Rerouting Oklahoma Avenue at U-haul/Boulevard

[BoulderSooner]

The city should just go ahead and buy Uhaul out now. They deserve to be paid and that place is standing in the way of development. Pony up and pay them before spending even more redoing stuff already paid for.

how do the "deserve" to be paid

[OKCRT]

how do the "deserve" to be paid

They deserve to be paid a fair price for their property. Then they should move out and let the proper development progress. I didn't say they should be overpaid. It appears that fair market price is not what the city wants to pay so they are going with a mickey mouse reroute instead.

[shawnw]

For being early adopters? Reading the tea leaves? Like the first few folks that took chances on Classen Ten Penn? If nothing else for preserving the building all these years, even if not out of historical preservationist altruism?

I'm definitely on the side of U-Haul being out and that building getting restored to its historical luster, along with a through Oklahoma Avenue, but I definitely don't want to trample on property rights either, because, as stated, that can bite me later.

If UHaul didn't buy this building when they did, there's a decent chance it doesn't still exist today. So, it seems not entirely unfair to assign some degree of deservedness when it comes to this property.

[rezman]

When Bricktown was coming up, U-haul spent big bucks on their building at the City's behest. So why should they cave in and move. More power to U-haul… Good for them.

[OKCRT]

When Bricktown was coming up, U-haul spent big bucks on their building at the City's behest. So why should they cave in and move. More power to U-haul… Good for them.

I might be wrong but I thought they were willing to move and just wanted to be paid fair market value.

[Rover]

Just let them be and drive around it. Stop with the fussing. They wanted more than the city could/would pay. So be it. Don’t punish them, don’t help them. Just let them be.

[Rover]

When Bricktown was coming up, U-haul spent big bucks on their building at the City's behest. So why should they cave in and move. More power to U-haul… Good for them.

What did they do?

[David]

I wish the city would just sit on this for a few years without moving the intersection to see what happens. If and when U-haul sells the building for redevelopment we may suddenly be in a situation where they don't need the parking lot any more and Oklahoma Avenue can just go straight on through, at which point moving the intersection further west is going to have been a complete waste of money. Particularly since whatever development happens on the south side of the boulevard may fix the intersection in place on that side.

[gopokes88]

Like everyone else, they are entitled to fair payment when the gov wants to take their property.

In the end, the city wasn't willing to pay the amount determined by independent assessors appointed by the court.

When they assess value is it purely just property value or do they take things like business interruption into account? Like if uhaul made less money as a result of the change, is that factored in?

[Pete]

When they assess value is it purely just property value or do they take things like business interruption into account? Like if uhaul made less money as a result of the change, is that factored in?

I don't think they go that far but they definitely take into account improvements/changes that would be triggered by forcibly taking the property.

In the case of U-Haul, it would involve completely relocating their entry from the east to west side and a bunch of other things. That's why the valuation was going to be so high and why the city backed out before they were obligated to pay the amount determinted by the independent commissioners.

[rezman]

What did they do?

Remember when it was just an old tan painted building?. They spent almost $200k updating the building’s exterior in an effort to blend in with the surrounding new construction of Bricktown.

[Rover]

Remember when it was just an old tan painted building?. They spent almost $200k updating the building’s exterior in an effort to blend in with the surrounding new construction of Bricktown.

Wait... that ugly cladding over the old brick building was done to fit in in Bricktown? Nice try. There’s a great old building under there that they have made no effort to expose, rehab and enhance the look in Bricktown. All the public money spent on Bricktown has increased their property value exponentially with no help from them. Hard to feel sorry for them. But it’s their right to take advantage of it.

[Buffalo Bill]

Remember when it was just an old tan painted building?. They spent almost $200k updating the building’s exterior in an effort to blend in with the surrounding new construction of Bricktown.

Oooh, and it looks so good now. Money well spent. :

[rezman]

Wait... that ugly cladding over the old brick building was done to fit in in Bricktown? Nice try. There’s a great old building under there that they have made no effort to expose, rehab and enhance the look in Bricktown. All the public money spent on Bricktown has increased their property value exponentially with no help from them. Hard to feel sorry for them. But it’s their right to take advantage of it.

I’d love to see it restored to original, but like it or not. That’s what happened.

[T. Jamison]

When they assess value is it purely just property value or do they take things like business interruption into account? Like if uhaul made less money as a result of the change, is that factored in?

I know if the taking requires tenants to move, the City has to pay relocation costs. So if they had to close for reconfiguration, the City would have to pay to move everyone's items to a new facility.

[Rover]

I’d love to see it restored to original, but like it or not. That’s what happened.

That’s the point. They aren’t interested in improving the value of or enhancing the neighborhood. They don’t have to be good citizens or altruistic. They are allowed to sit back and see their building increase in value because of all the public money spent making the whole neighborhood more valuable. It is their right.

[rezman]

Exactly. They bought the building back in the mid 70's during a time when no one wanted it, and given the record this city has for tearing down old buildings, U-Haul likely saved it from the wrecking ball in the process. Could they have picked a better design in their make over?. Sure, but looks are in the eye of the beholder and have nothing to do with their rights to retain their property. I'm sure what you see now is about what they could do for the money at the time, which would accomplish even less today. And nobody was raising hell back when they did it. A restoration back to even close to original would have cost far more than $200k. It wasn't until property around U-haul started to become highly valuable did people become so interested in their property. So again, more power to them.

[Rover]

Exactly. They bought the building back in the mid 70's during a time when no one wanted it, and given the record this city has for tearing down old buildings, U-Haul likely saved it from the wrecking ball in the process. Could they have picked a better design in their make over?. Sure, but looks are in the eye of the beholder and have nothing to do with their rights to retain their property. I'm sure what you see now is about what they could do for the money at the time, which would accomplish even less today. And nobody was raising hell back when they did it. A restoration back to even close to original would have cost far more than $200k. It wasn't until property around U-haul started to become highly valuable did people become so interested in their property. So again, more power to them.

Ah yes, the “it could have been worse” spin. I don’t believe they bought the building to save it. It was a bargain

It is owned by a out of state Llc (Phoenix) affiliated with UHaul International, bought in 2001. This is 8 years after Maps 1 passed. They didn’t help create the value in the neighborhood and aren’t enhancing it now. But they sure are able to take advantage of the neighborhood value built on the back of Maps.

[Pete]

[jn1780]

Did they forget the pedestrian ramp on the north side of the road? You would expect it to line up with the dedicated pedestrian route in the median. I guess they already tore up some perfectly good curbs once, might as well do it a second time.

[Plutonic Panda]

They really should have made that an interchange. It would be better for pedestrians and no buildings will have direct access to this road so I don't understand the logic behind this.

[jn1780]

Did they forget the pedestrian ramp on the north side of the road? You would expect it to line up with the dedicated pedestrian route in the median. I guess they already tore up some perfectly good curbs once, might as well do it a second time.

I stand corrected on this. The curb is level with the road where the walkway ramp is going. Their just not done yet

[jompster]

They really should have made that an interchange. It would be better for pedestrians and no buildings will have direct access to this road so I don't understand the logic behind this.

It will be once they move the traffic signal.

[SEMIweather]

Honestly at this point, why not just make both options available and synchronize the traffic lights.

[Plutonic Panda]

It will be once they move the traffic signal.

It is my understanding that Oklahoma Ave. will be shifted so the buildings won't have direct access to the OKC Boulevard, they will have access via Oklahoma Ave.