OKC Geological Society

[Pete]

[template=]
development
|category1=downtown
|category2=Automobile Alley
|category3=Office Buildings
|category4=Current
|
|project=
|address=10 NW 6th
|status=proposed
|owner=OKC Geological Society
|cost=
|architect=Mass Architects
|start=
|finish=
|contractor=
|height= 3 levels
|sq. feet=12,320
|acreage=
|other= Built in 1923
|
|image=
|
[/template]
Information & Latest News

1/31/14: This great old warehouse structure was just sold to the Oklahoma City Geological Society for $900,000 and they just filed a $1 million building permit as well.

Most recently this was known as Moyers Factory Warehouse.

They plan to renovate the structure for their own use and relocate from First National Center.

The first two floors will be for their offices and library; the third will be for events and education. Current plans call for the event space to be used by the society and affiliates, not for general public rental.

Interestingly, Land Run (of The Rise fame) had this building under contract, along with the lot to the west. Then OCGS struck a deal with them to withdraw their contract, and in turn the OCGS flipped them just the parking lot. The OCGS will then lease back part of that lot for parking and LandRun now has three contiguous properties along 6th (in pink below):
Links

County Assessor Record
OKC Geological Society
Gallery

[AP]

Good for Midtown. Not so good for First National Center.

[warreng88]

That's good infill for that area. Pete, do you have any idea what Steve Mason is going to do with his 11 NW 8th property? He bought it from Meg Salyer in June of 2011 and hasn't done anything to it. He is not usually one to sit on properties.

[Urbanized]

Technically Automobile Alley, not Midtown.

[AP]

Oh, right. I didn't look very closely at where it actually was.

[Pete]

That's good infill for that area. Pete, do you have any idea what Steve Mason is going to do with his 11 NW 8th property? He bought it from Meg Salyer in June of 2011 and hasn't done anything to it. He is not usually one to sit on properties.

He told me he's considering housing for 8th.

Not sure where he stands... Seems in no rush.

[Spartan]

Good for Midtown. Not so good for First National Center.

I don't know that the FNC needs the lease or that any of those leases (or it's owners) are permanent fixtures that will save it.

[HangryHippo]

Mason sold his engineering firm, didn't he? Is he still interested in doing developments downtown?

[Pete]

Mason sold his engineering firm, didn't he? Is he still interested in doing developments downtown?

Yes and yes.

[ljbab728]

Pete, is what appears to be a basement area being counted as one of the floors?

[Spartan]

Mason sold his engineering firm, didn't he? Is he still interested in doing developments downtown?

He may even be transitioning to just that from the Q&A with him in the Oke

[Pete]

Pete, is what appears to be a basement area being counted as one of the floors?

I believe they are adding a 3rd level as a loft.

Ceilings are very high in that building.

[metro]

Sweet, more infill. The urban core is on FIRE! Glad I have 2 properties DT!

[Pete]

Here are the plans for this renovation.

Note the slick neon & aluminum sign on the western elevation which will be highly visible from Broadway.

Also, the 2nd level is generally shown as a reading area but will also be used for the society's various events and gatherings.

[Pete]

Here is a good cross-section of this project; the front (north) is on the left:

[Pete]

Looks like they have already started work (thanks to shawnw for the photos):

[Urbanized]

This is a great building. It's always been an unassuming place sortof stuck off to the side as far as AA is concerned, but I got to tour it years ago when I was with the district's Main Street Program, and ever since have secretly lusted after it, wishing I had the resources to buy and renovate it. It's going to be a home run for them.

[Pete]

With this, the Mideke, Rock Island Plow, Marion, 1100 & 1101 Broadway and a bunch of other renovation projects in progress, there are fewer and fewer vacant buildings in the central core.

Pretty amazing progress in just the last five years or so.

[Urbanized]

Infill starts to make more and more sense (not that we aren't already seeing some). When space is at a premium is when we will really start seeing creative development and also a strong uptick in sidewalk activity.

[Spartan]

This is a great building. It's always been an unassuming place sortof stuck off to the side as far as AA is concerned, but I got to tour it years ago when I was with the district's Main Street Program, and ever since have secretly lusted after it, wishing I had the resources to buy and renovate it. It's going to be a home run for them.

The side streets nobody noticed in the past are seeing most of the boom right now.

[Urbanized]

No doubt. I remember when I was at Automobile Alley I all but averted my eyes when I drove past the ramshackle houses and structures on 9th, thinking (even as a pro-preservation guy) that there was no way those buildings could be saved, let alone repurposed. Steve Mason definitely proved that idea wrong.

And I recall talking with The Oklahoman's real estate editor Richard Mize when he was doing a story on something we were working on in AA. Saint Anthony, after threatening to leave for the suburbs unless the City invested in their area, had just agreed to stay downtown.

In my conversation with Richard he said he saw 10th as the new hotspot and thought it had even more potential than Broadway owing to the connection between Saint Anthony and the OUHSC (though it wasn't called OUHSC at the time). We were so focused on Broadway and had so much work ahead of us that in my mind I dismissed his comment as rather silly (though obviously committed it to memory).

Here we are 14 or 15 years after that conversation and I remembered it literally last night when I was riding down 10th. Several times over the past couple of years it has occurred to me that he was actually onto something when he said that; he was just a few years early. 10th is knitting itself together so nicely right now. I'm sure 6th will do the same. It's really a joy to see all of that finally coming together.

[Pete]

Apart from the empty lot on the south side of 10th just east of GoGo Sushi, 10th between I-235 and Classen will be almost fully developed when 10th & Shartel Apartments, Bleu Garten, the Holiday Pop-up Shops, Fassler Hall / Dust Bowl, 1100 & 1101 Broadway, 123 Garage, Indian Motorcyles and Prototek all open in the next year or so.

Even though a couple of those projects are temporary, they will still fill empty lots and bring a ton of life to that street. And that one lot by GoGo will certainly be developed by the MidtownR people in the near future.

[Spartan]

Apart from the empty lot on the south side of 10th just east of GoGo Sushi, 10th between I-235 and Classen will be almost fully developed when 10th & Shartel Apartments, Bleu Garten, the Holiday Pop-up Shops, Fassler Hall / Dust Bowl, 1100 & 1101 Broadway, 123 Garage, Indian Motorcyles and Prototek all open in the next year or so.

Even though a couple of those projects are temporary, they will still fill empty lots and bring a ton of life to that street. And that one lot by GoGo will certainly be developed by the MidtownR people in the near future.

Keep going east and then there's GE building up an urban campus.

[ljbab728]

Steve's update.

http://www.oklahoman.com/article/4248006?embargo=1

[Pete]

Photo from https://twitter.com/dtOKCbuilds: