Scissortail Park

[BigD Misey]

Everything will be fine provided Walker is lined with mixed use south of the Boulevard

[Spartan]

No, everything will not be fine if one street is done right and the major street is a monumental screw up.

[soonerguru]

everything will be fine provided walker is lined with mixed use south of the boulevard

wtf?

[warreng88]

OKC Urban Renewal Authority: More funding will be needed for property
By Brianna Bailey
Journal Record
Oklahoma City reporter - Contact 405-278-2847
Posted: 05:19 PM Wednesday, June 20, 2012

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority is moving ahead with plans to spend $2.34 million to buy real estate around the future site of a downtown park that is part of MAPS 3, but will need additional funds to purchase more than a few high-profile parcels.

“But it’s a good start,” Cathy O’Connor, president of the Oklahoma City Alliance for Economic Development, told the authority on Wednesday.

The money will come from tax increment financing funds. It will be used to buy as many key pieces of property around the 40-acre park as possible.

The authority will then parlay the acquisitions to private developers who want to invest in the area.

O’Connor said she expects to spend all of the money in a matter of months and will have to obtain more funding to buy more properties.

“We will buy as many parcels as we can, as far as it will go,” she said.

Some property owners in the area have already contacted the authority and expressed their willingness to sell, OCURA Chairman Larry Nichols said.

“There are some landowners who want to get on board and are ready to sell and move on,” Nichols said.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the authority said it would begin acquiring land for a site pegged for the new downtown convention center that is also part of MAPS 3. The site is just north of the old Interstate 40 next to the Chesapeake Energy Arena.

[Just the facts]

I just wonder why the City has to play 'middleman' here. Why can't the developer buy directly from the current owner?

[Spartan]

The city is going to get gouged on this.

[Rover]

The city is going to get gouged on this.

How so? Are you referring to the acquisitions around the park or the cc?

[Spartan]

Well, I'm not even talking about the CC, there's a chance the city might be able to afford that site for the CC if Fred Hall and Bob Howard find it within their heart to forgo much of the site's value just to get the CC there.

I am referring to OCURA now expanding the buyout area to include as much land as they can get their hands on around the park. There has already been a ton of speculation in the park site, which was some expensive land acquisition.

[Larry OKC]

JTF: I agree. Why is the City getting involved in what should be a private transaction between these potential developers and the private proerty owners? Seems like it will just escalate the cost of the property????

ON EDIT: I guess it is so the City can have even greater control than they already have in what gets developed there

[Just the facts]

ON EDIT: I guess it is so the City can have even greater control than they already have in what gets developed there

And that should be cause for concern - the City doesn't have a great track record on land development (Lower Bricktown). We have already seen what the City's vision is for C2S - a bunch of single story single family homes and radiant residential building that don't produce critical mass and necessary street-level density. Private developers in Deep Deuce have done a much better job of creating an urban environment.

This video should scare the crap out of everyone if this is what the City has in mind.

http://vimeo.com/1430974

[BoulderSooner]

And that should be casue for concern - the City doesn't have a great track record on land development (Lower Bricktown). We have already seen what the City's vision is for C2S - a bunch of single story single family homes and radiant residential building that don't produce critical mass and necessary street-leve density. Private developers in Deep Deuce have done a much better job of creating an urban environment.

This video should scare the crap out of everyone if this is what the City has in mind.

http://vimeo.com/1430974

almost all of Deep deuce was controlled development by the city (OCURA)

[Just the facts]

almost all of Deep deuce was controlled development by the city (OCURA)

You mean while it sat with empty lots for 40 years right. OCURA has not developed a single square foot of deep deuce. It was all done by private developers. The more OCURA stays out of it the better the project is (Mercy Hositpal Site and Legacy should be proof enough of that).

Name one project the OCURA put out for bid in Deep Deuce.

[Larry OKC]

While there are some single family residences, if not mistaken the area around the Park was intended to be at least brownstone type from what I saw in the Core to Shore report??? And even in that video, it looked like mid to high rise residential along the Park?

[BoulderSooner]

You mean while it sat with empty lots for 40 years right. OCURA has not developed a single square foot of deep deuce. It was all done by private developers. The more OCURA stays out of it the better the project is (Mercy Hositpal Site and Legacy should be proof enough of that).

Name one project the OCURA put out for bid in Deep Deuce.

the hill level aloft the entire triangle (2nd ave lofts brownstones the new apts north of brownstones) central ave block 42 and the deep deuce apts

[Just the facts]

the hill level aloft the entire triangle (2nd ave lofts brownstones the new apts north of brownstones) central ave block 42 and the deep deuce apts

Those lots were owned by OCURA for how many years before they were bought by private developers? I don't remeber OCURA having ANY bid process for those lots and I sure don't remember any OCURA approvals needed for what was built, but maybe there was since the ones you listed are having the hardest time finding tenants (except Deep Deuce Apts which are the lowest density in the district).

I stand partially corrected - OCURA did select the Block 42 developer.

Either way, I hope C2S turns out more like Deep Deuce than Lower Bricktown and I hope it doesn't take 40 years.

[Urbanized]

The Hill and the Deep Deuce Apartments were both projects that resulted from the OCURA RFP process, though not without controversy.

[Spartan]

The Hill was a mess. I still have a bad taste over that selection process, and I also bet McDermid's proposal would have gotten built.

[Just the facts]

The Hill and the Deep Deuce Apartments were both projects that resulted from the OCURA RFP process, though not without controversy.

Thanks Urbanized and BoulderSooner.

[OKCisOK4me]

Drove down towards COPTA Union Station tonight during my little tour of downtown progress. I'm thinking that when they tear down the Salvation Army building and all that in anticipation of construction of the park, that they really need to clean up the surrounding properties (with the over grown trees and such). Urban Campers will still consider the surrounding lots as camouflage from the natural elements and that's totally going to detract from the concept of family friendly park.

[CuatrodeMayo]

http://www.okctalk.com/showthread.ph...742#post557742

[Spartan]

I wonder if the MAPS3 park could be a funding source for the Thunder Circle..

[Bellaboo]

Just a crazy wacko random thought. The rendering of the Thunder circle has a large under ground passage from the arena to the park. How about building an above ground 3 story or so parking garage in the park, preferably near the North end. Cover it up with the excavated dirt from the lakes, intensly landscape it. It would be a good ongoing funding source for the park, plus adding close in parking for game night. This would be a good observation hill in the least.
Am I crazy ?

[Just the facts]

Just a crazy wacko random thought. The rendering of the Thunder circle has a large under ground passage from the arena to the park. How about building an above ground 3 story or so parking garage in the park, preferably near the North end. Cover it up with the excavated dirt from the lakes, intensly landscape it. It would be a good ongoing funding source for the park, plus adding close in parking for game night. This would be a good observation hill in the least.
Am I crazy ?

Yes you are

You don't waste park and prime street frontage on parking. Plus, MBG already expiremented with burms and hills, they don't work in an urban park unless the area is naturally hilly.

[Bellaboo]

Yes you are

You don't waste park and prime street frontage on parking. Plus, MBG already expiremented with burms and hills, they don't work in an urban park unless the area is naturally hilly.

I got this idea from visiting Monaco, all of their parking garages are underground, even for the tour busses.

[Spartan]

Yes you are

You don't waste park and prime street frontage on parking. Plus, MBG already expiremented with burms and hills, they don't work in an urban park unless the area is naturally hilly.

I disagree. I think it could be a novel feature.