question about former OKC/Del City apartment complex (now demolished)

**decepticobra** · 08-10-2014, 12:35 PM

I realize this may be a shot in the dark, but figured I would ask seeing maybe someone out there may know this. I have fond childhood memories in 1990 that were spent at an apartment complex that my elder sister used to reside at that were located just due south of 15th street and west of bryant ave along grand blvd. It was a gated complex, and although I forget the exact name...it had "sun" somewhere in the title...."sunview", or something like that. They were 2-story stucco townhomes situated along a curved street called crooked oak. For nostalgia sake, I revisited these apartments some 13 yrs later in 2003, and they were still there, albeit very delapitated at that time. I looked on google maps,..and was shocked to see that these apartments have now been completely demolished, and based upon the pictures I viewed, it looks like the demolition took place some many years ago, based on grass growth, trees, etc. I was curious to know if anyone recalls these apartments, and could tell me around what time they were demolished?

**windowphobe** · 08-10-2014, 06:07 PM

The city declared them dilapidated in the spring of '06; demolition followed. The last name of the complex, I think, was Sunrise Park.

**Pete** · 08-10-2014, 06:22 PM

The County Assessor website is currently down but I'm 99.9% sure it is owned by Chesapeake. They bought it some time ago during their crazy real estate grab.

The first pic is from 2005; the second 2014.

**Pete** · 08-10-2014, 08:36 PM

Confirmed Chesapeake bought this 85 acres for $4.4 million in 2007 and still hold it.

Have absolutely no idea what their plans might have been but you can be sure they would be happy to sell under the new leadership.

**Edmond_Outsider** · 08-11-2014, 01:50 PM

I saw the the empty pads a few years ago and wondered what was there. Google street view showed apartments. I looked up the records and it showed Chesapeake bought it and demolished the structures which reduced the value from $4.4 million to $1.4 million give or take.

I wondered what Chesapeake had in mind for the land since if looks like they destroyed most of the value. A field office or storage yard of some sort? A new drilling project? Whatever it was it doesn't seem to have happened.

I had a theory that there might have been a big drilling project in mind. This area is in the middle of the Oklahoma City Field--one of the biggest ever but developed using ancient technology. There are a few folks who think the various OKC fields might still contain more oil than was originally produced in zones not able to be drilled or produced from using the 100 YO technology used when the fields were originally developed.

Here's a little interesting tid-bit from the area: about a mile north at S. Irving st and SE 11th is where the concrete column supports for the old I-40 were buried. On google maps you can still see unburied columns. It had a weird mass grave sort of vibe for a while. The initial pit was about 30 feet deep. I-40 Mass Grave

There's another place around NE 4th and Bryant where the roadway was buried.

**mkjeeves** · 08-11-2014, 03:54 PM

That's an interesting idea, EO. I wonder how hard it is to come up with enough surface to stick a well site in the metro. Baron has a well behind the Homeland at NW 23rd and Rockwell and did have a plan to drill multiple horizontal radials out of it. (I think they did make a couple of bores.) They force-pooled the small interest I have on a lot in one of the sections they would be attempting to produce from and then haven't followed up on drilling it.

**Edmond_Outsider** · 08-11-2014, 04:40 PM

I'm not an expert, but I dabble in the awl biddness, and It depends on the type of well. For the the sort of drilling I've heard the theories about, it takes a fair bit of surface. The Chesapeake lot is big enough for a serious project and the mixed industrial nature would make it easy.

That assumes that Chesapeake had a reason to buy and demolish this area. I got the feeling there wasn't much plan with a lot of their real estate purchases until they ran out of money.