Midtown

[dcsooner]

All those renovations look spectacular. If leasing goes well, density in that area of DT will continue to improve

[Pete]

Yep, there is close to a critical mass of housing now in the Midtown area and with the new Mercy project, it will definitely put them over the top.

Now, if Crescent Market locates there or in Auto Alley, we will really be in business. And the streetcar is yet to come!

[wschnitt]

This is an application by Midtown Renaissance to close Park Place between the Packard and the Guardian. On page 4, it has a nice looking concept for what could be done. Also on Item B-2 on the first page it implies that the Guardian is no longer intended for residential.

http://www.okc.gov/planning/planning.../drc/CE807.pdf

What is the cross street? Close to Francis?

[mcca7596]

It's at the NW corner of 10th and Robinson.

[ljbab728]

Maybe they were realizing leasing prospects weren't good for such a "spartan" looking edifice.

Is that a pun, Spartan? LOL

[SkyWestOKC]

525 NW 13th Street sold. Isn't this across the street from the Mercy site? I'm not too familiar with that part of town.

13th Street LLC from Daniel M. and Joy S. Davis, 525 NW 13, $595,000.

Read more: http://newsok.com/land-sales/article...#ixzz1Su1zjlqU

[Pete]

Yes, that is a multi-tenant office building directly north of the Mercy site:

[Spartan]

Is that a pun, Spartan? LOL

Of course, I love my screen name.

[Larry OKC]

New medical building offices to be built at 1226 N. Shartel (Healthy Heartbeat Integrative Cardiology). Strangely, the building on that site to be demolished had new windows put into it a couple of years ago but was never finished (I believe):

At first when I saw the Pete's pic and plans, thought it was one of those instances where the developer said they were doing to build _______________ and ended up with something else.

[soonerhcf]

It's about time Steve got those guys to say something: http://newsok.com/midtown-renaissanc...ad_story_title

[Pete]

That was a great article by Steve. Slowly but surely, the group sans Banta has really delivered with all these properties and seems to be doing everything the right way.

Their renovations have all been first class, and they are doing a great job of mixing up retail, apartments and offices.

Really hope they can make the Osler work as a boutique hotel, as that would be a great, complimentary use for that beautiful old building.

And I admire their willingness to try and do something with the Marion, as that is a building with tons of problems. I'm sure it's day will come at some point; it seems to be in the right hands.

[betts]

IF the Marion can be renovated for a reasonable amount of money, I've certainly stayed at hotels in other cities that have no parking. There is simply valet parking for everyone who arrives with car. The Marion will essentially be on the streetcar line as well. I do wish we had commuter or light rail to the airport, as then you could easily arrive at the Marion sans automobile.

[BDP]

IMO, Midtown has the best potential for a true urban neighborhood in OKC. After looking around this thread and reading Steve's latest article, I couldn't help but realize how out of place the new Mercy development will be. It almost would have been better to split it up or kind of do it in pieces instead of building just one big monster apartment complex. I'm not saying it won't be beneficial to the area, but it will kind of undermine a lot of the amazing efforts by the Renaissance group to really build on the area's great character. And if Henderson pulls another, gulp, Legacy on the area, it will truly be the sore thumb of the district. Hopefully, since it is so close to Heritage Hills and its influence, OCURA will be more responsible with enforcing the proposal.

[SkyWestOKC]

I think Deep Deuce has the best potential for being a true urban neighborhood in OKC. Second to that is most undoubtedly Midtown. The amount of progress happening in the immediate downtown vicinity is amazing. It will be something when Midtown expands to meet AA and AA and the Triangle area expands to meet Deep Deuce, and Bricktown and Deep Deuce grow a little more closer. (Mainly Bricktown growing closer to Deep Deuce, rather than the opposite)

[onthestrip]

I gotta go with BDP. Ive been saying the same for a long time. I don't see deep duece being the best urban neighborhood. It doesn't have the retail and office offerings that midtown does. It's the mix of housing, retail and work places that make an area vibrant and exciting. And I see midtown as having the most potential to putting that all together

[Pete]

Besides the one bridal shop and food places, is there other retail in Midtown (talking Midtown, not Auto Alley)?

[Spartan]

I get the impression that Clagg and Mid-town Renaissance is moving forward, bolstered by the emerging streetcar route. This is premier, first-rate stuff. This is the level of development that is attracted by a rising tide. This is why we fight for things like sustainability, urbanism, and so on.

[Pete]

They have finished or are in process on all but a couple of their properties.

Pretty amazing and it really does seem like the ball is rolling downhill now.

[Spartan]

Yeah, for all of downtown that is.

[betts]

I gotta go with BDP. Ive been saying the same for a long time. I don't see deep duece being the best urban neighborhood. It doesn't have the retail and office offerings that midtown does. It's the mix of housing, retail and work places that make an area vibrant and exciting. And I see midtown as having the most potential to putting that all together

They both are within easy walking distance of the CBD. Neither has retail of any substance. They both have a lot of restaurants within walking distance. Deep Deuce is going to have more housing options for awhile, although if you add in SoSA, there's more of an opportunity to have a backyard in Midtown. I see them as similar, but different. Different people will choose to live in one or the other. Personally, I prefer Deep Deuce because I like living within easy walking distance of the...ahem...Chesapeake Center and the Harkins Theatre and it feels more like you are right in the center of things. Automobile Alley feels closer to me from Deep Deuce than Midtown, but that's probably perception. It's nice there are now multiple choices for near downtown living and I don't really see them as competing with each other for "best" Best means different things to different people.

[Spartan]

Mid-town is not shaping up as well as Deep Deuce. But betts is right, if someone wants to talk about a mix of ALL uses, let's have a chat about retail...

[betts]

And for those of us who don't have a rooftop, there is balcony gardening. One of my favorite blogs is http://lifeonthebalcony.com/. I've got honey and cutter bees coming to my balconies regularly. I'm growing host plants for butterfly caterpillars. Next year I too will be growing tomatoes.

[wschnitt]

IF the Marion can be renovated for a reasonable amount of money, I've certainly stayed at hotels in other cities that have no parking. There is simply valet parking for everyone who arrives with car. The Marion will essentially be on the streetcar line as well. I do wish we had commuter or light rail to the airport, as then you could easily arrive at the Marion sans automobile.

It is unfortunate that it is not on Broadway. I think it's chances would be far better to be renovated. I found pictures of the inside on abandonedok.com and it was far less than I thought. It was described be a renovation gone wrong. Large amount of interior demolition. Although I bet it would be largely destroyed by now. Although there would at least be something to recreate if a true restoration was done.

There is a courtyard/open space typical of buildings from this area in the middle, which really limits floor space/ possible floor plans. I would bet that would be filled in in a renovation. I would also bet in a renovation not much more than the facade would be used.

[Spartan]

The Marion was probably a bad purchase on the part of Banta, who was just going hog-wild in his buying spree up and down 10th Street. The saving grace I think it has is that the lot isn't very conducive for some other infill, I mean, if you tore it down and built something over it, you would still have a building with some tiny floor plate sizes.

The question is, how much is the location worth? How much does being right at the turn in the streetcar couplet make the building/location worth, and how much is its historic charm worth? Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is now the oldest building standing downtown? (in lieu of the India Temple)

And, would people mind if I start creating some new threads for the bigger projects? I am getting tired of these huge bulky threads. Let me know if that would be okay..

[lasomeday]

Spartan! DO IT! It is hard to keep track of what is going here.