Strawberry Fields

[Pete]

Happy to report that it looks like Strawberry Fields has now paid its property taxes for 2022.

[therhett17]

Happy to report that it looks like Strawberry Fields has now paid its property taxes for 2022.

Wonderful news, now they can safely sit on the properties and do nothing for another year

[HFAA Alum]

Oh what joy it is to sit and let undeveloped land develop further into undeveloped land. It's like pressing "b" at the moment your pokemon looks to evolve.

[catch22]

With the huge amount of vacant land in the core, it's kind of a good thing we have some that are spoken for but not doing anything. This artificially makes some of the available lots to develop more attractive to denser development. Those denser lots will only drive higher values for these lots which when developed will be able to justify denser developments of their own. If we want to keep building up we need some artificial throttle on the available land supply. No, it's not exciting but it allows the market to digest these properties a bit better.

[Teo9969]

Oh what joy it is to sit and let undeveloped land develop further into undeveloped land. It's like pressing "b" at the moment your pokemon looks to evolve.

What a reference!!!! What a time to be alive when Pokemon makes its way into a discussion about urban development

[ManAboutTown]

Wonderful news, now they can safely sit on the properties and do nothing for another year

What would you have them do, build unneeded commercial office space? Add another hotel to an area that doesn't need or warrant it? Build upscale apartments that probably wouldn't provide adequate cashflow for years?

Absent the pandemic, I have no doubt that there would have been some movement in Strawberry Fields. But this isn't just one corner in Bricktown or Midtown or a couple lots in the Innovation District. This is a massive piece of land that requires careful deliberation, planning, and plenty of capital. Better that they wait and do it right then shoot from the hip and screw it up.

[Canoe]

What would you have them do, build unneeded commercial office space? Add another hotel to an area that doesn't need or warrant it? Build upscale apartments that probably wouldn't provide adequate cashflow for years?

Absent the pandemic, I have no doubt that there would have been some movement in Strawberry Fields. But this isn't just one corner in Bricktown or Midtown or a couple lots in the Innovation District. This is a massive piece of land that requires careful deliberation, planning, and plenty of capital. Better that they wait and do it right then shoot from the hip and screw it up.

I would have them build a mix use neighborhood starting with residential. They have had years maybe even a decade to consider the options and build in a way that makes money. The leadership of the organization is weak and their own shareholders are sueing them.

I would have the ownership group be heroic and not timid. Everything they need to be successful in place except for the will to take a chance.

[chssooner]

I would have them build a mix use neighborhood starting with residential. They have had years maybe even a decade to consider the options and build in a way that makes money. The leadership of the organization is weak and their own shareholders are sueing them.

I would have the ownership group be heroic and not timid. Everything they need to be successful in place except for the will to take a chance.

And 7% interest rates, and a global pandemic going on when rates were lower. I agree, something needs to happen. But settling for piss-poor development just because you want something done isn't going to help anything.

Better not developed than developed poorly.

[Canoe]

And 7% interest rates, and a global pandemic going on when rates were lower. I agree, something needs to happen. But settling for piss-poor development just because you want something done isn't going to help anything.

Better not developed than developed poorly.

They had the land a plan when interest rates were historically low before the pandemic, check the date of the first post in this thread. I don't know why there are people covering for their track record unless they are part of the ownership group or employed by them. If someone is part of the ownership group and they can account for the confusion and delay surrounding Strawberry Fields, then I would love to hear an honest account of why the development has turned out this way and what the plans are to turn it around. Until I hear the answers to these questions my opinion will remain unchanged.

[chssooner]

They had the land a plan when interest rates were historically low before the pandemic, check the date of the first post in this thread. I don't know why there are people covering for their track record unless they are part of the ownership group or employed by them. If someone is part of the ownership group and they can account for the confusion and delay surrounding Strawberry Fields, then I would love to hear an honest account of why the development has turned out this way and what the plans are to turn it around. Until I hear the answers to these questions my opinion will remain unchanged.

Did I say I was covering for them? I said something needs to happen. But rushing a development now isn't the answer. And selling these parcels would take years and years. And I am not affiliated with them in any way. Not defending them either. But I also know I have no power to change anything, no matter what I do. So I choose to not take it personally that they haven't developed this land yet.

[Pete]

It seems the obvious solution to the litigation would be to just buy out the shares of the plaintiffs.

Salame & Co. have made a point to say they only own a small percentage, so if that is the case, why not refund their money with a little extra and get down the road?

Something is not right here and I'm afraid it's going to take a while for things to get sorted and start moving forward.

[ManAboutTown]

And 7% interest rates, and a global pandemic going on when rates were lower. I agree, something needs to happen. But settling for piss-poor development just because you want something done isn't going to help anything.

Better not developed than developed poorly.

This, 1000%.

[Laramie]

Don't know if the above map is an old or recent plan; however Is there anything that could kick-start the SF development.

[SEMIweather]

Given what has happened here over the last 5-10 years, why would anyone have any confidence that this ownership group would be able to develop this gigantic plot of land in a way that would represent a positive outcome for the city? The best outcome may well be that they spin their wheels for another decade and then eventually sell to someone who actually knows what they are doing. It’s not like there aren’t plenty of other vacant lots near the CBD to develop in the meantime.

[rayvaflav]

I went by this site last week. It seems as though the optimistic signage promoting this project is no longer standing.

[Pete]

The lawsuit continues, with both sides spending a lot of money on extensive motions and responses.

It doesn't seem like this will be resolved anytime soon.


The easy and quick solution would be for the majority owners to buy out the plaintiffs but not sure that is going to happen.

[UrbanistPoke]

I don't buy that they 'overpaid' for the land given the increase in land values/development sites in OKC since they purchased it. I poked around and looks like they've acquired stuff around $30-50/sq ft. While that seems high for older people it's not for 2020's Oklahoma. Downtown sites in OKC and Tulsa are easily in the $50/sq ft range anymore for good development sites. For the most part if you can build 4-5 story Texas wrap apartments that translates to between $15,000 and $20,000 a unit in land costs. That's not a lot for apartments. It was 5-10 years ago but not anymore for CBD/urban sites and that rents are pushing $2.00/sq. ft. in Class A stuff or more on average anymore. Stuff in Dallas can go in excess of $65,000-75,000/unit for Uptown, Victory Park, Oak Lawn areas and they can make that work on projects with average rents around $3.00/sq. ft. Something like the West Village project or Steelyard would be more than feasible on these sites for what they paid for most of the land.

[Soonerinfiniti]

While $30 - $50/SF isn't high for downtown land, perhaps the large amount of land purchased plays into this. It's interesting that this board constantly bemoans Strawberry Fields for lack of development but never mentions the tract of land just west of Paycom Arena that sets undeveloped. In fact, you can find numerous tracts of land that are undeveloped around town. Demand is not infinite, contrary to popular opinion on this board.....

[Just the facts]

You can induce demand.

[king183]

While $30 - $50/SF isn't high for downtown land, perhaps the large amount of land purchased plays into this. It's interesting that this board constantly bemoans Strawberry Fields for lack of development but never mentions the tract of land just west of Paycom Arena that sets undeveloped. In fact, you can find numerous tracts of land that are undeveloped around town. Demand is not infinite, contrary to popular opinion on this board.....

The idea this board has never bemoaned the lack of development on the land west of Paycom is comical. We beat the topic to death and still bring it up every now and then.

[GoGators]

I'm not a developer so I am ignorant on a lot of points but I don't understood why Strawberry Fields doesn't pivot to a more Wheeler type neighborhood development. Build a walkable urban neighborhood that you you could sell as you go. Demand seems strong for these types of developments in OKC and strawberry fields already has built in advantages that Wheeler doesn't have. Throw in a few neighborhood retail storefronts and a couple of multifamily buildings in the mix and you would have a fantastic urban neighborhood that is already directly plugged in to all of the great amenities of downtown.

[Canoe]

You can induce demand.

The public has induced demand. The landowners need to do the necessary work required of them by our economic system. They need to prove that they are up to task.

[ManAboutTown]

The public has induced demand. The landowners need to do the necessary work required of them by our economic system. They need to prove that they are up to task.

"The necessary work required of them by our economic system?" What the heck does that even mean?

They own the land and this is still America, so they can do with it what they want and when they want. Everything else is just yelling into the void.

There is plenty of other vacant land within a 1 or 2-mile radius of downtown that has yet to be developed. Are we to hold to task every landowner in that area, or just the ones who are easy targets?

[Just the facts]

All that other vacant land is also held by land speculators.

[Just the facts]

On the past 20 downtown developments it would be interesting to know how long the land was owned by the entity that eventually developed it versus how long the entity they bought it from owned it.

My guess is that the actual developer owned the land a lot less time than the preceding owner.