Convention Center

[_Cramer_]

After checking, just found out that it will be, the details just haven't been turned in yet. That schedule is a living document; updated each month.

Thanks for the update!

[Laramie]

Just anxious to see the 600-plus room conference hotel proposals by Omni vs. Marcus-Mortenson.

This was a good move by Marcus-Mortenson to combine forces & resources to bid on a luxury conference hotel; this would divide the expense and risk by both groups. Below are some of their most high profile brands:

Marcus portfolio - Hilton, Starwood, IHG, Westin & Marriott
Mortenson - Hyatt Recency, Hilton, Ritz-Carlton & Marriott

Could a Hilton be what Marcus & Mortenson propose for OKC; both have Hilton & Marriott brands?

Recently (2016) constructed downtown Hilton in Cleveland.

374 ft., high - 600 room Hilton, downtown Cleveland - 4 story base, tower has 28 stories (32 floors) connected to the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland.

[HOT ROD]

That would do the trick for OKC.

[NWOKCGuy]

Marriott is about to close on their acquisition of Starwood as well which includes Westin, W, Sheraton, et al.

[Spartan]

That Hilton was a $270 million project, more expensive than the new BOK/Devon tower. It's also a major reason for Cuyahoga County's $1 billion debt that was just tallied up today. I think it's a great project, and honestly I think cities can just do hotels like these without dropping a billion on a convention center itself.

http://www.cleveland.com/cuyahoga-co...port_says.html

Where was this discussed? Do you have a link?

http://kfor.com/2013/12/17/study-dow...d-by-the-city/

http://www.reddirtreport.com/red-dir...vention-center

http://newsok.com/article/3732572

"A panel convened by the Urban Land Institute the next year said the city faced a minimum subsidy of $60 million to build a hotel."

“A convention center hotel is something we will need,” Couch said Tuesday. “And yes, most convention center hotels do need some sort of subsidy.”

(Not sure, do the fanatic boosters still not trust Steve's reporting?)

I don't think there is any way that the pending subsidy for this project hasn't been universally understood. We only don't know the exact subsidy dollar amount just because we don't know how large and how nice it will be. Even when Ed Shadid makes otherwise solid points about the CC hotel, he is still wrong about the transparency of this pending subsidy issue, which has been completely public knowledge ever since MAPS3 was a proposal.

Even back when mixed-use was still proposed to shield the park from the CC (the first time Cornett proposed a CC on this site).

All we're really doing is beating a dead horse over a period of years and trying to pretend it's news.

[Laramie]

That Hilton was a $270 million project . . .

The downtown Hilton in Cleveland was built

Situated on the site of the former Cuyahoga County Administration Building, the $272 million project is expected to employ 2,800 workers during the construction and 450 full-time jobs at the hotel. The new Hilton Cleveland Downtown is scheduled to open by 2016...

My question, how much of the Cleveland Hilton's $272 million is related to the fact that this hotel was built atop (retrofitted) an existing facility vs. planned construction from the ground up.

"A panel convened by the Urban Land Institute the next year said the city faced a minimum subsidy of $60 million to build a hotel."

If Marcus-Mortenson are selected; how much of this shared costs associated with construction will the city have to bear. You're probably talking about a $200 - $225 million conference hotel with OKC's share being 30% - 40% - 45% ($60 - $80 - $100 million) with a combined bid by Marcus-Mortenson. How much would TIF generate?

Either we are going to compete or maintain the status quo.

[Urbanized]

...All we're really doing is beating a dead horse over a period of years and trying to pretend it's news.

Welcome back; please refrain from putting words into my mouth as long as you're here. Never once did I suggest subsidy isn't likely or expected. What I questioned was your matter-of-fact assertion that the City has said "half" of the cost of the hotel would be subsidy. I defy you to find a link that says this.

Subsidy can come in many forms, some of which are much more friendly to the City's bottom line than others. Would you consider the Skirvin renovation subsidized? If so, would you say it was a good or a bad use of public resources?

The fact of the matter is that the City WANTS to be a financial partner in the CC hotel, because it gives them a say in room rates. This allows the CVB access to room blocks at discounted, competitive rates even when the market occupancy and rates for other downtown rooms is relatively high. I've explained this a number of times in this very thread. Ignoring that reasoning and sticking to half-truths and speculative hyperbole is the only thing here that amounts to "beating a dead horse over a period of years."

[RodH]

[QUOTE=Laramie;966512]The downtown Hilton in Cleveland was built

My question, how much of the Cleveland Hilton's $272 million is related to the fact that this hotel was built atop (retrofitted) an existing facility vs. planned construction from the ground up.



The Cleveland Hilton was built from the ground up. It was not retrofitted. The Cuyahoga County building was demolished.

[Laramie]

[QUOTE=RodH;966530]

The downtown Hilton in Cleveland was built

My question, how much of the Cleveland Hilton's $272 million is related to the fact that this hotel was built atop (retrofitted) an existing facility vs. planned construction from the ground up.



The Cleveland Hilton was built from the ground up. It was not retrofitted. The Cuyahoga County building was demolished.

Thanks for the correction!

So, a fraction of that $272 million is related to demolition costs. Our convention center budget clears the site for the whole convention center complex. Land acquisition & utilities will be set in place for the conference hotel.

Just anxious to see the bids & designs from the two developers that remain.

[baralheia]

Do we have any idea of when the bids and designs will be made public?

[Pete]

OG&E substation move to begin soon
By: Molly M. Fleming The Journal Record September 8, 2016 0

OKLAHOMA CITY – Details of the new OG&E substation are being finalized, meaning construction will start soon, said Randy Lewis, community affairs manager.

The substation will be at 48 SE 10th St., north of the Oklahoma River and east of the Pull-A-Part auto yard. The city of Oklahoma City previously used the lot for river sand and dirt storage.

The new substation is a result of a land swap between the city and OG&E. The swap allows the company to get the 10th Street site when it closes down the substation at 500 S. Robinson Ave., just south of the Chesapeake Energy Arena. The City Council approved the land swap in June.

The S. Robinson substation won’t close until the 10th Street station is running, Lewis said. The Riverfront Design Committee approved the 10th Street station at its Sept. 1 meeting. The Downtown Design Review Committee will review the S. Robinson’s station removal at its Sept. 15 meeting.

From opening the 10th Street station to tearing down the S. Robinson station, the process will take 18 to 24 months, Lewis said. The station has to be removed to make way for a new downtown convention center, promised as part of the MAPS 3 sales tax initiative.

MAPS 3 Project Manager David Todd said the city expects the project to start in 18 months, with a convention center groundbreaking scheduled for January 2018.

When the substation is dismantled, the tallest beams will remain on the site the longest because they are distributing power. The transformers will be removed, updated, and reused at another site. The steel and wire will be recycled. The oil in the transformers will be recycled as well.

There is some underground infrastructure that will have to be moved, but those details are still being evaluated. The lines could run under the railroad tracks to connect to the 10th Street station, but that hasn’t been finalized.

“We do our best to recycle and repurpose as much of it as we can,” Lewis said. “Throughout our whole service territory, we’ll reuse this equipment.”

The S. Robinson station is one of a few that serve downtown. OG&E has several in the area, though the S. Robinson station does provide the backup to others if one should fail. The station was upgraded when the arena was updated for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The convention center construction will start in 2018 and its completion is scheduled for 2020. The center will have a 200,000-square-foot exhibit hall, 45,00

[Laramie]

This was Mayor Mick Cornett's original plan to move the substation. Many of us didn't like the steep $30 million price tag it would take to move the substation.

Now, with the success of MAPS, the valuation of many properties in the core are primed parcels. Once we get the street car & convention center complex completed; we (OKC) will be priced out of the market for building in this area.

We should be ready to move on to other unique districts of the our city like Stockyard City, Paseo, Asian, Northeast & Capitol Hill with projects to spur development in those districts.

[Spartan]

Welcome back; please refrain from putting words into my mouth as long as you're here. Never once did I suggest subsidy isn't likely or expected. What I questioned was your matter-of-fact assertion that the City has said "half" of the cost of the hotel would be subsidy. I defy you to find a link that says this.

Subsidy can come in many forms, some of which are much more friendly to the City's bottom line than others. Would you consider the Skirvin renovation subsidized? If so, would you say it was a good or a bad use of public resources?

The fact of the matter is that the City WANTS to be a financial partner in the CC hotel, because it gives them a say in room rates. This allows the CVB access to room blocks at discounted, competitive rates even when the market occupancy and rates for other downtown rooms is relatively high. I've explained this a number of times in this very thread. Ignoring that reasoning and sticking to half-truths and speculative hyperbole is the only thing here that amounts to "beating a dead horse over a period of years."

Lol what?

The Skirvin was a $50 million project, of which the city subsidized merely $18 million. My personal approval means nothing, but I think that was a pretty good deal. There's also something to be said about design - I'm not sure that $100 million of subsidy for this hotel will deliver half as much design as the $18 million Skirvin subsidy did. The catalytic impact of the Skirvin greased the wheel for development of tens of new hotels, most of them without any development subsidy. I just don't see other dominoes coming after a CC hotel that justify the likely cost.

Why the hostility?

[Spartan]

[QUOTE=Laramie;966537]

Thanks for the correction!

So, a fraction of that $272 million is related to demolition costs. Our convention center budget clears the site for the whole convention center complex. Land acquisition & utilities will be set in place for the conference hotel.

Just anxious to see the bids & designs from the two developers that remain.

Cuyahoga County's bldg was a mere 90' tall (the former height limit, or "cornice line," on that site), and was already falling in on itself lol.

[Pete]

New renderings:

[Pete]

[Pete]

[Dustin]

My favorite perspective:



Love the architecture.

[kevin lee]

Yes the architecture is quite nice. The proposed materials they're using is also important. Now the hotel facade can be made from glass or stone with either blending in seamlessly.

[Pete]

I agree, it's sharp.

I like how they've broken up the monolithic nature of the structure with different materials and angles.

[KayneMo]

^ Agreed, I was afraid it was going to be monolithic but it's looking awesome!

[catch22]

Looks like a building in Portland's South Waterfront district. It's part of the hospital in that area. This is primarily a sport medicine and wellness building if I remember correctly





I really like the design, agree with others was holding breath it would not be monolithic and a noose on walkability. It looks very good and the angles break it up to look like different buildings in a way.

[Zuplar]

I guess I'm going to be in the minority here, but I think it's fairly ugly. Very choppy and a design that will look dated in 10 years. Too modern, should have gone for a sleeker, cleaner look.

[jerrywall]

My only complaint, as someone who's organized dozens of conventions/exhibitor halls, are all the pillars/columns in the exhibition hall. It really limits layout options and flexibility. The Reed center in Midwest City has the same problem (as well as weirdly shaped walls). I don't believe it's not possible to layout an exhibit hall without columns. And there needs to be electrical outlets on the floor spaced out all over the hall, something they always tend to skip. The other concern is the high ceiling. This is bad for acoustics, and it's extremely hard to keep a busy exhibit hall cool in the summer. This won't help. I know the design is still a work in process so maybe the end result will be different.

[HangryHippo]

My only complaint, as someone who's organized dozens of conventions/exhibitor halls, are all the pillars/columns in the exhibition hall. It really limits layout options and flexibility. The Reed center in Midwest City has the same problem (as well as weirdly shaped walls). I don't believe it's not possible to layout an exhibit hall without columns. And there needs to be electrical outlets on the floor spaced out all over the hall, something they always tend to skip. The other concern is the high ceiling. This is bad for acoustics, and it's extremely hard to keep a busy exhibit hall cool in the summer. This won't help. I know the design is still a work in process so maybe the end result will be different.

Very good points. I was thinking about the all the columns as well. Really going to limit the layout possibilities if they remain.