Depot to get shops

[jbrown84]

Wow, I had pretty much given up on this one.

[HOT ROD]

Its about time.

I wrote a letter to the mayor, I wonder if that has anything to do with this

I said, it is ridiculous that this depot is left sitting here in this condition considering Brewer got tax credits to "update it" and that he promised retail (Cingular and others) were interested in it. We should either demand that he upgrade the facility like promised or demand it returned to the city so another developer can be found.

Anyways, if nothing else - my actions (and many of yours) show that we care about downtown and will not let people like Brewer sit there getting rich while their properties look like a freaking dump. He should be ashamed of himself - 2 years later, he finally is upgrading those docks. He must be using the money from the parking for Big XII to get this done.

The city should not settle for this crap, but at least something ist happening now.

[Kerry]

In fairness to the city - I think they have had bigger things to worry about over the last 2 years then the loading docks at an old train station. Having said that I am glad they are finally doing something.

[Patrick]

I've gotten used to Brewer making false claims. How many hotels has he promised us now?

[jbrown84]

15 or 20, if I remember correctly.

[writerranger]

In fairness to the city - I think they have had bigger things to worry about over the last 2 years then the loading docks at an old train station. Having said that I am glad they are finally doing something.

I would agree Kerry, except that the loading docks at the depot are framed on either side by the eastbound entrances to Bricktown. It's a pretty prominent location and looks really bad.

-------------

[John]

You would have thought it would have been open by Big XII Championship time. Brewer's loss...

[Patrick]

You would have thought it would have been open by Big XII Championship time. Brewer's loss...

He made plenty off his parking lots, so no loss on his part.

[John]

He made plenty off his parking lots, so no loss on his part.

Yeah, there's always that...

[HOT ROD]

In fairness to the city - I think they have had bigger things to worry about over the last 2 years then the loading docks at an old train station. Having said that I am glad they are finally doing something.

Kerry, I disagree with your statement - the city should NOT have bigger things to do than develop Downtown into the urban centre we all want. If they dont have time, then its time for them to go (or Brewer to go).

We can't expect (or allow) a complacent government - otherwise, we're no better than we were in 1985!! Don't give the city or these developers ANY slack, especially when it comes to our downtown (image that everyone who comes here will see/leave with).

Its their job. Tell me, if your boss told you to do something and it too you two years before you lifted a finger - that you'd still have your high paying job???

Well, that is my expectation of Oklahoma City government (high paying jobs to tell people what to do) and they should have got off their arse long ago and done something about that eyesore!!! OKC tore down Mercey Hospital for Christ's sake like that was SUCH A BIG DEAL!!! - they surely could demand Brewer clean up his GATEWAY ART DECO Train Station without allowing him 2 years to even do ANYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

As for Brewer, Im sure the parking from the Big XII is why we're even seeing anything happen with this project - besides my writing the city reminding them about that dump of a Train Station!!!!

[okclee]

Hot Rod....I agree with you on this. Someone should lose their job especially when they are given so many taxpayer gifts in regards to downtown and bricktown.

Keep those emails coming to the City of Okc and to the Mayor. I must say that you may be the best watch-dog for Okc, and we need more of us to be like you.

[metro]

Drove by again last night, no new glass/doors have gone in since last time I posted, however they ripped out some exterior stairs and concrete (possible plumbing or utility line work??) and there is now 2 dumpsters on the property and they were full. Perhaps they are finally gutting and remodeling after all. I guess we'll see within a few more weeks.

[metro]

I drove by again tonight, looks like all the new windows and doors are now in place. Ironically, they still have the original ones cracked and boarded up directly behind the new ones, but alas it looks like progress is being made although slowly. Hopefully we'll see some retail in here by years end. I know previously Cingular Wireless and Camille's had announced locations for here, but that was at least a year ago, if not more.

[betts]

I've got a friend who's a manager of several of the Starbucks here. I alerted her to the midtown area and she went down to look. She was impressed enough to pass the word on, but said a store there would probably be a couple of years away. The Centennial will have a Starbucks, I believe, so there probably won't be another downtown until there's significantly more population.

Someone told me that Starbucks has done research and people don't like to stand in a line that has more than six people in it. They lose significant business when their lines start getting long, so until that's happening downtown, don't look for another Starbucks.

[metro]

Yes, betts, the Centennial will have a Starbucks, probably by October at the latest. Also, I really think Midtown could support at lease one Starbucks now along with the CBD or the main part of downtown could support several. The population is already there and growing by the day, not to mention the 40,000 or so that work downtown everyday.

[jbrown84]

I would certainly think that as soon as the Starbucks in the Centennial opens, it will already have lines. Have you seen Marble Slab on any given night?

Now mornings may be a little different.

A midtown location would probably do the opposite--better in the morning and at lunch, but not as good at night.

[metro]

Back to topic of the shops in the Sante Fe train depot.

[okclee]

This project is dragging along , who is the contractor on this job??

[metro]

I drove by the other day and the project is showing more signs of progress. Looks like the old doors behind the new ones have been ripped out as well as the old windows. All the new windows and doors are now in place. Steel studs have been put up on the interior and it appears they are ready to start drywalling. Hopefully we'll see some stores or some sort of announcement soon. I know originally 2 years ago when this was supposed to be done, Cingular and Camille's had announced a location here. I wonder if they are still in the works.

[metro]

Train station set for retail
The Journal Record

November 20, 2007

OKLAHOMA CITY – In 1998 Bricktown developer Jim Brewer purchased the old Santa Fe Railway Station in downtown Oklahoma City. At the time, passenger rail service had not come to the city in nearly two decades, and the station itself was neglected and dilapidated. Built in 1934, the 20,685-square-foot, art deco-style station maintained a stop for different rail routes, including a Chicago-to-Houston Amtrak line. Then passenger service discontinued in the city in 1979.The station fell dark and was largely ignored until Brewer purchased the building from the railroad for $374,667 after nearly seven years of negotiations.“

It took a long time to get and a long time to renovate it,” Brewer said. “I felt like it was something I wanted to keep a part of downtown, and I wanted to control it; I didn’t want someone else getting it.”

After a $3.1 million renovation in recent years, the station’s south end is now being fitted for retail space.The Heartland Flyer Brewer said the money for the initial renovation came when Oklahoma Department of Transportation officials came to him in the late 1990s and wanted to know if they could use the station to service an Amtrak passenger line. That line came in the form of the Heartland Flyer, which since 1999 has departed Oklahoma City daily for Fort Worth, Texas, with return trips in the evening.“I said yes, you can use it if you can come up with some money,” Brewer said. The money came from ODOT through the city of Oklahoma City, which in turn paid Brewer to complete renovations and do some necessary upgrades. Brewer said nearly $2 million of the money was spent solely on making the station compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, installing an elevator and rebuilding the overhead on the platform. Other repairs included duplicating some of the rotted art-deco molding, redoing the floors and walls and replacing two 40-foot-high lights that disappeared sometime after the station closed in the 1970s.

Downtown OKC Inc. President Brett Hamm, who worked for former U.S. Sen. Don Nickles when passenger train service returned to Oklahoma City, applauded the public-private partnership for the renovation of the Santa Fe Station and for returning rail service to the city.“Projects such as this require a public-private partnership for success,” Hamm said. “The Heartland Flyer and the station is another example of that.”Retail ready with the initial renovations complete, Brewer submitted plans to the city in November 2005 – then a revised version in 2006 – to remodel the south end of the station for retail. The main part of the station is rented out for private parties and receptions.

The plans, drawn by Rick Brown & Associates, call for the renovation of four docks into retail suites, one with 689 square feet, one with 794 square feet, one with 842 square feet and the largest with 1,280 square feet. Brewer is overseeing the renovation of the spaces and said they will be completed and available in the near future. The costs submitted to the city for renovating the spaces ranged between $30,000 and $40,000 each. Brewer said those renovations will likely be more costly in the end.

Leasing has not begun on the spaces but Brewer said there is interest from a car rental company and from food and clothing retailers. “It’s getting pretty close to ready,” Brewer said.

The station was zoned in the Bricktown Core from 1993 to May 1, 2007, when it was rezoned as a part of downtown. But many still consider the station the gateway to Bricktown.

Jim Cowan, executive director of the Bricktown Association, said he welcomes the station’s potential to be both an area of retail leading into Bricktown as well as an important train stop for future extended passenger service. “The potential for that as being a gateway to the rest of the country from a transportation standpoint is enormous,” Cowan said. “A lot of people might be skeptical, but they might be the same ones who said MAPS would never pass.”

Future plans Brewer said when the retail space is done he has additional plans for the station, and is ready for the call that Oklahoma City will host more passenger lines requiring a manned station similar to the station in Fort Worth. “We’re ready at any time they hook this up to other lines,” he said. For the time being, Brewer is tight-lipped about future plans for the station, but promises something great when all is said and done.“It will be the shining bright light right there,” he said. “It will be the highlight of Oklahoma City.”



The Sante Fe Railway Station near Bricktown is undergoing renovation to bring retail business to the station’s south end. (Photo by Jennifer Pitts)

[jbrown84]

A car rental company makes a lot of sense. Hopefully that goes through.

[mecarr]

wow, I began reading this thread not knowing that the original post was years ago. It's amazing how slow things seem to move sometime. Nevertheless, it's nice that something is happening.

[metro]

Actually most of the retail space is complete and has been for awhile from what I've been able to tell, the new glass front facade and doors have been in place awhile and they've redone the utilities and wiring, put up new interior walls, etc. As the article said, tenants should be in here soon.

[soonerguru]

"It's getting close to ready." WTF does that mean? And, wow, great English there.

The "shining light" of Oklahoma City? Doesn't that strike you as hollow boosterism?

Why is this redneck controlling so much of our urban landscape?

[mecarr]

yea...I dont know if I have much faith in this guy.