First National Center

[warreng88]

Posted on 10/8/2014:

I had a nice conversation with one of the Council members the other night and was told to expect an announcement regarding the FNC within the next 30 days and very possibly before the end of the month. I couldn't pry any more details out of them but they seemed both pleased and excited as to what the news would be.

Looks like you were told just right...

[Pete]

Since the east building is staying, how does it look? Does it need a facelift?

It was built in the early 70's and is a pretty nondescript box.

The south profile is really ugly but the small part that faces Broadway is acceptable:

[Laramie]

Our family used the 'Great Banking Hall' when the First National Bank was there which later became First Interstate (L.A.) & Boatman's (STL). The art décor reminds me of a Catholic Cathedral.

Glad to hear that someone is going to do something with this property. I will miss the Golden Dragon (Chinese Restaurant $6 lunch buffet all you can eat) on ground level from the south profile Broadway entrance.

[Architect2010]

Fantastic news! Really glad the building on the east will stay. Pretty nondescript as Pete mentions but it adds to the dense urban fabric of the block.

[catcherinthewry]

I can't wait for this to happen. I stayed in a place in Cleveland that looked like it had been converted from a bank and it was one of the nicest hotels I have ever stayed in.

[Motley]

I worked in FNC with Cities Service (before they were bought by Williams and moved to Tulsa) in 1983-84. Can't recall the exact floor, but maybe 10th or so. With the OG&E/Clayco announcement, this is a huge month for OKC. Bravo. I hope the parking garage will really extend the feel of the art deco design.

[s00nr1]

Pete or anyone in the know:

What class of office space was represented in the center building?

[Dustin]

I hope the Great Banking Hall becomes the hotel lobby of the soon to be announced hotelier. Can you imagine the expressions from out-of-towners when they first enter up those stairs?

[Pete]

I'm also very curious about the residential units.

I would *love* to live in that building!

[Teo9969]

I'm also very curious about the residential units.

I would *love* to live in that building!

Make it happen ;-)

[David]

Excellent news.

When I was in Philly a couple years ago, I ate a Del Frisco's Steak House that was inside the historic First Pennsylvania Bank and it was amazing! They even turned the vault into a cool private dining room. Would love to see something like this in downtown OKC.

Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse | Philadelphia, PA

I ate at the Del Frisco's in DC a couple weeks ago, and wow was it good. Redevelopment of the FNC is great, but I would also love to see some more upscale dining in the city.

[Spartan]

BTW, the purchaser is not Alterra.

Trying to nail down exactly who it is, but this is all happening, and quickly.

They want to start moving tenants right after close and get started on the initial stages of work.

So the buyer then is or isn't connected to Yash?

[bombermwc]

I'm going to do a cautious optimistic happy dance on this. We've been through this so many times already that I'm not sure I'm ready to trust anyone on this. There was speculation that Yash did sell to someone he knew, which doesn't give me warm fuzzies. Since the Assessor's site doesn't always give you enough information to put together who the ACTUAL owner is (rather than some fake LLC), it can be difficult to know...and of course, since it hasn't actually sold yet, we can't say anything for sure.

The façade really needs some help all around. The non-tower portions all look horrible and the East side's fake front is really as bad as the horrible center. It's a bit confusing because the place is so much larger than just the tower, but has the corner cut out for the building on park/broadway. But basically, anything not tower, looks like crap. I really hope at some point, we're able to see some attention put on those to blend to the rest of the tower....since zero effort was made to do that during their construction. But we have to remember, especially when the east was built, the tower was "old" so the "new" international style (especially since it faces Cotter Ranch and looks very similar on that portion) looked "new". Bleh.

If this holds and happens, I think the city is going to collectively do a happy dance.

[Pete]

So the buyer then is or isn't connected to Yash?

No reason to worry about this; Yashouafar sold the building two years ago.

Why would he buy back something he couldn't make work for 4x the price he sold for?

[skanaly]

Would there be any chance that they would redo the south facade?...I mean right now it looks horrible, I know the whole building isnt going to be the hotel, but still

[Pete]

Would there be any chance that they would redo the south facade?...I mean right now it looks horrible, I know the whole building isnt going to be the hotel, but still

Good question; same issue with north facade facing Park.

Some of it we be demoed for the parking garage but it will be interesting to see if they update the remainder.

[Bullbear]

this portion may be trivial as of course the building being renovated and turned into a beautiful Hotel and residences is the main thing to be excited about. however, I am hopeful that the renovations will include updating the lighting on the exterior. imagine how beautiful it could be in the skyline.

[HOT ROD]

I agree, an outline of the spire and steps of the tower could do wonders to modernize the skyline. I'd also like to see the beacon return and actually spin, ala the Williams tower (or whatever it's called now) in suburban Houston.

I honestly think okc really just needs aviation beacons on its tallest buildings to allow the skyline to pop a little. Not everything needs to be crowned with lighting, but beacons do wonders with place-making even if the rest of the tower is dark.

[HOT ROD]

I know I'm posting back-to-back, but I have a question regarding the center building (turning into parking). Will this not have a negative impact on the desire to return Park Avenue to being an upscale shopping district? Is there a way they could either 1) re-aquire the old FNC parking garage (and expand it/rebuild it) or 2) put the parking in the East building but remodel the central building?

Option 1 is obviously the easiest to pull off but I actually sort of like option 2 in a way, as it breaths a little life into that part of Broadway as cars would likely need to enter/exit from there AND it would preserve Park Avenue in its entirety for upscale shopping/dining.

Just imagine more boutiques, salons, dining, and retail stores lining the Park Ave street level (FNC and City Place fronts) along with the interior FNC arcade, continuing down incorporating Robinson Ren+Ok Tower and Leadership Sq. Maybe Cotter could add some low rise buildings in that plaza along Park Ave and tie that into Santa Fe. With BC Clark already there and Plent-y already at Robinson; there's so much potential if the right master plan is adopted to align priorities with the objective of creating a shopping street. Add in streetcar stops at Robinson and Broadway and you truly have a destination fit for the best retail of the city/state.

[HOT ROD]

One final thought on Park Avenue; if we have a master plan for it as an upscale shopping street - that would ONLY add to the viability of FNC being a fancy schmancy boutique or high end flag hotel and luxury residence tower along with the viability of the Skirvin Hotel (and to some extent the Colcord since it's nearby). Heck, it might even encourage Renaissance and Sheraton to up their game since they're just a block away.

Claiming to be on the city's premier retail district is huge for hotels. I'm really excited about this and do hope the city consider a master plan for Park Avenue shopping district.

[soondoc]

When will some final designs come out for us to see what the place is going to look like? I think this is a very cool project. I agree that besides some great things done on the inside, doing some cosmetics to this building could add a lot to the skyline. This is a building that if done correctly, would look awesome, especially at night. It kind of gets lost in the shuffle now and doesn't get noticed much as is. I personally would love, love to see this and the Cotter Ranch Tower both do some things to not only improve the inside but on the outside to really once again make its presence known and the skyline would be much improved with that. Anyone have any ideas of what they might do or what would look great? Maybe photo shop the building and add in some cool ideas for both these buildings. If it upsets someone to include the CRT, than they could put that on that thread as well.

[HOT ROD]

I agree, an outline of the spire and steps of the tower could do wonders to modernize the skyline. I'd also like to see the beacon return and actually spin, ala the Williams tower (or whatever it's called now) in suburban Houston.

I honestly think okc really just needs aviation beacons on its tallest buildings to allow the skyline to pop a little. Not everything needs to be crowned with lighting, but beacons do wonders with place-making even if the rest of the tower is dark.

[CuatrodeMayo]

It would be nice if the existing alley to the south of FNC could be used to access the parking garage.

[HOT ROD]

hm, good point. I wasn't aware that the alley existed.

[zefferoni]

Our family used the 'Great Banking Hall' when the First National Bank was there which later became First Interstate (L.A.) & Boatman's (STL). The art décor reminds me of a Catholic Cathedral.

Glad to hear that someone is going to do something with this property. I will miss the Golden Dragon (Chinese Restaurant $6 lunch buffet all you can eat) on ground level from the south profile Broadway entrance.

Hopefully Golden Dragon will get to move into the new area? The article that was linked earlier said there would be an opportunity for current leasers to move into the new area once it's finished. I'm not a big fan of their lunch buffet, but their breakfast is one of my favorites in the city - the breakfast bagels are delicious.