The Canton ( formerly Residences at Classen Curve)

[gopokes88]

Uh… you can.

not for a reasonable price you can't, which was the context

[PhiAlpha]

I do live in a bubble. Plus, I'm in my mid thirties in a duel-income w/ kids situation so I'm not the target audience for The Canton, anyhow. We like that area, for what it's worth.

Duel-income household?

THIS HOUSE AIN’T BIG ENOUGH FOR THE BOTH OF US!


Edit: someone already made this joke…

[Jeepnokc]

Probably looking at $8-10,000 in extra costs per home, not to mention the required larger water meter that would increase your typical city water bill $100 or so a month. All for very little increased safety. These things arent done in single family homes because its very easy to escape from them once there is fire or when your smoke alarm goes off. The costs dont justify the small benefits. Youre certainly free to do as you please in your own home though.

When we built 15 years ago, we looked at a residential system. I was shocked that I did not get any insurance discount for having one. Had I gotten a discount...we would have one.

[Teo9969]

There is no other location in the entire city that would be as enjoyable to live without a car as this one - that alone can probably fill up 100 units.

[lady_o]

Classen Curve really is one of the best located parts of town. I say this as a twenty-something.

Lots of grocery, restaurant, and bars in the immediate neighborhood. Going both north and south, western avenue has tons of shops, coffee and restaurants. Extending further south by bike (on shartel) you can reach paseo/uptown, and even downtown. If you're into nature, taking Grand Blvd northwest by bike you can get to the Lake Hefner trails.

It's honestly better located than film row which has tons of high-end apartments.

[aDark]

I think your entire post answers your initial question: This development is probably not targeting twentysomethings. Clearly, if they are priced out of reach of that demo, then that is further confirmation. And yes, in OKC us olds usually buy, not rent, but for the myriad reasons mentioned above, sometimes renting is preferable. It's nice to have an adult option with adult amenities available that caters to adults.

You’re right. I hope the news reports were wrong and there were a ton of leases signed. Obviously the investors and builders know what they’re doing.

Also, thanks to all for correcting my “duel-income” comments. Sheesh that’s embarrassing!

[Soonerinfiniti]

Why on earth is there so much credence given to a local news report with no substantiation? Last night News 4 said "clues arise in cause of fire". Then the report actually said that they were going to look for clues! This is why I never watch local news unless its something like this or weather!

[Richard at Remax]

You should read the comments on the FB post from Channel 9 and try to not feel dumber afterwards

https://www.facebook.com/25961704221...8536376242212/

[soonerguru]

^^

No thanks, Richard! TBH, channel 9 seems to have the dumbest audience of the three major local TV stations.

[ChrisHayes]

You should read the comments on the FB post from Channel 9 and try to not feel dumber afterwards

https://www.facebook.com/25961704221...8536376242212/

It was unbearable reading the comments. I don't know what's more stupid, the comments about not having to tear down the building, or everyone claiming there must be fraud. I got tired of arguing with people about both aspects.

[jn1780]

Keep in mind you're leaving out the fire.

The roof collapsed because of fire + water. Fire weakened it, water weight finished the job.

The engineering behind it only accounts for fire + water = can stand for XXXX amount of time to get people out.

You can't build things so they don't collapse when they catch on fire.

Sounds like a chicken or egg discussion that oklip955 alluded to. End result is the same. The fire also made new "drain" holes for the water to escape the roof.

Update on structure. Building was 80 percent demollshed when I drove by today. Large pile of rubble to clean up. The parking garage was black all the way down.

[Jeepnokc]

You should read the comments on the FB post from Channel 9 and try to not feel dumber afterwards

https://www.facebook.com/25961704221...8536376242212/

I liked this one:


"I’ve been watching Ozark for to long now. I am now a professional at determining what is really going on. This is an Ozark situation lol"

[SEMIweather]

If you want a good laugh for 5-10 minutes, the Google reviews for this complex are great.

[Pete]

[Plutonic Panda]

Those hurt to look at. It’ll be nice when they can get this going again. Wishful thinking but maybe they might reconsider just the giant residential apartment and actually build a mixed use village with a street going through it.

[ChrisHayes]

I was with a volunteer dept back in Ohio from 99-2004 and am a huge fire buff. I've gone to see a number of fires in Oklahoma City since I moved here in 2013. To be honest, this fire has been a huge downer for me. I can't tell you how many times I drove up there to see that huge apartment building being built over the past 1-2 years. Only for it to be consumed by fire.

[ChrisHayes]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDplQNVfbq4&t=3366s Here's something some people may find interesting. It's fireground audio from the fire. It starts with the initial incident and lasts for a couple/few hours into the incident. It's been condensed down in time by getting rid of unrelated and useless radio traffic.

[soonerguru]

I was with a volunteer dept back in Ohio from 99-2004 and am a huge fire buff. I've gone to see a number of fires in Oklahoma City since I moved here in 2013. To be honest, this fire has been a huge downer for me. I can't tell you how many times I drove up there to see that huge apartment building being built over the past 1-2 years. Only for it to be consumed by fire.

Same. I had the occasion to be in Classen Curve yesterday and assiduously avoided driving past the wreckage. It's just a total bummer because that area was just weeks away from being fully actualized.

[Urbanized]

Just total conjecture on my part, but I’ll bet most if not all of the garage can be retailed. The X factor will be the scorched wall. Not sure if a structural engineer would trust that the rebar inside wasn’t compromised. That said, it could probably be jigsawed apart and back together in that location by removing various deck sections. I don’t think they’ll demolish the whole thing (unless they are going to cut bait).

Not sure about the stairwells (the small standing towers) but I’d bet they’re toast. Preserving the garage would definitely allow them to rebuild much more quickly (and inexpensively). Structured parking is $$$$$.

[catch22]

I am sure they will have to do some thinking about how to move forward though. It's a terrible advertisement for their structure. I would feel 100% safe in it rebuilt exactly as it was. But will the average renter recognize and understand that the sprinklers were not active? Would they feel safe in this? How will the affect sales when it is time to start signing leases again?

[Urbanized]

Man, that’s a really good point, catch.

[DowntownMan]

I am sure they will have to do some thinking about how to move forward though. It's a terrible advertisement for their structure. I would feel 100% safe in it rebuilt exactly as it was. But will the average renter recognize and understand that the sprinklers were not active? Would they feel safe in this? How will the affect sales when it is time to start signing leases again?

The average renter probably won’t even remember the fire 2-3 years when they begin selling units again would be my guess

[catch22]

Man, that’s a really good point, catch.

I think anything can be overcome with marketing spin, but even if rebuilt to a higher standard it will still be seen as damaged goods. This made national news, I heard about it where I live. People need to be able to sleep at night, and I think they would have to offer some heavy discounts on the first few years of leases to get it out of people's minds. So you mix in a potentially reduced income, on top of increased cost to beef up the structure so you can bring it back as "far exceeding the building codes in fire protection" you might end up tipping the scale on the economic willingness of the owner to abandon the idea.

If this is proven to be arson (not conspiratorial - but instead a homeless fire, or reckless teenagers, etc.) they could probably play victim and get away with a carbon copy rebuild with no issues.... This isn't my field of expertise but just some thoughts.

[Plutonic Panda]

It’d be really nice if we could get this



But with a few more stories and the parking garage built underground with a park built on top of it.

https://www.okctalk.com/showthread.p...72#post1096972

[Urbanized]

I think anything can be overcome with marketing spin, but even if rebuilt to a higher standard it will still be seen as damaged goods. This made national news, I heard about it where I live. People need to be able to sleep at night, and I think they would have to offer some heavy discounts on the first few years of leases to get it out of people's minds. So you mix in a potentially reduced income, on top of increased cost to beef up the structure so you can bring it back as "far exceeding the building codes in fire protection" you might end up tipping the scale on the economic willingness of the owner to abandon the idea.

If this is proven to be arson (not conspiratorial - but instead a homeless fire, or reckless teenagers, etc.) they could probably play victim and get away with a carbon copy rebuild with no issues.... This isn't my field of expertise but just some thoughts.

I like to believe that I have a talent for looking down the road and seeing potential outcomes, and I also usually think about things through a marketing and comms lens (because I’ve been around PR and marketing my whole career), but I didn’t think about that angle at all, I’m almost surprised and a bit disappointed to say. I really do think you’ve hit on something that would give me great pause if I were the developer.

It’s just that the news footprint and saturation on this thing was wide-reaching in a way that is really unusual these days. And the public has become so unsophisticated when it comes to news consumption. I’ll bet 9/10 people in this city have no idea about the state of the fire suppression system or would have even to think about it to that extent. They’d just know that was the place that burned down.

And even the ones who know enough to shrug it off would be hearing about it to no end from family members and co-workers. “YOU’RE MOVING TO THAT FIRE TRAP?! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?!?” Plus any other online news comment section conspiracies.

It really does seem to potentially be a legit PR and sales challenge.