Sycamore Square New Build

[Spartan]

Weed dealer.

That's going to be the lease up special..actually a great idea in this day and age where it's harder for developers to keep concessions off the market study reports.

[soonerguru]

Really, a young guy with a beard, a hoodie, and cup of coffee is a hipster or a weed dealer? If you haven't noticed, that is in style now. You all remind me of my parents who. back in the day, called everyone in their 20s "hippies".

Dude, it's called irony. Just having a little fun. But seriously, you think the dude in that rendering wouldn't know where to score some weed?

[zookeeper]

Love the fact they are small units. Efficiency units and one-bedrooms. The downtown market is craving for this.

[KayneMo]

I love this. Are the upper floors clad in corten?

[ljbab728]

Steve's update.

http://www.oklahoman.com/article/5137776?embargo=1

A plan to convert two-bedroom apartments to one-bedroom units at Sycamore Square is being put on hold, and tenants who thought they would have to find new homes are being welcomed to extend their stay.

Rohan Gupta, lead partner in the ownership group that bought the apartments earlier this year, said the conversion of six units was a success — but unexpected costs may make further conversions unlikely.

At the same time, the market for larger, family friendly units was just beginning to become evident with the opening nearby of the new John W. Rex Elementary.

[Spartan]

So is the expansion also off?

[Just the facts]

So is the expansion also off?

If anything I expect it will be accelerated. They have enough room to do this 5 or 6 more times and maybe eventually replace the existing buildings with more interior amenities and parking (especially if the cost of renovating the existing units is cost prohibitive).

[Urbanized]

They were doing soil sampling yesterday where the new building is proposed to be located, so I would say that is still moving forward. Upgrading the existing units is what they should have been doing all along. Suggesting they might be demolished at a later date is ridiculous.

I know you find the layout offensive, JTF, but people who haven't been inside Sycamore don't understand that it has an innate luxury feel that is not being duplicated with today's construction; it only needs some updated surfaces within the units to get very high rents. Most of the units were going for $1200-1500/mo BEFORE all of this started. And right up until they started intentionally displacing residents, the property AS-IS almost always had a waiting list, and has been that way for years.

Not to mention that the two bedroom layouts are the envy of every apartment manager downtown. I routinely talk with downtown property and leasing managers for work reasons, and to a person the ones that I have discussed this project with have scratched their heads and felt like the push for conversion to efficiencies was a huge case of missing/misunderstanding the market. The inability to reconfigure the two bedrooms to efficiencies, forcing their hand on interior upgrades, is going to prove a blessing in disguise for out-of-state developers who didn't initially understand the OKC market or the asset they possessed.

[Spartan]

If anything I expect it will be accelerated. They have enough room to do this 5 or 6 more times and maybe eventually replace the existing buildings with more interior amenities and parking (especially if the cost of renovating the existing units is cost prohibitive).

Meanwhile back in reality... Is the new addition still on?

Lol just kidding Kerry. I wish I could be as unrelenting with urbanism as you are.

[Urbanized]

Yes. Appears to be on still. They were doing soil samples yesterday within the footprint of the proposed building when I rode past.

[Just the facts]

I know you find the layout offensive, JTF, but people who haven't been inside Sycamore don't understand that it has an innate luxury feel that is not being duplicated with today's construction; it only needs some updated surfaces within the units to get very high rents. Most of the units were going for $1200-1500/mo BEFORE all of this started. And right up until they started intentionally displacing residents, the property AS-IS almost always had a waiting list, and has been that way for years.

I wasn't really commenting on the quality of the existing construction as much as I was on the fact there is a huge amount non-revenue producing land on-site.

[Midtowner]

They were doing soil sampling yesterday where the new building is proposed to be located, so I would say that is still moving forward. Upgrading the existing units is what they should have been doing all along. Suggesting they might be demolished at a later date is ridiculous.

I know you find the layout offensive, JTF, but people who haven't been inside Sycamore don't understand that it has an innate luxury feel that is not being duplicated with today's construction; it only needs some updated surfaces within the units to get very high rents. Most of the units were going for $1200-1500/mo BEFORE all of this started. And right up until they started intentionally displacing residents, the property AS-IS almost always had a waiting list, and has been that way for years.

Not to mention that the two bedroom layouts are the envy of every apartment manager downtown. I routinely talk with downtown property and leasing managers for work reasons, and to a person the ones that I have discussed this project with have scratched their heads and felt like the push for conversion to efficiencies was a huge case of missing/misunderstanding the market. The inability to reconfigure the two bedrooms to efficiencies, forcing their hand on interior upgrades, is going to prove a blessing in disguise for out-of-state developers who didn't initially understand the OKC market or the asset they possessed.

We lived there for 5 years and what you say is 100% accurate. It was a well-managed, very well-maintained property. I did notice some slipping from the time we arrived to when we left. They took away our natural gas grills which used to be fixed amenities in front of every apartment, the washer/dryer units they supplied were terrible and the appliances outdated. But yeah, if they were to spend 10K-20K per unit, they'd be able to ask a LOT for those properties. They are all very nice and spacious.

[Mississippi Blues]

Sorry if there's an update of some sort around here that I missed, but what's the latest on these?

[Pete]

Looks like this project is moving forward again.

They submitted landscape plans to the DDRC for approval. They had already received approval for the building plans.

[AP]

I was just wondering about this. I'm glad to see it moving forward. I'm a pretty big fan of the design.

[shawnw]

Is this really sycamore or is this Haven? Or will they give it a third name?

[Pete]

The apartments (the south half of the block) are now called The Haven; the condos (north half of block) are still called Sycamore Square.

This project is called Sycamore Square New Build by the architects but I'm sure that name came about before the apartments renamed themselves.

[Plutonic Panda]

Is this still moving forward?

[Pete]

There has been recent activity in terms of getting final approvals on landscaping and some other things.

Sure seems like it is moving forward, just slowly.

[Plutonic Panda]

Excellent. These on top of the Civic Center Flats and the new municipal courthouse will make this street pretty cool.

[Plutonic Panda]

Has this stalled again?

[Plutonic Panda]

Any update on this?

[Architect2010]

Any update on this?

I was just thinking about this project as I was reading The Haven thread yesterday.

[Pete]

They have all the required approvals but never have proceeded.

I believe the ownership group got a bit ahead of themselves but I have no idea if this is even in their plans at this time.

[Architect2010]

Interesting, it is still a really slick design and great infill on land I hadn't expected.. I thought it would compliment the Civic well also.