Brickopolis

[Architect2010]

Bricktown Canal
owner=Chris Johnson
cost= $1.8 million
architect=Sam Gresham
sq. feet=15,557
Restaurant at street and canal level, apparel on street level, laser tag and games on upper level.


Latest News & Information

1/10/14: $1.8 million building permit
Latest plans (see gallery below) to be reviewed by Bricktown Design Review Committee on 8/14/13.
Links

County Assessor Record

http://brickopolisfuncenter.com
Gallery

[Spartan]

It looks like a potential winner to me. Good find a2010. That new parking lot looks temporary as hell. At least the main structure fills the site from the street to canal.

[Patrick]

What an expensive piece of real estate to put such a suck project on.

[metro]

While not ideal, I'm ok with it, it's a decent infill project, even if on such prime land, that lot has been vacant for nearly 2 decades. I think Bricktown design committee should play hardball on the parking lot though.

[Spartan]

While not ideal, I'm ok with it, it's a decent infill project, even if on such prime land, that lot has been vacant for nearly 2 decades. I think Bricktown design committee should play hardball on the parking lot though.

There is no such thing as prime land in Bricktown. All along Mickey Mantle and Sheridan there are many develop-able lots that would be incredible infill sites, but for years they have sat empty. Bricktown especially is only worth as much as the rent gap, which is not very high anymore. I agree that this would normally, in different circumstances, be extremely prime land. But nonetheless, it's probably not going to attract a major development any time soon like Cotton Exchange.

[metro]

Spartan, I disagree, there is prime land, they are undeveloped because of greedy, unrealistic land owners, and bad city policy for vacant lots, that doesn't mean the land is not prime real estate.

[rondvu]

Thanks for sharing. Looks like a good fit for the area. I have to admit I was surprised to see the absence of mock stucco.

[SkyWestOKC]

According to Steve's article/blog, this project and the housing project aren't as sure as they seem.

[Architect2010]

No one said they were. These two Bricktown projects are PROPOSALS to the Bricktown Urban Design Committee; lord knows how many times we've seen projects presented but never seem to get much farther than approval. I just thought they'd be fun to discuss as residential use in Bricktown is rare, and we've been waiting for these lots to be developed forever. I'm hopeful that the design committee hits 'em hard. I really do not like this proposal at all, because fact of the matter is that these two lots are indeed PRIME real estate, and I really hate that we'd be putting a parking garage on one of the only lots that has two sides of canal frontage. They didn't even attempt to address the canal frontage with the small parking lot or the parking garage; they're just walls. Dissapointing.

[wschnitt]

Can someone post a pic of the Cotton Exchange Building?

[J. Pitman]

What a strange name.

[pickles]

What a strange name.

And dumb.

[SkyWestOKC]

Agreed.

[betts]

I'm guessing it's a take-off on House of Blues, Oklahoma Style?

[LakeEffect]

I'm guessing it's a take-off on House of Blues, Oklahoma Style?

Nope. T-shirts and the like, but also including some type of food/drinks... The owner owns a place on Meridian near SW 29th Street.

[G.Walker]

I think the reasoning behind the name "House of Bedlam" is the owner cashing in on OU/OSU fans during football/basketball/baseball seasons. I can see it now, one side of the sports bar OU fans, the other OSU...good marketing strategy though...

[betts]

Ah, I forgot about the House of Bedlam in Bethany. They have about everything imagineable in terms of OU/OSU merchandise.

[stlokc]

A bland-ish building where they sell college t-shirts and, I'm guessing, fried bar food? That's imaginative.

[bornhere]

Sounds like a mental institution, which is what Bedlam originally was. Also, this being Bricktown, doesn't it have to be spelled "Houz of Beddlum" or similar?

[warreng88]

Several projects in the pipeline for Bricktown
By Brianna Bailey
Journal Record
Oklahoma City reporter - Contact 405-278-2847
Posted: 07:33 PM Monday, June 6, 2011

OKLAHOMA CITY – Businessman Chris Johnson hopes to bring Bedlam to Bricktown, with a canal-side building he wants to build here that would house a cafe and boutique full of University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University sports memorabilia.

Construction in Bricktown appears to be heating up again after being stalled somewhat by the recession. Several development projects are in the pipeline for the area.

“I think that Bricktown is starting to see some of the rebound of the economy just like many other areas of the city,” said Jeannette Smith, executive director of the Bricktown Association.

Developers Marsh Pitman and Wisconsin-based Raymond Management Group have announced plans to build an 11-story, 179,342-square-foot building that would house a 155-room Hilton Garden Inn and a 100-room Homewood Suites in Bricktown. The project is in the land acquisition phase. A new watering hole, Capt. Norm’s Dockside Bar, is also under construction on the Bricktown Canal at 105 E. California Ave.

Johnson, who operates a screen-printing business and the House of Bedlam cafe and store at 3100 S. Meridian Ave., wants to take the concept to Bricktown. Preliminary plans for the area also include a two-story, 114-space parking garage to the west of the new development on the other side of the canal. A pedestrian bridge spanning the canal would link the two buildings.

Plans for the House of Bedlam development were slated to come before the Bricktown Urban Design Committee this week, but the hearing has been postponed to give Johnson time to scale back the plans from a three-story retail building at canal level down to two stories.

“We’re just trying to complement that area and create more pedestrian walkways and parking, create more shopping and help other buildings lease up – that’s my main goal,” Johnson said.

Johnson recently acquired a chunk of vacant land on the canal across from the Bricktown Ballpark for the House of Bedlam development from would-be developer Gary Cotton for an undisclosed price.

Cotton once had plans to build a $36 million mixed-use development on the land at 101 S. Mickey Mantle Dr. called the Cotton Exchange that included condominiums, shops, restaurants, office space and four stories of parking.

Warr Acres businessman Gary Berlin is also cautiously moving ahead with plans to renovate the upper floors of the Mideke
Supply building at 100 E. Main St. in Bricktown. Berlin acquired the building in 2007 for $4.2 million. He hopes to transform the fourth and fifth floors of the building into 20 loft-style apartments and eventually add more rental units to the fifth floor of the building.

The project has been stalled by a lack of financing after banks tightened their lending in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, Berlin said.

Financing for the project is still tentative, but Berlin said he is optimistic about the future of the project.

“We’re just kind of testing the waters, so to speak, and seeing what we need to do to get going,” he said.

Berlin wants to bring the exterior of the nearly 100-year-old Mideke building back in line with what it use to look like when it was the headquarters of the Mideke Supply Co. from 1906 to 1993. Hours of research led him to find the original sign for the Mideke building in Boston. Berlin plans to pick up the roughly 3.5-by-7-foot sign on the East Coast and bring it back to Oklahoma this summer.

“There really isn’t going to be anything else in Bricktown like it,” he said.

[ljbab728]

http://www.midekesupply.com/gallery.html

[Larry OKC]

Sounds like a mental institution, which is what Bedlam originally was. Also, this being Bricktown, doesn't it have to be spelled "Houz of Beddlum" or similar?

Only if it was located in the defunct "Dogpatch U.S.A" or if the marketing cows from Chick-fil-A get involved...LOL

[blangtang]

Not that it matters, but who 'broke' this story? was it on here (Arch2010) or were journal record and newsok/dok sitting on this info to 'break' at a later date? I suppose anyone could look up meeting info...

[Spartan]

Yeah, it is interesting to see the two articles immediately following this posting on this forum. Although I don't think arch2010 should have gotten as defensive as he did in his post, considering he did beat the journalists to the punch.

I am curious about this planned parking garage ACROSS the canal? I think we might need to rely on the further judgment of the Bricktown Urban Design Commission on this one...

[Steve]

You guys amuse me.