BOK Park Plaza

[UnFrSaKn]

[traxx]

I happened to be in OKC this last weekend for the first time since about 2012. Maybe it was the time of day (around 6pm) and that OU and OSU were both playing, but I was pretty surprised how dead Bricktown was. My wife even commented about how it seemed less active than our last visit.

Anyway, I am impressed with the amount of infill that has occurred in the last few years. Keep it going OKC!

You wouldn't think a lot has changed in just a few years but it has. Bricktown used to be the only place to go downtown. But now things are spreading out to other districts and that may be what makes Bricktown seem less active than you remember. I was eating at McNellie's with some friends once not too long ago. We were sitting at a window seat and I noticed a lot of activity going by our window. I saw a couple with a stroller stop and talk to some friends. And all this activity was going on after 5pm.

And btw, people, comparing to OKC to NYC is not a fair or accurate comparison. When you say NYC, I'm assuming you mean Manhattan. Manhattan is an island bounded by water, is a major port, and has a few hundred years development on OKC. There's no real chance that Manhattan would ever be suburban.

[OkieNate]

Seeing all that space makes you realize how enormous the garage on the west side is going to be. Wow.

[Pete]

From the Vast Twitter feed:

[AP]

So many surface lots in that pic.

[Pete]

Cool immediately before and immediately after photos from CloudDeck Media:

[AP]

That's very cool. How did he get permission to fly there though? Or is downtown airspace not as regulated as I thought?

[Pete]

That's very cool. How did he get permission to fly there though? Or is downtown airspace not as regulated as I thought?

CloudDeck is licensed by the FAA.

[shawnw]

I found it humorous that they didn't tear down the smaller building in case the big one fell on top of it and did some of the demo for them. A precise activity that isn't exactly precise.

[BDP]

So many surface lots in that pic.

Yeah. It does not look like a downtown area, huh?

[Architect2010]

So many surface lots in that pic.

In 2008, Devon would still be surface parking with a couple levels of odd structured parking. Jon Rex Elementary would still be an empty lot, the Arts District Parking Garage would be a surface lot, the Slivr building would be a surface lot, and the small but loved 600 W. Sheridan. You can see where The Civic will take place on the surface parking lot north of the Civic Center. If you can pan the picture up west a little more, you'd see 4 or 5 parking lots about to give way to the Residences at 21C, and the newly completed Police Headquarters; the City Municipal Court Building are visibly under construction just west of where The Civic will take place.

It's easy to look at the area today and forget all that has been done, and equally as easy to not visualize development that is planned or U/C, but the west side of Downtown certainly has a bright future. One with much less surface parking. Not to mention the MASSIVE influx of residents, office workers, and retail the west side of Downtown is about to experience that can only hasten the pace of development.

[kevin lee]

Finally!! Someone that can see past what is and what used to be. A bright future for OKC. Things in this city are night and day compared to 20 years ago, and that will be night and day compared to the next 20 years from now. Saying that, surface parking will probably be an after thought in about 10-20 years.

[Laramie]

It's so awkward. We want the convenience of parking without the garages or lots; or want garages to not look like your typical parking garages but take on a façade like the Taj Mahal.

Think about that the next time you can't find a decent place to park when you're in the central core for business or an event.

[Jeepnokc]

From the Vast Twitter feed:

I thought the Devon Parking was full but looks like the top deck is almost completely empty of cars. Not sure time of day this was taken but my parking lot has staff cars so was during work day hours.

[Pete]

I know Devon moved some people over to the Arts District Garage when it opened.

[TU 'cane]

In 2008, Devon would still be surface parking with a couple levels of odd structured parking. Jon Rex Elementary would still be an empty lot, the Arts District Parking Garage would be a surface lot, the Slivr building would be a surface lot, and the small but loved 600 W. Sheridan. You can see where The Civic will take place on the surface parking lot north of the Civic Center. If you can pan the picture up west a little more, you'd see 4 or 5 parking lots about to give way to the Residences at 21C, and the newly completed Police Headquarters; the City Municipal Court Building are visibly under construction just west of where The Civic will take place.

It's easy to look at the area today and forget all that has been done, and equally as easy to not visualize development that is planned or U/C, but the west side of Downtown certainly has a bright future. One with much less surface parking. Not to mention the MASSIVE influx of residents, office workers, and retail the west side of Downtown is about to experience that can only hasten the pace of development.

What a refreshing post compared to the past couple pages, bravo.

[SOONER8693]

what a refreshing post compared to the past couple pages, bravo.

Amen!

[David]

Periscope update from Steve on the status of the area post-demolition: 499 W Sheridan Demolition Update

Partway through he counts off the existing parking garages and the to be built garages from where he is standing, and it's sadly hilarious.

[bchris02]

I agree that OKC has come a long way since the 1980s and early 1990s, but what city hasn't? Continually comparing OKC to the early 1990s and justifying mistakes because "at least its better than it was then" is not a recipe for progress. It's good to celebrate progress yet learn from mistakes, and the destruction of this block shows that the city hasn't learned from its mistakes. There is a great thread on this subject not too long ago on here. The link that the thread points to makes an interesting statement that Indianapolis today in many respects offers more than Chicago did in 1990. I wonder how Oklahoma City in 2015 compares to Dallas in 1990?

http://www.okctalk.com/general-civic...c-okc-90s.html

With all of that said, the Preftakes Block buildings are gone forever so the time for lamenting their loss is over. It's time to look forward to a new addition to the OKC skyline and its time for those who want better urbanism and walkability to start gearing up for the next fight. I agree that the west side of downtown has a bright future, especially once Film Row starts to be developed, but it will take some time before we really start to see things come together.

[DenverPoke]

I agree that OKC has come a long way since the 1980s and early 1990s, but what city hasn't? Continually comparing OKC to the early 1990s and justifying mistakes because "at least its better than it was then" is not a recipe for progress. It's good to celebrate progress yet learn from mistakes, and the destruction of this block shows that the city hasn't learned from its mistakes. There is a great thread on this subject not too long ago on here. The link that the thread points to makes an interesting statement that Indianapolis today in many respects offers more than Chicago did in 1990. I wonder how Oklahoma City in 2015 compares to Dallas in 1990?

http://www.okctalk.com/general-civic...c-okc-90s.html

With all of that said, the Preftakes Block buildings are gone forever so the time for lamenting their loss is over. It's time to look forward to a new addition to the OKC skyline and its time for those who want better urbanism and walkability to start gearing up for the next fight. I agree that the west side of downtown has a bright future, especially once Film Row starts to be developed, but it will take some time before we really start to see things come together.

I have to agree with this. OKC has a lot of really good things going on, but so does pretty much every other city in the US. If anything OKC is probably falling behind its peers rather than gaining ground on the cities in the next tier. I'm still bullish on OKC long-term though.

[Pete]

I really don't think that OKC is falling behind it's peer cities in terms of urban development.

It's certainly true that we started in a bigger hole than many but by any objective measure, I think OKC can stack up the development activity against any city remotely it's size.

We not only have hundreds of projects in various phases but have completed hundreds more just in the last few years.

Tons and tons in the pipeline as well.


I can provide metrics for OKC and be happy to compare to any other peer city where we have the same info.

[bchris02]

I really don't think that OKC is falling behind it's peer cities in terms of urban development.

It's certainly true that we started in a bigger hole than many but by any objective measure, I think OKC can stack up the development activity against any city remotely it's size.

We not only have hundreds of projects in various phases but have completed hundreds more just in the last few years.

Tons and tons in the pipeline as well.


I can provide metrics for OKC and be happy to compare to any other peer city where we have the same info.

This.

OKC isn't behind its peer cities in terms of the amount of development happening. However, it can seem that way at times because OKC started with a deeper hole and some mistakes were made during the first wave of post-MAPS development (Lower Bricktown). When you look at what is happening here vs peer cities like Memphis, Birmingham, or Albuquerque, I would say OKC is probably moderately outpacing all of them.

[DenverPoke]

I really don't think that OKC is falling behind it's peer cities in terms of urban development.

It's certainly true that we started in a bigger hole than many but by any objective measure, I think OKC can stack up the development activity against any city remotely it's size.

We not only have hundreds of projects in various phases but have completed hundreds more just in the last few years.

Tons and tons in the pipeline as well.


I can provide metrics for OKC and be happy to compare to any other peer city where we have the same info.

You are probably correct. That would be a good study to compare with cities like Louisville, Richmond, Jax, etc. I was thinking more Columbus, Nashville, Milwaukee, but those probably aren't fair comparisons.

[Pete]

Because of the big holes, OKC has had the relatively unique opportunity to put up a lot of new housing units in a pretty short time.

That alone is very different than almost all cities our size. Just in the next few months we'll be opening almost a thousand new units in the core.

And as I've already documented, we now have over 200 restaurants and bars in a 1.5 mile radius of Midtown.


The problem (lots of big, empty areas) is also a fantastic opportunity and just in the last few years I seriously doubt any American city has made such huge strides in the urban core.

[shawnw]

Last night at Steve and Jack's presentation regarding the Pei Plan they alluded to the same point... we gripe about urban renewal but it's urban renewal that has essentially gotten us to where we are today because so it's a part of us now.