OKSea

[OKCinsomniac]

Snapped off a few walking by this morning.

[Bellaboo]

Good article by Steve -

OK Sea to offer play area for dogs, corn dogs for patrons | News OK

[BillyOcean]

surely they will paint these containers...

[Pete]

surely they will paint these containers...

I'm sure that is the plan; just do it once they are all on site and in place.

[OKCinsomniac]

2nd level up-

[OkieBerto]

Tyler Holmes tweets images of the third level being up!

3rd Level Up!

[metro]

After the initial shock, it is kinda starting to grow on me. I'm starting to like the design, mainly because its right near the railroad tracks.

BUT, how can you guys see this as feasible??? Exactly what will these be used as? Residential? NO. Retail/shopping? NO, not enough space to hold merchandise. Offices? NO, it is temporary and the owners could sell this land at any time which is basically what their plans are. Lets find a cheap way to make money off this land until some one realizes this land is valuable and kicks them out. What corporation would wanna stick their company there?

I would if it wasn't already leased out. You realize this is a very popular concept both here in OKC and worldwide?

[urbanCOWBOY]

Jccougar, you definitely do not know much about Richard McKown. He knows what he is doing.

[BDP]

Jccougar, you definitely do not know much about Richard McKown. He knows what he is doing.

I don't know... there's no cheap stucco in this development, so he is venturing out of his area of expertise.

But I guess it is still cheap materials, so maybe so...

[Pete]

I don't know... there's no cheap stucco in this development, so he is venturing out of his area of expertise.

But I guess it is still cheap materials, so maybe so...

To be fair, McKown is also developing the Rock Island Plow building.

[BDP]

To be fair, McKown is also developing the Rock Island Plow building.

Yeah, I was just being a smart a**. I think this is pretty cool and I'm very excited to see what becomes of Rock Island. I do wish he was more considerate of the neighbors though.

[Chadanth]

Yeah, I was just being a smart a**. I think this is pretty cool and I'm very excited to see what becomes of Rock Island. I do wish he was more considerate of the neighbors though.

How so?

[catch22]

Yeah, I was just being a smart a**. I think this is pretty cool and I'm very excited to see what becomes of Rock Island. I do wish he was more considerate of the neighbors though.

Yes, it would be great if he would be more considerate of his neighbors by pretty much infilling an entire urban district. Bringing grocery downtown, renovating a neglected building, and bringing a dog park to DD. What a tool this McKown guy is.

[BDP]

Yes, it would be great if he would be more considerate of his neighbors by pretty much infilling an entire urban district. Bringing grocery downtown, renovating a neglected building, and bringing a dog park to DD. What a tool this McKown guy is.

Huh? Have you talked to the HOAs? He did do a couple of large projects in the area (though he did not infill the entire district on his own) but completely trashed the place while doing it, had 3 and 4 am pours, told the HOA he'd have a place for his tennants dogs to crap and when he didn't they just crapped on other people's property, cut utilities that killed trees, landscaping, and some geothermal systems. Yeah, real considerate.

So, he contributed to the area with some developments, but totally disregarded everyone else living there while doing it. He has vision, yes, but that doesn't mean he gives a crap.

[BDP]

Or maybe there are aspects of a project of this size that he simply can't control directly and can only react to the best he can?

I'm the last person to stand up for lousy developers or developments but it's not like these are dictatorships. Complex, expensive, complicated. You know what I mean. There's a few frustrating aspects of a new development that went in near my house that need to be corrected and probably will eventually but they are hardly indicative of the character of the people who did the project. They are just life coming out.

I've had my share of conversations with McKown. He's a super nice guy who as far as I could tell, really does want to make a positive impact. And I couldn't fathom how we'd conclude from all he's done that he doesn't give a crap.

Agree to disagree I suppose.

That's totally fair. I can only go by the discussions I've had which suggest a lot of false promises and dismissive patronizing.

And yes, McKown's reputation comes from his contractors and their finished work. That's how it always works. You kind of have to own up to that as a developer. These are big projects for Oklahoma City and I'm not sure he or maybe even his contractors knew how to do it without causing so much disruption.

[Pete]

It also has to be said that almost all the private development in OKC has been done by locals, many like McKown who are still learning.

Recently, I had a very interesting conversation with a developer that is generally highly regarded here on OKCTalk (and elsewhere). Yet, when he read some of the criticisms about one of his developments here, he admitted to me that he simply hadn't thought about it before but that he would make a change the next time around.


I try to give anyone investing in the urban core a lot of slack. This urban thing is new to everyone in Oklahoma and I bet most developers would admit they would do things differently now. Fortunately, a lot of the same guys are still at it and there are some good examples to follow.

[CuatrodeMayo]

Reading OKCTalk would be a good pre-development requirement

[AP]

Via @OkcPics

[Bellaboo]

Great shot ! Quite a good fit with the plaza.

[Plutonic Panda]

That nice, but I wish they'd bury that utility line!

[Soho]

It also has to be said that almost all the private development in OKC has been done by locals, many like McKown who are still learning.

Recently, I had a very interesting conversation with a developer that is generally highly regarded here on OKCTalk (and elsewhere). Yet, when he read some of the criticisms about one of his developments here, he admitted to me that he simply hadn't thought about it before but that he would make a change the next time around.


I try to give anyone investing in the urban core a lot of slack. This urban thing is new to everyone in Oklahoma and I bet most developers would admit they would do things differently now. Fortunately, a lot of the same guys are still at it and there are some good examples to follow.

I like Richard and believe he means well but as BDP said, the neighbors are tired of broken promises. I'm still amazed it hasn't become public that this nice little park, that is maintained by the HOA, was deeded from Bradsaw and Garrett to McKown and Aloft and not to the city. Brings up many questions.

[BDP]

It also has to be said that almost all the private development in OKC has been done by locals, many like McKown who are still learning.

Recently, I had a very interesting conversation with a developer that is generally highly regarded here on OKCTalk (and elsewhere). Yet, when he read some of the criticisms about one of his developments here, he admitted to me that he simply hadn't thought about it before but that he would make a change the next time around.


I try to give anyone investing in the urban core a lot of slack. This urban thing is new to everyone in Oklahoma and I bet most developers would admit they would do things differently now. Fortunately, a lot of the same guys are still at it and there are some good examples to follow.

I think for the most part the residents who have invested understand that they are first movers and they are dealing with inexperienced developers, who have little experience with urban infrastructure or staging impact. Honestly, I think that's where the need for consideration comes in. Breaking promises is not a good way to make up for breaking infrastructure.

And, yes, I am probably being a bit unfair. I lived next to a major, MAJOR construction project in an urban part of Los Angeles for about a year and hardly even noticed it an a daily basis. And this was not right next door to expensive homes or anything. So, it's kind of almost comical by comparison how much disruption LEVEL and Mosaic have caused to the surrounding infrastructure. Now, I am familiar with the sort of keystone cop contractors we have in OKC, so I'm willing to cut McKown some slack, but there are things he flat out said he'd do for appeasement and never did.

[Pete]

To be clear, I am not defending McKown because I don't know the man (hasn't returned my calls / emails) and don't know the full story of what he's done and hasn't done in Deep Deuce.

My comments were more general in nature and I believe they apply to most if not all the local developers.

[BDP]

To be clear, I am not defending McKown because I don't know the man (hasn't returned my calls / emails) and don't know the full story of what he's done and hasn't done in Deep Deuce.

My comments were more general in nature and I believe they apply to most if not all the local developers.

I know. I just meant to acknowledge your points and the fact that there is a lot of inexperience that comes into play here. I think I may have overstated my contempt and made it sound personal. I know it is for some involved, as it involves their homes, but I think I did make it sound like I was attacking his personal character, when it probably is more likely incompetent contractors and lack of experience. He probably just needed a better idea of what could and couldn't be done before he made assurances.

[Pete]

From the Anchor Down FB page: