New Downtown Arena

[Sean21]

And the new arena will be on the cox location.

[Urbanized]

^^^^^^^
Like I keep saying, that’s not a given, no matter how many times folks here keep saying it. And again, for the record, that’s where I personally hope it goes.

[Plutonic Panda]

^^^^^^^
Like I keep saying, that’s not a given, no matter how many times folks here keep saying it. And again, for the record, that’s where I personally hope it goes.

Do you have information that other sites are being considered? Are at liberty to disclose what possible sites they’re eyeing? I would think they’d only consider the Cox site because they own the land. I don’t see the people who own the Ford site giving it them cheap. That’d eat into a lot arena money. The city already owns the Cox site. It seems like a no brainer idk

[jn1780]

Who thinks Paycom won’t be demolished? I figured that was a given. Of course it’ll go. Too valuable land.

That comment wasn't aimed at you. There has been a handful of people on here who thinks it shouldn't.

[Sean21]

That comment wasn't aimed at you. There has been a handful of people on here who thinks it shouldn't.

When I initially heard the plan I was surprised they were taking paycom down. It’s certainly the right call

[jn1780]

Do you have information that other sites are being considered? Are at liberty to disclose what possible sites they’re eyeing? I would think they’d only consider the Cox site because they own the land. I don’t see the people who own the Ford site giving it them cheap. That’d eat into a lot arena money. The city already owns the Cox site. It seems like a no brainer idk

The city manager himself said they will look at multiple sites. Reality its a short list of two. Its already been mention how they could make the Ford site work, either give them the money they want or a land swap.

Cox is challenge due to time, but I don't think its an impossible challenge. Not sure how much consulting with engineers has already been done. Its a big site after all, they could demolish one half and make their way around as they relocate utilities. The question is where exactly those important utilities run through the cox site.

We haven't really seen the difficulty quantified, we just know its more difficult than an open field.

[Bunty]

SOMEbody has to vote for all the non-OKC citizens who have an opinion on this matter

As someone from Stillwater, I'm for OKC people to vote YES! And predicted before it passed that it would be passed. After all, it was advertised as no increase in taxes necessary and the last MAPS vote passed by 70% for a similar reason.

[Bunty]

Pottawatomie County voting is cracking me up

No wonder why. Most rural Oklahoma people refuse to see big and awesome for their future! Or for your future! People like that do the most in trying to hold Oklahoma back from going bigger and better!

[ChrisHayes]

I would hate for the Ford site to be where the new arena goes. Cox is the best option because of the size and layout of the area as well as the city already owning it. Like Plutonic said, I hate how the Ford site is nothing but parking lots, but whatever is developed there needs to offer a smooth transition or passageway between the parks.

[bombermwc]

Yup, Cox site for sure. As for utilities, I would be surprised if that's actually a complex question. With there being an underground parking structure there (even if its only one level) it would not have made sense for any utilities to run directly under the parking. They are less accessible that way if there's an issue and it would have required more digging/etc. My bet is that the majority of them run on the peripheral like they would with any project. Sure we'll have some things like sewer that may have some lines under parking for drainage purposes, but that's got to be minimal.

What we have with the Cox site, is the opportunity to create not only an area, but a whole mixture of construction....think Brooklyn's arena area. We dont need the whole footprint since we're not also creating a convention center. But we can create residential or office or (insert idea here) on the land too. Selling some of the land for those ventures could help off-set the cost of the construction as well. It is prime downtown real estate after-all.

[Teo9969]

It seems to me there's a reasonable possibility that the Rehco site has not been developed in anticipation for this arena becuse they probably perceived the potential need for this to go on that site.

That being said, the layout of the arena there is a daunting task if there is any intention of keeping the Harvey Spine. It would definitely have to be a curved spine...

[Laramie]

There are so many possibilities with the new arena being on the Prairie Surf Media site:

1. It's owned by the City (4 square blocks)
2. Room for the City to sell off surplus parcels on the site.
3. We're rewarded our city and our ownership with a new state of the art arena.
4. $900 million will ensure that the new arena will address Paycom Center deficiencies

This will be a game-changer for Oklahoma City. The decade from 2024-2034 Just think
about the projects planned and under construction for our City - Dream Hotel (220 rooms),
Unscripted Hotel (174 rooms), Convergence Full Service Hotel 107 keys and more.

The confidence boosts it will give to many projects planned for OKC's future mix.
.

[Urbanized]

It seems to me there's a reasonable possibility that the Rehco site has not been developed in anticipation for this arena becuse they probably perceived the potential need for this to go on that site...

I’ve alluded to this repeatedly in the thread about that property but nobody’s been picking up what I was laying down. The eventual need for the new arena has been known about in those circles for more than a decade.

[Teo9969]

One thing I genuinely hope they include in this design is that the portion of the site closest to the convention center be engineered for a 15+ story tower to be added on later. I think hotel would make the most sense, but it could be full mixed use as well. For reference OMNi is 17 stories @ 605 rooms.

Anyway you slice it, we do need more rooms closer to the Convention center, so to not get at least 200 rooms.out of this site (even if not by the time the arena opens) would be a wasted opportunity.

[Urbanized]

Based upon what I’m reading in this thread I don’t think folks fully understand the extent of the utilities underneath cox/prairie surf. It’s also important to understand that the HVAC going to Paycom runs through that building, and will have to be relocated before demolition.

To be clear, these things will have to happen anyway. Even if there is a land swap, demo of Prairie Surf will be the ultimate outcome, since PS would almost certainly be a part of the swap, and demo would be a par of the deal.

But relocation of utilities plus demo will put the project a full year or more behind an already-scraped site. With such a tight timeline this is absolutely a consideration. Not saying it precludes the PS site; in fact I still believe it’s the front runner and that it absolutely SHOULD be the front runner, for a number of DIFFERENT reasons. But there’s still an incredibly strong possibility that it goes elsewhere, due (among other things) to the time factor.

[Pete]

^

The demo and related work could run concurrently with the design and building plans, as those are going to take at least a year anyway.

[jn1780]

To be clear, these things will have to happen anyway. Even if there is a land swap, demo of Prairie Surf will be the ultimate outcome, since PS would almost certainly be a part of the swap, and demo would be a par of the deal.

Hate being 'that guy', but one could the argue we should have started this prep work immediately after the new convention center was built, but I know that takes money.

The sooner we start digging trenches on Robison for new utilities, the better.

[BDP]

One thing I genuinely hope they include in this design is that the portion of the site closest to the convention center be engineered for a 15+ story tower to be added on later. I think hotel would make the most sense, but it could be full mixed use as well. For reference OMNi is 17 stories @ 605 rooms.

Anyway you slice it, we do need more rooms closer to the Convention center, so to not get at least 200 rooms.out of this site (even if not by the time the arena opens) would be a wasted opportunity.

Maybe this is what could be done with the Paycom site. If it was another Omni, it could be integrated with the current hotel creating a natural flow from the convention center to the hotels to the arena and then into bricktown, especially if there was some street facing restaurants / retail in the new development(s).

[king183]

Pete and others who know the answer, my apologies because I’ve asked this before in another context and one of you answered but I can’t remember the answer: Am I remembering correctly that there was discussion many years ago about building something on the Rehco site but there was concern about the water table and the effect on construction? I distinctly remember *something* proposed downtown allegedly being affected by the water table.

[Urbanized]

^

The demo and related work could run concurrently with the design and building plans, as those are going to take at least a year anyway.

Definitely can be (and is) a part of any calculation.

Listen, I’m not championing any site other than PS. I’m just repeating what’s been shared to me by folks very close to this effort. I’m cautioning folks here they should be prepared for it to possibly go in a different direction. It’s not as cut-and-dried as folks here seem to think.

Do I think it will go on the Cox/PS site? Yeah, probably. It’s the best site for the city, and for the City. It’s the best site for Bricktown. Honestly, I think it’s the best site for the Thunder. Like I said, it’s the one I’m rooting for. But I’m also prepared for it to land elsewhere, because I fully understand that there is a real chance of this happening. I’d recommend everyone else keep that possibility open in their minds, too.

As a reminder, nearly a year ago - long before the LOI was announced, when folks on this board were arguing about whether the building would be 300 or 400 million dollars - I stated here unequivocally that it would be around a billion. People thought I was talking out of my ass. What I’m saying is that I have a fair bit of insight into this particular ongoing process.

Let the process play out.

[Pete]

I know the City has been looking at the Cox site a long time and I'm sure they have sketched out a plan.

At the same time, you could see where the REHCO site would be the backup.


Craig Freeman: “It doesn’t make sense to run two arenas next to each other especially in a market our size,” he said.

So, we're going to demolish Paycom but not Cox? Of course not -- It has to be demolished anyway.

[Urbanized]

Definitely, Cox will be demolished no matter what. And so will Paycom. Two things that I’ve also been saying in this thread for a very long time. Only a few things about this project are a certainty at this point, but those two things ARE certain.

[jn1780]

So at least one large building will have to be demolish not directly tied to the arena either through construction or a land swap deal. I guess the city will have to find another funding source for that?

[PokeFromOk]

I love the discussion here, but am I the only one that thinks both the PS and REHCO sites have positives? PS has the connectivity to Bricktown/CBD and REHCO can help bridge connectivity between CBD and Scissortail/Convention Center. Also, in the end they are both very close to one another and don't really think either would be a bad choice.

[mattjank]

Based upon what I’m reading in this thread I don’t think folks fully understand the extent of the utilities underneath cox/prairie surf. It’s also important to understand that the HVAC going to Paycom runs through that building, and will have to be relocated before demolition.

To be clear, these things will have to happen anyway. Even if there is a land swap, demo of Prairie Surf will be the ultimate outcome, since PS would almost certainly be a part of the swap, and demo would be a par of the deal.

Just thinking out loud, but if its built on REHCO and Paycom is the land swap, and is demolished after the new arena is built, the HVAC won't ever need to be relocated, correct?