Vacant & Abandoned Buildings

[UnFrSaKn]

Abandoned area between old and new Interstate 40 (March 3 2012) - a set on Flickr











StreetView

[UnFrSaKn]

The buildings in the most danger right now are all the above properties and the future Central Park.

Doug already did a ton of work.

Oklahoma City: Core To Shore Resources

[UnFrSaKn]

International Harvester





StreetView

Who would want to see this go? You can see it in the background in this shot.



Union Station and Little Flower Church are also in the background.

[UnFrSaKn]

If OKCTalk can help rally against crappy development and make a difference, I hope it can do the same for these buildings that can be redeveloped rather than knocked down and trees put in their place. Why not plant trees around it and you already have a building ready for another use.

[Urbanized]

Something that I think could be really helpful in this regard is if there were a resource that could do basic artists' renderings of what a vacant building might look like remodeled. It's my experience that many (if not most) people lack the ability to look at a building and see it in their mind's eye as a finished, renovated product. This is precisely why real estate agents tell clients listing their homes to repaint colored walls white or beige, and to "stage" rooms in homes on the market. The general public just has a difficult time picturing space as something different than it currently is.

I've thought about this for years, and it resurfaced in my mind at the posting of the homes and buildings on NE 3rd, among others. When people see a derelict building that is not only not contributing to the area around it but in fact detracting from it, it becomes very easy for them to begin or join the refrain to demolish. We've seen it on this very board, when a building that was otherwise minding its own business for many years, sitting derelict with no comment from the outside, gets the white hot spotlight and people who might not have even known it existed before start calling for it to be torn down. I believe in many cases this is merely because they can't picture the building being brought back and once again contributing to the neighborhood. They become antagonists, or at the very least apathetic.

When I have attended Main Street and other preservation and urban economic development conferences and meetings, it is always interesting to see the responses of even seasoned preservationists when presentations include "before and after" shots of reclaimed buildings. It is ALWAYS the highlight of these conferences. These people already KNOW what can be done, yet are often flabbergasted by the transformations, with the entire room oohing and ahing.

I think Main Street actually offers a good model for this proposed service. They have a full time preservation architect on staff. Each active local Main Street program gets a set number of "design grants" each year. This is a FREE service. The architect turns out a rendering of what the building might look like renovated, and makes suggestions regarding building/period/neighborhood-appropriate materials, colors and other modifications. Sometimes seeing their building in one of these drawings is all it takes for a reticent owner (who usually never would have hired an architect on their own, or perhaps could not have afforded one) to get excited and jump on the renovation bandwagon. If a building receiving a design grant is renovated within the year, the Main Street program is then awarded ANOTHER design grant for different building.

Personally, I think with technology available today, someone (an architectural student or other trained volunteer, perhaps?) could easily perform this function for an organization seeking to encourage rehabs and discourage needless demolitions downtown- or city-wide.

[Just the facts]

Urbanized, that is a great idea. I tried doing it for something as simple as pedestrian fences in AA but I can't draw a crooked line.

[UnFrSaKn]

StreetView



StreetView

[betts]

I love that old warehouse and think it could be very cool restored. It reminds me of an older version of the building the Floataway Cafe is in in Atlanta.

[bluedogok]

Something that I think could be really helpful in this regard is if there were a resource that could do basic artists' renderings of what a vacant building might look like remodeled. It's my experience that many (if not most) people lack the ability to look at a building and see it in their mind's eye as a finished, renovated product. This is precisely why real estate agents tell clients listing their homes to repaint colored walls white or beige, and to "stage" rooms in homes on the market. The general public just has a difficult time picturing space as something different than it currently is.

I've thought about this for years, and it resurfaced in my mind at the posting of the homes and buildings on NE 3rd, among others. When people see a derelict building that is not only not contributing to the area around it but in fact detracting from it, it becomes very easy for them to begin or join the refrain to demolish. We've seen it on this very board, when a building that was otherwise minding its own business for many years, sitting derelict with no comment from the outside, gets the white hot spotlight and people who might not have even known it existed before start calling for it to be torn down. I believe in many cases this is merely because they can't picture the building being brought back and once again contributing to the neighborhood. They become antagonists, or at the very least apathetic.

It is amazing how many people holding onto these properties have no vision of the possibilities for their own properties. Driving through a bunch of older small towns between Denver and West Texas many times it amazes me how many buildings are just sitting derelict. The same could be said for many in the cities, some of them were purchased by speculators who can't afford to redo the buildings and were hoping to catch a hot market to flip them but ended up asking too much for them and they have sat vacant ever since.

When I have attended Main Street and other preservation and urban economic development conferences and meetings, it is always interesting to see the responses of even seasoned preservationists when presentations include "before and after" shots of reclaimed buildings. It is ALWAYS the highlight of these conferences. These people already KNOW what can be done, yet are often flabbergasted by the transformations, with the entire room oohing and ahing.

I think Main Street actually offers a good model for this proposed service. They have a full time preservation architect on staff. Each active local Main Street program gets a set number of "design grants" each year. This is a FREE service. The architect turns out a rendering of what the building might look like renovated, and makes suggestions regarding building/period/neighborhood-appropriate materials, colors and other modifications. Sometimes seeing their building in one of these drawings is all it takes for a reticent owner (who usually never would have hired an architect on their own, or perhaps could not have afforded one) to get excited and jump on the renovation bandwagon. If a building receiving a design grant is renovated within the year, the Main Street program is then awarded ANOTHER design grant for different building.

Personally, I think with technology available today, someone (an architectural student or other trained volunteer, perhaps?) could easily perform this function for an organization seeking to encourage rehabs and discourage needless demolitions downtown- or city-wide.

I remember when Ron Frantz started working on the Main Street Program, he used to come into Triangle A&E a lot and I got to know him there.

[UnFrSaKn]

[UnFrSaKn]

Here is the other building next door. I wish new buildings in Bricktown borrowed from this style.

[Plutonic Panda]

StreetView



StreetView

That would be cool if they opened up a 24 hour diner there and had a miniature put-put course in that lawn with a patio fronting the street. . .

[Larry OKC]

Who let the buffalo out???

[warreng88]

There is a good article in the gazette titles "Pretty Vacant" that I am reading on my iPad, but I can't link to it from my computer. It points out specifically the Walcourt Building on NE 13th and Walnut Avenue.

[UnFrSaKn]

Oklahoma Gazette News: Features: Vacant buildings

[UnFrSaKn]

Forgot this one... If only I was rich...

First Church of Christ, Scientist (July 9 2013) - a set on Flickr

[UnFrSaKn]

I first noticed this one over a year ago but didn't know anything about it. It's down the street from Kamp's on 10th in Midtown.



Leonard Sullivan Oklahoma County Assessor Real Property Detail Sheet

Map

[warreng88]

I first noticed this one over a year ago but didn't know anything about it. It's down the street from Kamp's on 10th in Midtown.



Leonard Sullivan Oklahoma County Assessor Real Property Detail Sheet

Map

There was a plan to renovate this and turn it into four apartments if I remember correctly. Not sure who would take it on, but it would be a great gateway into AA/DD coming off 235 south.

[UnFrSaKn]

Maybe with Metropolitan coming in, it will spur development of it. You could make it into just about anything.

[UnFrSaKn]

[UnFrSaKn]

International Harvester



StreetView is actally from last month.

[UnFrSaKn]

Live chat:

Good Morning, Steve! How will OKC's new vacant and abandoned building policy affect the city's real estate market? For instance, do you see the Walcourt owners finally giving in and selling? What about other vacant and abandoned buildings like the Marion?

Steve Lackmeyer: Read my story in today's paper about the Marion - it's already about to be renovated and brought back to life. As for the Walcourt, it's going to require a special person to sell a vision to the lady who owns it. The new policy, if it is approved by the city council (it's only been introduced), may have a major impact on the real estate market, but I don't see it being a panacea.

Downtown Oklahoma City survivor getting new lease on life | News OK

[Pete]

This issue comes before City Council next Tuesday:

Battle lines drawn in dispute over vacant buildings ordinance | News OK

The city has more than 12,000 vacant and abandoned buildings, and a study says they cost taxpayers millions of dollars in lost revenue and excessive demands on services such as fire and police protection.

The cost to property owners in lost value due to blighted neighborhoods is estimated to be $2.7 billion.

Owners of blighted properties pay an average of $112.39 annually in property tax, sales tax, franchise fees and other charges. Contrast that to the more than $1,200 paid by owners of occupied homes.

The city council is considering creation of a vacant buildings registry to track rundown properties and more effectively address code violations.

[soonerfan_in_okc]

burn em all down!

[DoctorTaco]

http://oklahoman.com/okc-council-app...rticle/3910788

This is still embargoed for the moment.

Oklahoma City will create a registry as a first step toward reducing the negative impact on neighborhoods of thousands of vacant and abandoned buildings.

..

A study found there are more than 12,000 vacant and abandoned buildings in Oklahoma City.

The study showed those blighted properties cost taxpayers millions of dollars in lost revenue and place excessive demands on services such as fire and police protection.


The cost to property owners in lost value due is estimated to be $2.7 billion.

Owners of blighted properties pay an average of $112.39 annually in property tax, sales tax, franchise fees and other charges, the study found.

That stands in contrast to the more than $1,200 paid by owners of occupied homes.

The city council approved the registry in a unanimous vote Tuesday after hearing comments from about 15 people. About 70 people attended the meeting.

The measure was adjusted to meet concerns of commercial property managers after a public hearing two weeks ago.

Further measures, such as creation of a land bank to finance neighborhood revitalization, will require legislative action.

Does anyone know what this actually means? Does this thing have teeth or is it just a list? What were the concessions made to property managers?