Lumberyard

[lasomeday]

Several years ago maybe. In 2014, a couple of low-paid intern architects could put these images out in 10 days.

Looks promising.

[UnFrSaKn]

Towers in Lower Bricktown: Reality or Fantasy? | News OK

[catcherinthewry]

I'm glad to learn there's something behind this rumor.

[Dustin]

So this thing has a pulse?

*fingers crossed*

[Anonymous.]

OKCTalk with another story break, weeks in advance.

[Urbanized]

I still would caution against buying into the hype. Hope it happens, but I'm told there is more to this story.

[HangryHippo]

I still would caution against buying into the hype. Hope it happens, but I'm told there is more to this story.

Can you elaborate?

[Urbanized]

No, sorry, I really can't. Just a confidential conversation with someone who I really trust. I don't want to go bag on the developers, because I don't know them. Like I've said, nobody would like for this to happen more than me.

[Just the facts]

I still don't like this area being called Bricktown. This wedge between I-40, the boulevard, and the railroad should be called The North40.

[GaryOKC6]

Developer eyeing hotel and apartment towers

Building hopes in Bricktown: Developer eyeing hotel and apartment towers

By: Molly M. Fleming March 27, 2014 0



Inside Properties Inc. is under contract to purchase the property at 101 SE Fourth St., with potential plans to build three towers on the site. The tower on the west would be a hotel, with two apartment buildings on the east. (Rendering by Humphreys & Partners Architects LP)
Inside Properties Inc. is under contract to purchase the property at 101 SE Fourth St., with potential plans to build three towers on the site. The tower on the west would be a hotel, with two apartment buildings on the east. (Rendering by Humphreys & Partners Architects LP)
OKLAHOMA CITY – A Tucson, Ariz., company is considering developing a high-rise hotel and two residential towers on the Mid-States Lumber property at 101 SE Fourth St. Inside Properties has had the 5.9-acre site under contract since late December. The property is just south of Lower Bricktown near the Harkins Bricktown 16 Theatre.

Inside Properties’ Lou Christiansen told The Journal Record the company is interested in building a hotel and apartments, with the time frame to be decided once the sale closes. He said if the company continues with the apartment plan, retail space will be built on the first floor of the buildings. The proposal is depicted in a rendering produced by Dallas-based Humphreys and Partners Architects.

“At the same time, if we could find some users, that concept could be easily changed,” he said.

Christiansen said the company would be interested in selling one or two of the spaces on the site if another company or developer wants to build a tower.

“There’s room for three midsize high-rise towers,” he said. “If there’s a business that wants to build an office, it’s a pretty prime spot.”

He said there are no plans for a speculative office tower.

“We would rather sell one or two of the sites to a user or a tenant,” he said. “We could always (build it for them), but I’d think they’d want to step up and do it. We’re interested in tenants and users for that site.”

Christiansen and his partners own apartments in Oklahoma City and first entered the market in the early 1990s. Christiansen declined to disclose terms of the sale.

According to Oklahoma County records, the land is owned by the Bill and Patti Smith Family LP and has a market value of $1.2 million. Bill Smith, who started Mid-States Lumber Co. in 1986, died in 2012.

Hotel Broker One Chief Operating Officer Peter Holmes said the hotel, if it’s built, would enter a populated market.

“When the new convention center comes on-line, there’s going to be significantly more demand (for hotels),” he said. “Right now, we seem to be at a very good point in terms of number of rooms and number of hotels in Oklahoma City. With what’s coming on-line, we’re already close to a tipping point of being overbuilt.”

He said the hotel would be C or C-plus level in proximity to downtown demand generators. Nevertheless, he still expressed concerns about the market.

“It’s a fragile ecosystem,” he said.

[Urbanized]

For better or worse, people routinely trade on the name Bricktown who have no connection whatsoever to the district simply because it is such a recognizable brand. Even Aloft calls itself Aloft Bricktown rather than Aloft Deep Deuce, despite being in a great (and hot) neighborhood. You and I (and most of the posters here) appreciate Deep Deuce for what it is, but city-wide and regionally it has no brand recognition. Creating a "district" out of thin air would be even more challenging. It's why Lower Bricktown tried to position itself as "not Bricktown" yet still used the name...Bricktown.

[bchris02]

I still don't like this area being called Bricktown. This wedge between I-40, the boulevard, and the railroad should be called The North40.

I have a hard time seeing North40 catching on. Pretty much the entire area between the Boulevard and the river has been known as Core-to-Shore for so long I don't really see that changing.

[catch22]

I'm fine with that area being referred to as Bricktown or Core to Shore. We don't need a district name for every single development. Lol.

[kevinpate]

I still don't like this area being called Bricktown. This wedge between I-40, the boulevard, and the railroad should be called The North40.

Step away from the keyboard or tablet. Please. The last thing OK needs is anything being marketed as:

Live and work in The North 40 .. conveniently located just south of downtown and lower Bricktown.

[OKCisOK4me]

Step away from the keyboard or tablet. Please. The last thing OK needs is anything being marketed as:

Live and work in The North 40 .. conveniently located just south of downtown and lower Bricktown.

How is it any different from the name Broadway 10 for the new chophouse?! I dig the North40 name

[Plutonic Panda]

I agree. North40 seems pretty kewl.

[Just the facts]

Every neighborhood needs a name. What is the point in creating a 'sense of place' if you can't name it?

[catch22]

Every neighborhood needs a name. What is the point in creating a 'sense of place' if you can't name it?

North 40 is too manufactured. I don't like it.

[HangryHippo]

How is it any different from the name Broadway 10 for the new chophouse?! I dig the North40 name

I dig it too. Better than core to shore.

[Just the facts]

North 40 is too manufactured. I don't like it.

I follow a pretty simple rule for naming things. In my opinion names should reflect one of the following

1) Location
2) Natural/Significant features
3) Origin
4) Use

Good neighborhoods should be 1/4 mile from edge to center with a corridor of some type separating them from other neighborhoods. Likewise, good neighborhoods should not be bisected by corridors unless that corridor serves as the unifying object which the neighborhood is based on (i.e. Automobile Alley)

If you don't like the North40 there are other names as well including Lumberyard, Cotton Seed, and Santa Fe East. Since this area isn't large enough for two neighborhoods one name should cover the whole area.

[Anonymous.]

It should be named something reflective of OKC 'taking it back'.

[OKCisOK4me]

I dig it too. Better than core to shore.

Yeah...it'd be like Log Library directions..."yeah, I live in C2S, SE corner of sub quadrant NW of quadrant NE. My building has no name."

[G.Walker]

Good job OKCTALK for digging this up, and kudos to Molly Fleming and the Journal Record for breaking this story!

[David]

Where does the "North" part of the North40 come from? There may be an obvious explanation but so far I am missing it.

[Teo9969]

North of I-40