The Next Bricktown?

[bchris02]

As Bricktown transitions from entertainment district to neighborhood, there are going to be winners and losers as well as growing pains. Certain popular businesses such as nightclubs and certain types of bars will go away in favor of other types of businesses such as restaurants and retail. Economically this is good. Far more dollars will be spent at and far more customers will patronize a restaurant open 7 days per week than a nightclub open two nights. This will increase street traffic and the overall energy of the district being that there will be more people there. However, a city without a club scene is many times seen as a city with nothing to do, for better or for worse, especially by younger people. They are an important aspect of a city's nightlife. While some would be perfectly fine not having them at all, my hopes is another neighborhood will pick up where Bricktown left off. Where could that be though?

One thing a lot of other cities have is a one-stop "shopping mall" style entertainment venue, sometimes woven into the existing urban fabric and other times not, housing most of their club scene as well as some restaurants, retail, and live music establishments. Here are a few examples. All of these would be a step up from Bricktown today or anything currently in OKC.

Louisville: Fourth St Live



Kansas City: Power and Light District



Charlotte: Epicentre



Charlotte: NC Music Factory (Built into an abandoned mill)



Question is, would a development like one of the above work in OKC? Does anybody think it might be possible in the future here? I don't know what type of development Steve might be hinting at that would make Dallas and Kansas City jealous but my guess is it would be something like the images above. Maybe not though. Thoughts?

[Plutonic Panda]

Steve said the development isn't dead...

[bchris02]

Steve said the development isn't dead...

Thanks. I edited the post.

[metro]

I still see it as Bricktown, albeit a denser, more higher and better use of the district which is WAYYYYY underutilized.

[Plutonic Panda]

I think it should still have one or two nice nightclubs. I'm not sure whether I like the idea of the Farmers Market getting nightclubs. We could place the nightclubs around the county jail

[boitoirich]

If Bricktown just used the canal a sextillionth better than it does now, built on surface parking, restored the UHaul building, and renovated upper floors, it would be an outstanding district with much more character than those places mentioned above. It would be a mini Gastown (Vancouver), a place that is historical and contrived, yet charming all the while. One stop shopping for retail would be nice, an adjacent district (AA, Midtown) developing in such a way would render that point moot.

[Plutonic Panda]

I also think the canal should be extended as well.

[betts]

I think the thing that might help Bricktown the most is developing the canal level of many of these buildings at the west end of the canal. A lot of them are either eyesores or simply add no life to the area. There's so much potential there that it shocks me that all that space is being neglected.

[Anonymous.]

I think once the Santa Fe Depot hole is punched through the RR wall, the west end of the canal will finally be utilized .

[Urbanized]

That's a great point, Anonymous. My contention has always been that for the canal to achieve its potential, more attention needs to be paid to making it a place to go THROUGH rather than a place to go TO. Right now, it is a place to go TO. So, unless you are going to a place on the canal, you have no reason to be there (unless you are a visitor, in which case the canal itself is the attraction). But as soon as you make it the shortest/easiest/most rewarding way to get from one point of interest to another, THAT is when it become active. That's the reason why I have always been hopeful that it would extend beyond the tracks and become a sort of "super-sidewalk" from Chesapeake, MBG, Cox, etc. to Bricktown. The hole punched in the viaduct connecting it to the transit facility and CBD will help in this regard. It's not a canal extension, but it's better than nothing at all.

As probably the only person posting on here who has operated a business or businesses on the canal level, I can tell you that it is far more challenging that at street level. Locals don't visit the canal level unless they are going to a specific place there. And you can't depend on visitors for all of your business unless you are strictly targeted at tourists, as locals still make up the vast majority of Bricktown users.

[bchris02]

That's a great point, Anonymous. My contention has always been that for the canal to achieve its potential, more attention needs to be paid to making it a place to go THROUGH rather than a place to go TO. Right now, it is a place to go TO. So, unless you are going to a place on the canal, you have no reason to be there (unless you are a visitor, in which case the canal itself is the attraction). But as soon as you make it the shortest/easiest/most rewarding way to get from one point of interest to another, THAT is when it become active. That's the reason why I have always been hopeful that it would extend beyond the tracks and become a sort of "super-sidewalk" from Chesapeake, MBG, Cox, etc. to Bricktown. The hole punched in the viaduct connecting it to the transit facility and CBD will help in this regard. It's not a canal extension, but it's better than nothing at all.

As probably the only person posting on here who has operated a business or businesses on the canal level, I can tell you that it is far more challenging that at street level. Locals don't visit the canal level unless they are going to a specific place there. And you can't depend on visitors for all of your business unless you are strictly targeted at tourists, as locals still make up the vast majority of Bricktown users.

I agree 100%. That really does explain why the canal isn't usually that active. That's also probably the primary reason so much canal-level real estate hasn't been developed unless it also has street access.

[Urbanized]

It really is more challenging than it appears at first blush, saying this as someone who has watched it up close for 15 years. It looks so obvious; that property has to be the most appealing in downtown, right? But it really isn't easiest to develop, or actually easy at all. Locals aren't fascinated by the canal, so they don't go to Bricktown to stroll along its banks. Locals are still EASILY the largest group of Bricktown users, but they are purpose-driven. They come down here to go to a place...a restaurant, a bar, the movies, a game, whatever. Then they usually go home. Nothing specifically wrong with that, they just aren't explorers/lingerers. Visitors tend to wander, stroll, etc., but they are heavily concentrated during fair-weather months and still make up the smaller portion of users.

Therefore, the canal is most heavily used by only a portion of Bricktown visitors, and for only a portion of the year. Yet, if it became the best way to walk place to place, locals would ALSO use it. At that point, the development would take care of itself.

Another challenge is the sheer square footage in most of those older buildings, and it is deep space. You can more easily break the space up at street level, but at canal level you need to find a tenant for 6K to 10K OR find a creative way to get people into the dark reaches of the backs of those spaces. Fortunately there have been a few wins along the way - Bourbon Street, Put A Cork In It, Pinots Palette, Captain Norm's - but they have for the most part still had to work harder than the tenants at street level. I can tell you for a fact that Oklahoma's Red Dirt Emporium is far more successful at street level than it was when we owned it, located on canal level. The difference in casual traffic is astronomical.

[Plutonic Panda]

It really is more challenging than it appears at first blush, saying this as someone who has watched it up close for 15 years. It looks so obvious; that property has to be the most appealing in downtown, right? But it really isn't easiest to develop, or actually easy at all. Locals aren't fascinated by the canal, so they don't go to Bricktown to stroll along its banks. Locals are still EASILY the largest group of Bricktown users, but they are purpose-driven. They come down here to go to a place...a restaurant, a bar, the movies, a game, whatever. Then they usually go home. Nothing specifically wrong with that, they just aren't explorers/lingerers. Visitors tend to wander, stroll, etc., but they are heavily concentrated during fair-weather months and still make up the smaller portion of users.

Therefore, the canal is most heavily used by only a portion of Bricktown visitors, and for only a portion of the year. Yet, if it became the best way to walk place to place, locals would ALSO use it. At that point, the development would take care of itself.

Another challenge is the sheer square footage in most of those older buildings, and it is deep space. You can more easily break the space up at street level, but at canal level you need to find a tenant for 6K to 10K OR find a creative way to get people into the dark reaches of the backs of those spaces. Fortunately there have been a few wins along the way - Bourbon Street, Put A Cork In It, Pinots Palette, Captain Norm's - but they have for the most part still had to work harder than the tenants at street level. I can tell you for a fact that Oklahoma's Red Dirt Emporium is far more successful at street level than it was when we owned it, located on canal level. The difference in casual traffic is astronomical.

man, perhaps you are right about the nightclubs there. I was just down there as the clubs were letting out and it was pretty intense. Police everywhere and a noisy crowd. That would not be good neighbors for the Steelyard.

[kevinpate]

I wish something interesting could have happened over at hubcap city. I'm weird like that.

[Urbanized]

man, perhaps you are right about the nightclubs there. I was just down there as the clubs were letting out and it was pretty intense. Police everywhere and a noisy crowd. That would not be good neighbors for the Steelyard.

PluPan, I appreciate you posting that. It is something you can't really appreciate unless you witness it for yourself a few times. The police do a great job of staying on top of it, but the situation is a powder keg for about a half-hour to an hour each Friday and Saturday night. It's unfortunate that one wrong move by somebody could create a situation that allows just a couple of hours each week completely define the public perception of the district. The public isn't astute enough to think "hey, don't go down there during these couple of hours each week.."; the public thinks in terms of "man, it's really unsafe down there these days."

And even without the public safety issues, it's still a big perception problem for the district to have all of these places that are closed all but a few hours, a couple of days a week. The penalty the district pays the rest of the week for these blank, dead storefronts is severe.

[UnFrSaKn]

Live chat

11:11
Steve Lackmeyer: Bricktown over the next couple of years is about to experience the most significant era of redevelopment and construction since the development of Lower Bricktown.

11:10
Comment From Honey
Have you heard news of a full fledged Marriott going into Bricktown?

[bchris02]

I wonder what the chances are of OKC getting a JW Marriott hotel rather than a standard one. A regular one though would be great for the district.