Classen Curve

[Pete]

I mentioned this in another thread but I went by when I was in town a few weeks ago and was impressed with the development. Looks lots better in person and a good part of it does open up to Grand/Western.

[flintysooner]

I mentioned this in another thread but I went by when I was in town a few weeks ago and was impressed with the development. Looks lots better in person and a good part of it does open up to Grand/Western.

I think it will be pretty successful eventually. It seems patterned in many respects like Utica Square. There is a very good deal of attention being paid to visitor experience as well as attracting unique and interesting retailers. It also appears to me that there is a real effort to keep space for local stores which I think has been important in the Utica Square case.

Then there is the fact that both have owners who obviously care a good deal about the quality of the center and have sufficient resources to take a long term approach.

[Pete]

If the rumored Whole Foods goes in right across the street, that will greatly help with the retail leasing, which is going to be slow regardless.

[Doug Loudenback]

I mentioned this in another thread but I went by when I was in town a few weeks ago and was impressed with the development. Looks lots better in person and a good part of it does open up to Grand/Western.

I agree. I'd not been up that way until a couple of weeks ago and I was surprised and impressed by what I saw ... more extensive than I had thought. It could easily become a premier commercial location, I think.

[max]

I have nothing more to add to this other than that it is a great sign of things to come (and a very big first sign at that. The Belle Isle area is ready for more interesting retail options, and it could support a very large amount, imo. I think that further development of the Classen Curve area, continued use of the Classen Circle area, and possibly some very precise development of Classen south of Expressway (with lots of planning and oversight) are the next logical steps. More than anything, I'd like to see Classen being used a lot more than it is, since it has so much potential. As the inner north's original "grand" boulevard, I'd love to see it utilized more, in creative ways, carefully balancing that with the neighborhoods nearby.

Eventually a Classen streetcar might just come along and solve this for us. Interesting, seeing as how the Classen streetcar was what once created the neighborhoods along Classen.

Sorry for the tangents, but I felt this fit better here than any other threads.

[jbrown84]

I'd like to see Belle Isle Station replaced with a true lifestyle center like The Domain in Austin or Legacy in Plano. I think it's the best possible location and it's really shame we allowed such a lackluster development there. A pedestrian-friendly lifestyle center could tie in very well to Penn Square and compliment it immensely.

[soonerguru]

I have to admit I'm dreaming of a Classen Blvd. street car. Aesthetically, it's always been one of the -- if the not the -- fave streets in OKC. A Belle Isle Station would be awesome someday.

[bluedogok]

I'd like to see Belle Isle Station replaced with a true lifestyle center like The Domain in Austin or Legacy in Plano. I think it's the best possible location and it's really shame we allowed such a lackluster development there. A pedestrian-friendly lifestyle center could tie in very well to Penn Square and compliment it immensely.

It was just a few years ahead that trend, if that development was happening now I bet that is what it would be.

[jbrown84]

I say tear it down and start over!

[Urbanized]

The real mistake was allowing the power plant to be torn down in the first place. It could have been turned into a great basis for a mixed-use. The stuff we've torn down for the sake of crappy "development" in this city is sickening.





FYI, that is a series that was shot by local architectural and commercial photographer JD Merryweather shortly before the demolition. His website is www.merryweatherphoto.com. You might also know him as one of the guys behind COOP Aleworks.

[betts]

Belle Isle station could disappear off the face of the earth and I wouldn't shed a tear. I agree that the loss of the power plant was really distressing. I don't know how easy it would have been to renovate, but it certainly looked filled with potential, and it broke my heart to see what was built there in its place.

[JohnDenver]

I think Classen Curve is a death trap. It is hard to see what is in the strip mall, so I have to slow down, peer in between the buildings, all while people are FLYING around the curve at 70mph.

[Pete]

Don't know if you guys remember, but in the go-go early 80's, the company that developed Leadership Square had ambitious plans for the power plant, lake and surrounding property. It was to be a 96 acre, 2.2 million square foot development that would have included renovating the plant and adding a lot of office and retail space.

What an incredible pity this never happened, as after plans were well underway (they had drained the lake to start work) Penn Square Bank fell and everything went south from there:

[circuitboard]

Don't know if you guys remember, but in the go-go early 80's, the company that developed Leadership Square had ambitious plans for the power plant, lake and surrounding property. It was to be a 96 acre, 2.2 million square foot development that would have included renovating the plant and adding a lot of office and retail space.

What an incredible pity this never happened, as after plans were well underway (they had drained the lake to start work) Penn Square Bank fell and everything went south from there:

That makes me sad. =(

[Pete]

IMO, Belle Isle represents one of the greatest commerical real estate tragedies ever in OKC.

I remember how pretty that little lake was, clearly viewed as you traveled on what was then a new section of I-44. And I always loved the power station as it was a fantastic focal point for the whole area.

I'm trying to find the artist's rendering of the development, which was a beautiful birds-eye perspective. Leadership Properties had planned to do things right.

It is incredibly depressing to think what could have been, as Belle Isle was one of the very few truly unique parts of OKC with lots of historical significance and memories. Now, it's yet another soulless strip center with a Wal-Mart and the best parts (like the station and lake) are long gone.

[JohnDenver]

When did this happen? I had no idea there was a lake there.. That is ridiculous.

[Pete]

There was a really beautiful amusment park on that site in the 20's and it was the northern terminus of the interurban street cars.

Here's a photo of the lake from around 1980... The plant was demolished in 1999:

[okclee]

I guess okc didn't need another lake around, especially since we have so many.

[Urbanized]

But we did get a Wal-Mart out of the deal!

[jbrown84]

The real mistake was allowing the power plant to be torn down in the first place. It could have been turned into a great basis for a mixed-use. The stuff we've torn down for the sake of crappy "development" in this city is sickening.

Agreed. This thread took a depressing turn. Perhaps someday the lake could be restored and a better development located there, but the plant is gone forever.

[Urbanized]

Agreed. This thread took a depressing turn...

Glad I could help!

[jbrown84]

I was at the demolition, courtesy of a family friend in the construction business. We were over across Classen where the self-storage is now. I didn't really understand the loss, we were just there for the spectacle.

[Pete]

This shows the approximate location of the old lake superimposed on what is currently there.

As you can see, that entire, awful strip center is what we now have instead of that nice body of water. And lame little office buildings where the plant once stood:

[ronronnie1]

Wow! I had no idea there was a lake there! Now there's an ugly Walmart and empty store fronts. Shame.

[soonerguru]

Who was the property developer on Belle Isle? If memory serves, it was Blanton.

Regardless, that will go down as the biggest public swindle in recent OKC history.

They promised to "restore" the lake and "bring back" the Belle Isle to its earlier days.

Instead they build the ugliest Wal-Mart in OKC and destroy the Deep Fork Watershed.

As much as people are wont to complain about our city leaders from time to time, just remember it was even worse in the past. Few things were worse than this abortion of a development.