Bodyworks Site

[baralheia]

I rather like the way the hotel looks but I'm not sure the facade has enough brick to fit into the character of the district. I'm also rather concerned by the amount of surface parking as well; I know it's easy to remove a parking lot and build a building, and that parking is still a necessary evil, but I honestly would much rather see structured parking of some sort versus surface parking. All of that aside though, the Canopy flag is a pretty awesome get, and I'm super excited to see Bricktown continue to fill out. Before too much longer, all of the vacant space will be built on and we can start working to overhaul the crazy parking situation!

[Teo9969]

Are those EIFS on the non-bricked part? Would be great if it were anything other than that.

I like the design and I think it will fit well in the district, especially as far East as it sets.

[HangryHippo]

Have they completely thrown out the previous site plan or will there still be room for the condos/apartments?

[Anonymous.]

No condos now?!

Definitely have a Hotel District vibe going on in eastern Bricktown. Will contrast the Parking Garage District nicely on the west side of CBD.

[Pete]

No condos now?!

Definitely have a Hotel District vibe going on in eastern Bricktown. Will contrast the Parking Garage District nicely on the west side of CBD.

I wouldn't assume that. It's a big parcel of land and they could easily construct structured parking and add more buildings.

It's just easy to finance hotels right now, and they had already locked down the Canopy flag over their competitors at Oklahoma & Sheridan, so that franchise agreement no doubt required them to get going on this.

[warreng88]

I actually like that there are two entrances from either the east or west and it is right up against Charlie Christian Avenue. This makes the future development on the east part of that site (parking garages, condos, etc) easier.

[sroberts24]

Pete, do you know if the West side will be more inviting? The east is all cement walls until the entrance then more cement walls. Reminds me of a lot of the buildings in the CBD that covered their ground floor Windows. i.e. AT&T building.

[baralheia]

My from-the-hip guess is the bottom floors on the east side are done that way for future structured parking - previous plans all showed a 2-level parking garage.

[KayneMo]

It would be nice to bring California Ave through to Lincoln to break down the block and have more street frontage.

[Pete]

OKCTalk - Detailed plans revealed for new 9-story Canopy Hotel in Bricktown

[OKCisOK4me]

^^Looks great!

[ourulz2000]

Nice!

[hoya]

Plans filed with the Bricktown Urban Design Committee will be reviewed in their May 11th meeting and reveal design details as well as plans to add structured parking, and 6-story Cambria and LaQuinta hotels in a future phase.

Will there be a Waffle House nearby? I think there's a law somewhere requiring that.

[Lazio85]

Will there be a Waffle House nearby? I think there's a law somewhere requiring that.

There is one less than half-a-mile east on Reno.

[LakeEffect]

Will there be a Waffle House nearby? I think there's a law somewhere requiring that.

I thought it was Denny's?

[Zuplar]

I thought it was Denny's?

It is, joke I've always heard is what does La Quinta mean in English...behind Denny's.

[Anonymous.]

So are the originally site-planned condos just not happening now?

Why is it nearly impossible to get for-sale residential in downtown OKC?

[Pete]

So are the originally site-planned condos just not happening now?

Why is it nearly impossible to get for-sale residential in downtown OKC?

Nope, not happening.

And there are actually a fair number of condo options downtown now: The Hill, the Civic, Dwellings at SoSA, Lisbon Lofts (still one unit for sale), etc.

But the main reason developers don't build more condos is they want to hold onto the property due to rapidly escalating property values. Why sell when you can invest and hold?

Midtown Renaissance is an example of a developer who has pretty much said they will never build for-sale units and I've heard other say the same thing.

[HangryHippo]

Is this Canopy Hotel likely to make it past the BUDC with the exterior materials? Hasn't the BUDC denied previous iterations of other hotels for not having enough brick?

[Pete]

That Canopy design is mostly brick.

I'm sure the city staff and committee will have some comments but I bet this gets approved pretty much as planned.

[Teo9969]

Nope, not happening.

And there are actually a fair number of condo options downtown now: The Hill, the Civic, Dwellings at SoSA, Lisbon Lofts (still one unit for sale), etc.

But the main reason developers don't build more condos is they want to hold onto the property due to rapidly escalating property values. Why sell when you can invest and hold?

Midtown Renaissance is an example of a developer who has pretty much said they will never build for-sale units and I've heard other say the same thing.

Why sell? For the betterment of the community. So that other citizens of OKC can have a chance to invest in downtown without needing to find millions of dollars of capital.

I get it, it makes perfect business sense. It's just unsatisfying that our city's core is going to be the economic playground of 20 entities rather than a community of 2,000 - 20,000 invested individuals, companies, and development entities.

And it's not just the developers making out here, it's their architects, their contractors, their families.

I mean, congratulations, and a ton of thanks for investing in downtown. But sometimes it's worth giving up a little to others so they can bring something to the table that you simply will never ever be able bring yourself.

But they really do an amazing job. So much of what is getting proposed is excellent stuff. So at the end of the day I'm mostly thankful to all of these entities.

[Pete]

^

This is where public incentives come in and where the City actually has some leverage to influence the behaviors of developers.

But that's not at all how the TIF program works, as I've well documented.

[Teo9969]

^

This is where public incentives come in and where the City actually has some leverage to influence the behaviors of developers.

But that's not at all how the TIF program works, as I've well documented.

Makes you think that every RFP from this point forward should stipulate for sale property.

[Pete]

Makes you think that every RFP from this point forward should stipulate for sale property.

And/or where public incentives are being applied, more affordable rental units.

[Pete]

Article in the Oklahoman says they may end up adding condos or apartments above the parking structure:

http://newsok.com/upscale-housing-is...rticle/5497569