Devon Energy Center

[Plutonic Panda]

As much as I love tall buildings, I am glad they didn't. Their building already sticks out among the rest in OKC. I prefer the aesthetics of a second building, which would help balance the skyline and help increase the density of the CBD. Maybe they will build a matching tower and put a bridge or two between them a la the Petronas Towers?

That's pretty short sighted thinking though. Just because it sticks out now doesn't mean it will forever.

[ShadowStrings]

That's pretty short sighted thinking though. Just because it sticks out now doesn't mean it will forever.

Exactly. I don't want it to stick out. I prefer a more balanced skyline, so I would rather have two 750-foot Devon towers (or whatever it is) instead of a 1,000-foot Devon tower. If Devon was a supertall, it would take even longer for enough other tall buildings to get built so that it wouldn't stick out. Like I said, I like tall buildings, but I would rather have several big buildings instead of one BIG building. Just my opinion though, and I am only talking about aesthetics.

[Just the facts]

Is there somewhere that they could do that if they chose to?

They do have a large plot of grass and corporate plaza on-site. If they built to the sidewalk it is a bigger chunk of land than the main tower is sitting on.

[kevinpate]

FWIW, they did build those floors. They simply did so in an appropriate business manner and chose to establish their data center at a different location from the main location. It clipped the height of the building, but it wasn't a bad decision to do so.

[LakeEffect]

They do have a large plot of grass and corporate plaza on-site. If they built to the sidewalk it is a bigger chunk of land than the main tower is sitting on.

Which is a rumor I heard in passing just this week...

[Just the facts]

Is there somewhere that they could do that if they chose to?

They do have a large plot of grass and corporate plaza on-site. If they built to the sidewalk it is a bigger chunk of land than the main tower is sitting on.

Which is a rumor I heard in passing just this week...

Don't get my hopes up. When I suggested this 2 years ago based on the reaction you would of thought I was out killing the free kittens from the box in front of Walmart with my bare hands.

[Plutonic Panda]

Exactly. I don't want it to stick out. I prefer a more balanced skyline, so I would rather have two 750-foot Devon towers (or whatever it is) instead of a 1,000-foot Devon tower. If Devon was a supertall, it would take even longer for enough other tall buildings to get built so that it wouldn't stick out. Like I said, I like tall buildings, but I would rather have several big buildings instead of one BIG building. Just my opinion though, and I am only talking about aesthetics.

I hear you

[Of Sound Mind]

They do have a large plot of grass and corporate plaza on-site. If they built to the sidewalk it is a bigger chunk of land than the main tower is sitting on.

[shawnw]

Why no? That would rock.

[Pete]

I'd heard that Devon might want to build on that lawn as well so I did some investigation....

The grassy area is only 150 x 70, and that's if you build right up against that huge glass expanse on the auditorium, which they certainly wouldn't do. So, there is a lot less room there than you would think. And it would completely mess up the Garden Wing, water features and patios, etc., etc.

Why not just buy the old IRS building (which they are now partially occupying) or build bigger on the Preftakes block? Those would seem like much more logical steps.

[hoya]

There's a little park space between the IRS building and Corporate Tower. Seems if you wanted to build again it would be easy to buy the IRS building, the park, and build there.

[shawnw]

I'd be okay with that too

[Pete]

Rainey Williams is trying to sell extra land on the Stage Center site as well.

There are plenty of options for Devon if they want to build more space.

I suspect they may move their midstream company to the Main & Hudson tower, since they are supposed to keep that business separated anyway. That would free up a bunch of space in Devon Tower.

[Bellaboo]

Rainey Williams is trying to sell extra land on the Stage Center site as well.

There are plenty of options for Devon if they want to build more space.

I suspect they may move their midstream company to the Main & Hudson tower, since they are supposed to keep that business separated anyway. That would free up a bunch of space in Devon Tower.

I thought the midstream was going to Dallas and merged with Crosstex ? But that doesn't mean they wouldn't still have some kind of interface unit with them.

[Of Sound Mind]

Why no? That would rock.

Why do we hate green space? It's a nice corporate plaza that ties in VERY nicely with Myriad Gardens. I would love more tall buildings too, but not at the expense of the nicely done corporate plaza around Devon Tower. I enjoy urban walls like others, but do not agree that every inch of the sidewalks downtown need to be wall-to-wall butted up against buildings.

[Of Sound Mind]

I'd heard that Devon might want to build on that lawn as well so I did some investigation....

The grassy area is only 150 x 70, and that's if you build right up against that huge glass expanse on the auditorium, which they certainly wouldn't do. So, there is a lot less room there than you would think. And it would completely mess up the Garden Wing, water features and patios, etc., etc.

Why not just buy the old IRS building (which they are now partially occupying) or build bigger on the Preftakes block? Those would seem like much more logical steps.

Bingo!

[shawnw]

I love green space and the tie-in. But I would have been okay with using that space for expansion as well. However given a choice between this space and the IRS location I'd say down with the IRS.

[Laramie]

Rainey Williams is trying to sell extra land on the Stage Center site as well.

There are plenty of options for Devon if they want to build more space.

I suspect they may move their midstream company to the Main & Hudson tower, since they are supposed to keep that business separated anyway. That would free up a bunch of space in Devon Tower.

The original plans were to build a 925 ft., high 54-story tower; they downscaled to 844 ft., 50-story tower and put the call center at the airport if I recall. Devon needs to go ahead with a second 500 ft., 30-story tower and bring the call center back to the CBD.

Is it true that Continental will be need more room?

"Oklahoma City looks oh-so pretty... ...as I get my kicks on Route 66." --Nat King Cole.

[Just the facts]

I'd heard that Devon might want to build on that lawn as well so I did some investigation....

The grassy area is only 150 x 70, and that's if you build right up against that huge glass expanse on the auditorium, which they certainly wouldn't do. So, there is a lot less room there than you would think. And it would completely mess up the Garden Wing, water features and patios, etc., etc.

Why not just buy the old IRS building (which they are now partially occupying) or build bigger on the Preftakes block? Those would seem like much more logical steps.

If they build to the sidewalk (the way city code requires) they end up with about 150' by 150'. That is enough room to build this:

[BG918]

The original plans were to build a 925 ft., high 54-story tower; they downscaled to 844 ft., 50-story tower and put the call center at the airport if I recall. Devon needs to go ahead with a second 500 ft., 30-story tower and bring the call center back to the CBD.

It was their data center that was built by the airport, and that won't be moving downtown. Devon could build a new tower but may just keep leasing more space in Oklahoma Tower which is connected to their complex. A friend that works there recently had to move in there.

[Pete]

^

I believe you mean Corporate Tower, not Oklahoma Tower.

Devon leases space on the the 2nd, 5th and 6th floors of Corporate Tower, comprising about 45,000 square feet.

[Dustin]

These were posted to reddit:

Lightning hits the Devon Tower


Devon tower reflecting light during fog

[bchris02]

It seems like the lighting is still very inconsistent on the Devon Tower, with the side-LEDs or the crown being dark quite often. I mention this because its the centerpiece of OKC's skyline and none of the other buildings i.e. the Chase Tower have near the inconsistency with their lighting. Of course, the others are simply lit by floodlights and simple LEDs while the Devon Energy Center is a full computerized display capable of much more. Is this because they are still tweaking the lighting? I have noticed that the side LEDs, in recent months, have looked better.

[ChrisHayes]

I noticed the same thing. I love Devon Tower, and check it out each evening I leave work and drive by Downtown. The LED lights are on just about every evening. Both at the top and up the sides.

[Anonymous.]

Over the past couple weeks they have had the crown backlight off. And have the color-changing LEDs going. The crown has a lot of LEDs that are malfunctioning - some flash the wrong color, many are just not on. You can see this much more clear now that the crown is not back-lit.

The sides have improved a lot, but still a few patches of darkness or malfunctioning strips.

Honestly I don't think it will ever be 100%. They obviously do not care enough to try and fix it.