New Downtown Arena

[jn1780]

This made me laugh. OKC seems to hold many who hate their own city, which is really sad and quite unreasonable, and make up falsehood like this to influence how others see the city. I hear disinformation and complaints about OKC at work far too frequently. Obviously we can't expect everyone to be fully knowledgeable of city developments but the straight up lies are sad to me.

Not limited to OKC unfortunately.

[Tyson]

This is also why I love OKCTalk. I'm encouraged by this community who is not only for OKC, but passionate enough to stay in the loop of what's truly going on. What is discussed here is almost opposite of what I hear at the office lol.

I digress... ready to see this arena get built!

[Tyson]

Not limited to OKC unfortunately.

Grass is always greener, if you will.

[Dob Hooligan]

Gotta be a well known fact that OKC Mayor has more power than Richard Daly ever dreamed of back in Chicago.

[Shortsyeararound]

I don't think it is just people that "hate their city", but that people are just poo pooing the idea of change. I know some older folks that think OKC is growing too fast and large and for them it scares them (as they don't want it to become Dallas or Los Angeles). OKC will never be either of those, I know, but the fear is real for them (more people, more crime, higher prices, etc). Take the argument of one OKC Talk poster that always complains that the city of Edmond is almost in their yard and they can't ride their horse on the street because of the cars, for them it is a real issue. Others just don't want to be let down (example- those that complain about UTC in Norman). Disinformation is every where unfortunately in this day and age, and speeds through the conversation quicker through everyone online. I take the position of being excited and proud, knowing that it might change or not happen like you want it, but the growth is something that love and never thought possible for our old dusty city.

[scottk]

I take the position of being excited and proud, knowing that it might change or not happen like you want it, but the growth is something that love and never thought possible for our old dusty city.

Same. Happy OKC is growing, changing, evolving. I have been to plenty of metros that are either slowly losing population or essentially stagnant in growth and it shows. City owned facilities, parks, roads, and infrastructure are just "tired." OKC has done a lot to improve this, especially in the core the last few years.

The OKC Chamber released their latest campaign video about a month ago promoting the City, and the energy behind it about the power of citizens voting for growth and change, all about improving quality of life in OKC.

[Pete]

I deleted a bunch of increasingly angry and personal posts. Apologies that some good/rational posts were lost in the wash.


If you bring up politics or just want to complain, your posting privileges are going to get revoked.

[soonerguru]

Same. Happy OKC is growing, changing, evolving. I have been to plenty of metros that are either slowly losing population or essentially stagnant in growth and it shows. City owned facilities, parks, roads, and infrastructure are just "tired." OKC has done a lot to improve this, especially in the core the last few years.

The OKC Chamber released their latest campaign video about a month ago promoting the City, and the energy behind it about the power of citizens voting for growth and change, all about improving quality of life in OKC.

Great video!

[April in the Plaza]

I deleted a bunch of increasingly angry and personal posts. Apologies that some good/rational posts were lost in the wash.


If you bring up politics or just want to complain, your posting privileges are going to get revoked.

Thank you, Pete!

[_Kyle]

Can't wait until we see renderings for this thing, Looking at how new NBA arenas are being constructed, this thing will look amazing at the CCC site IMO if they do decide to construct it there.
Imagine a beautiful new arena placed on location of the unfortunately poorly aged gargantuan CCC. It takes up so much space that could be dressed up nicely on the exterior which would increase the space that heavy foot traffic would flow through on a night out Downtown. If the then former site of the Paycom Center and the surface lots between MBG and Scissortail Park are blended nicely, it would make Downtown feel so much larger.

I'm super excited to see these projects come to fruition. Seeing all of this development pop off simultaneously is such a good look for the City on a national level.

[Laramie]

[_Kyle]

They state "only the CCC and the parking lots nearby are under consideration for the new arena" which, adding the comment about them not owning the lots and the hefty price tag associated with the acquisition of the land just tells me that its going to the CCC site. The owners wanted $100 million for the site back when attempting to construct the convention center, there is no way they would ask for a lower price now.

[CatholicSooner]

They state "only the CCC and the parking lots nearby are under consideration for the new arena" which, adding the comment about them not owning the lots and the hefty price tag associated with the acquisition of the land just tells me that its going to the CCC site. The owners wanted $100 million for the site back when attempting to construct the convention center, there is no way they would ask for a lower price now.

I'd much prefer the cox center site. I know something needs to be done with the parking lot but ideally the myriad gardens and scissortail park won't be separated by an arena

[Pete]

Given the tight timeline, we should start to see movement on this soon.

I believe the first thing would be to formally announce the Cox Center as the location. There is almost certainly going to be a buyout of Prairie Surf.

I'm sure they are already working on conceptual plans behind the scenes, especially now that the vote has been approved and they do have MAPS 4 money which has been funneled away from what were to be more improvements to Paycom.

[jn1780]

Is there any significance to the survey being done by the Brownfield program?

[CatholicSooner]

Is there any significance to the survey being done by the Brownfield program?

I'd assume just a formality. Dotting the i's and crossing the t's

[Pete]

Is there any significance to the survey being done by the Brownfield program?

I'm sure that is just part of the due diligence required for any public project.

The City can't just settle on one site... They have to look at options and then explain why a particular site was chosen. It's much like the competitive bidding process or when the City issues an RFP when a developer approaches them about buying a public site.


I bet it will go something like this: "We looked at the neighboring parking lots as an option, but due to the huge purchase expense and possible Brownfields cleanup, we have concluded the City-owned Cox Center site is the optimal choice for this tax-funded project."


Also, keep in mind, the City and ODOT owns a good chunk of those parking lot parcels. The southern part used to be ROW for the old I-40. And they would also have to give their approval and transfer ownership for any of the areas now devoted to streets. So no matter what happens there, the City would have to be heavily involved because almost certainly those parcels would be consolidated before development.

[Pete]

What REHCO (mainly Bob Howard but also Hall Capital has an interest) owns is shown below in red.

There is a private party that owns the one remaining commercial lot, but all that frontage along the OKC Boulevard is owned by the City or State.

When there were negotiations over this site for the convention center, the City was going to close all those internal streets and incorporate them into the larger site. If/when this site is developed, the same thing would probably happen, so you can see about half of this land is owned by a government body, and the City controls what happens there.

I'm also going to post this on the REHCO Land thread.

[CatholicSooner]

I'm sure that is just part of the due diligence required for any public project.

The City can't just settle on one site... They have to look at options and then explain why a particular site was chosen. It's much like the competitive bidding process or when the City issues an RFP when a developer approaches them about buying a public site.


I bet it will go something like this: "We looked at the neighboring parking lots as an option, but due to the huge purchase expense and possible Brownfields cleanup, we have concluded the City-owned Cox Center site is the optimal choice for this tax-funded project."


Also, keep in mind, the City and ODOT owns a good chunk of those parking lot parcels. The southern part used to be ROW for the old I-40. And they would also have to give their approval and transfer ownership for any of the areas now devoted to streets. So no matter what happens there, the City would have to be heavily involved because almost certainly those parcels would be consolidated before development.

I'm curious of the cost of tearing down the cox vs the cost of buying a lot for $100MM that is essentially ready to go

[CatholicSooner]

What REHCO (mainly Bob Howard but also Hall Capital has an interest) owns is shown below in red.

There is one private owner that owns the one remaining commercial lot, but all that frontage along the OKC Boulevard is owned by the City or State.

When there were negotiations over this site for the convention center, the City was going to close all those internal streets and incorporate them into the larger site. If/when this site is developed, the same thing would probably happen, so you can see about half of this land is owned by a government body, and the City controls what happens there.

I'm also going to post this on the REHCO Land thread.

Honestly, this site would be ideal for the towers being discussed in bricktown. Having residential so close to the park would be huge

[Pete]

I'm curious of the cost of tearing down the cox vs the cost of buying a lot for $100MM that is essentially ready to go

$100MM was about ten years ago and long before Scissortail Park and the convention center were built.

I think it's safe to say that demolition on the Cox site would be a tiny fraction of that amount.

[Pete]

Honestly, this site would be ideal for the towers being discussed in bricktown. Having residential so close to the park would be huge

Residential and hotels seem to be the areas of most demand in the core.

Office space is way overbuilt and it will probably continue that way for quite some time, and you can only have so many restaurants which are usually just a small part of a larger development.

[Canoe]

Honestly, this site would be ideal for the towers being discussed in bricktown. Having residential so close to the park would be huge

Is it greedy to want both?

[jn1780]

Is it greedy to want both?

We could potentially see new development happening to the East, South East, South, and West of the Myriad Gardens. May take time though.

[Anonymous.]

It needs to go on the PSM site. The chance to be able to tap into the Santa Fe [future] Hub for whatever form of commuter rail down the tracks. There will be something very special about having the ability to take a train from Edmond or Norman and being dropped off across the street from the arena.