going to be first class and people are really excited about it.”

Sources: The Daily Oklahoman archives, the 1979 National Register of Historic Places nomination by historian Bob L. Blackburn, The Montgomery brochure.

Good story. And the project has been getting high praise from people like Fred Hall and others who have toured it. Count on reading about more downtown housing coming soon (no, not in the Colcord!)

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

[Midtowner]

I currently reside at Sycamore Square. Currently, that empty field is an eyesore. I'm VERY glad that a community like this is going to be built next door. I plan on living here for the next several years while I finish up my JD and all. Maybe by that time we'll have a highrise condo complex or something like that.

I love living in this area. Last night, we walked over to the Ford center, took in a Blazer's game, then walked over to Bricktown and had a few. We watched "Team America" over at the Harkins. It let out around 2AM and we got a ride back home.

Nothing matches the convenience -- and now this with the retail on the bottom. I'm excited to see what this project will look like when completed!

[floater]

Yeah, I think Mike Henderson knows about those three rules in City Comfort. And like you guys, I am looking forward to seeing the retail on the first floor of these units. If I can get a job that pays good $$$ I would definitely live in Legacy Summitt. I wanna see a mix of galleries, conveniences, and hangouts there. Very exciting