Stillwater | OSU Projects Thread

[SEMIweather]

I moved away in 2013 so take my recommendations with a grain of salt, but in addition to Wichita Brewing Co., we also liked Public (in Old Town), Wasabi sushi (Old Town), The Anchor (Old Town), Old Mill Tasty Shop (Douglas), and Monarch (Delano District). The Warren in Old Town is fantastic for a movie, Crown's Uptown Theatre is a classic dinner/theater spot, and Mort's is an intimate bar in Old Town.

And, it's true, Wichita is not going to blow you away, but it has charm. It's not a tourist destination so you can stay at the Ambassador downtown for pretty cheap. I highly recommend giving it a try.

Thanks for the suggestions!

[Eric]

So what will become of the Seretean Center?

Been over 12 years since I graduated and I feel like I barely recognize Stillwater anymore. Insane.

[Bunty]

So what will become of the Seretean Center?

Been over 12 years since I graduated and I feel like I barely recognize Stillwater anymore. Insane.

The Seretean Center will become the home of the Theater Department.

[Bunty]

A good look at construction progress at OSU's new baseball stadium located at the northeast corner of Washington and W. McElroy:

[HangryHippo]

Bunty - I never make it to Stillwater, so I really appreciate you posting pictures.

[Bunty]

Bunty - I never make it to Stillwater, so I really appreciate you posting pictures.

Thank you. There will soon be more to come, among them to show what is happening at the closed Hastings store.

[Bunty]

Time for more pictures of projects at Stillwater and OSU, but mostly Stillwater.

The Exchange Bank, hq in Perry, bought the south 1/3 of the former Hastings, closed since 2016. It wants to consolidate its mortgage lending and provide space for other offices in a more centralized location. It's W. 6th location won't be effected. Building in background is Best Western Plus Cimarron Hotel & Suites.


Front of former Hastings undergoing remodeling.


North side of former Hastings being remodeled. One store is to be a dog bakery.


An idea of how the former Hastings will look when remodeling work is done.


Springhill Suites Hotel is finished. It's at 315 S. Cstar Blvd., off W. 6th.


The Wilson car dealership is about ready to reopen in a new building at 4700 W. 6th.


New O'Reilly auto parts store way out west on 5411 W. 6th.


Several blocks north of 19th & Sangre there is a complex of 7 small office buildings. Some shown.



Across the street from there is Meridian Technology's Center for Business Development to help new start up businesses, such as Billy Goat Ice Cream. https://www.meridiantech.edu/center-...ship-overview/


The Stillwater branch of Northern Oklahoma College opens new building, located on the north side of OSU campus.


New Greek house on W. University Ave.


A mid rise apartment complex at 4th and Ramsey is finally about finished. The owner was willing to repave Ramsey St. with concrete between the garage and apartments. But 4th St. is a different story. It's remains in pretty bad shape. Another new mid rise near Eskimo Joe's is still far from started.


New apartment building at 7th & Ramsey.


A new eating place opened on the strip


South of the eating place, a vacant lot is for sale. Due to heavy appreciation of real estate in the area, I would speculate the asking price is well over $200,000.


Iron Monk Brewing Company, located downtown. There is a bar inside. It's been around for a few years. Its most popular beer is probably Stilly Wheat. Iron Monk means nothing other than what the two co-owners came up with when combining their two last names. In the 1960s, this building started out as Safeway grocery. Later AT&T had it.


On McElroy Ave, Stillwater got a new Golden Chick, formerly Taco Mayo. It looks much better than Taco Mayo did.


It looks like boomtown is coming back to northeast Stillwater on E. McElroy. Left over residential lots from the boom period of the 1960's and 1970's are finally being developed. That was when Stillwater grew in population from 23,965 to 38,268, largely thanks to successful efforts to attract manufacturing plants.


City of Stillwater redoes the skate park, located at Strickland Park, or SE of N. Main and W. Hall of Fame.


To wrap things up the Stillwater Strong Memorial just west of N. Main and W. Hall of Fame.

[dcsooner]

Really nice development at OSU and around Stillwater.

[dankrutka]

There's a pattern here: Beautiful or interesting architecture is on or near campus; Generic or cheap architecture is located off campus. Not that that's anything new, but it's pretty evident in these updates.

[Bunty]

Work has restarted on the Ranch, a large upscale retirement village located on 55 acres on the north side of Stillwater near Lakeside golf course thanks to a change in ownership after the project went through foreclosure. Started in 2016, work halted in 2018 when it was 80% complete. More: https://www.stwnewspress.com/news/lo...221659a43.html

2018 story with photo of complex: https://www.stwnewspress.com/news/lo...0973d4ba5.html

[Bunty]

In Stillwater, construction is well underway for Mockingbird Estates, located on the east side at 3020 E. 6th. It is a four-story income-restricted apartment complex for senior citizens. It will have have 72 units – 32 one-bedroom and 40 two-bedroom – for a total of 112 beds in 70,000 square feet with elevators, storm shelters and a variety of amenities.


Stillwater's new St Francis Xavier Catholic Church, located at 711 N. Country Club Dr. South side shown. Built 2018.


Two projects not pictured, because only dirt work is underway is Magnolia Ridge Apartments at 702. Jardot, a 2-story residential apartment building with 48 units total and IQ Car Wash at 4404 W. 6th.

[Bunty]

A turbine or windmill for Block 34 is a joke to some people, but there is little money available to put much of anything impressive on that city owned block.
https://okcfox.com/news/local/studen...JNLBFZPm9IEFIU

[Bunty]

Stillwater Mayor Will Joyce writes about developments in Stillwater, such as the Warren Theater. It still isn't finalized:

There's been some discussion on Facebook today about movie theaters, tax incentives, and development in Stillwater. I've tried to keep up and answer questions where appropriate, but rather than chase all the threads, I figured it might be helpful to provide a quick FAQ on the topics being discussed.

1. Are we getting a Warren Theater? Maybe. I certainly hope so. We have announced previously that Warren is looking at several sites in Stillwater for a new theater, and the city has been involved in discussing what incentives might be available depending on the location and scope of the development. Those conversations are continuing, but nothing has been finalized.

2. Is the City going to give Warren incentive money? If the development happens in one of the areas of town when incentives are available, yes, it's possible that Warren will receive some incentives.

3. How much incentive money? That's still unclear, and it depends on the location and details of the development. If the theater is in the central reinvestment area covered by the new TIF, I would expect that Warren will request several million dollars in incentives.

4. Where does the incentive money come from? The money DOES NOT come from the city general fund. It DOES NOT come from road funding, or any other money that the City uses now to provide infrastructure or services. The money DOES NOT come out of any taxes you have paid, nor will it have any effect on your sales or property taxes. Tax incentive financing only uses the new property and sales tax generated by the development itself.

5. Why would we incentivize a private business to come to Stillwater? For better or worse, communities compete for these type of attractions, and other cities have been willing to provide millions of dollars in incentives, including Edmond, Midwest City, Broken Arrow, and Moore. In the case of movie theaters, several attempts have been made over the years, and multiple companies have expressed interest, but Stillwater was not willing or able to provide the requested incentives. The result has been that Stillwater loses thousands of dollars in sales taxes when our residents drive to those other communities to see a movie. Those sales taxes pay to maintain Edmond's streets and for Moore's new fire trucks. We need to keep them here.

6. Why would we incentivize a movie theater downtown? The Stillwater (Re)Investment Plan makes incentives available to encourage redevelopment in the central core of town. This location is important because of its proximity to campus and the existing infrastructure that badly needs to be updated. Rather than seeing more development pushed to the edges of town, requiring more new infrastructure and accompanying sprawl, traffic, and maintenance costs, we are encouraging business to redevelop dilapidated and underused parcels in the core. This allows the City to use its limited funds more efficiently and creates a more consolidated, vibrant, attractive area for residents and visitors.

7. How will a decision on incentives be made? If Warren decides to pursue a downtown location, they’ll present a request for incentives to the City. This request will be vetted by the downtown TIF review committee, made up of representatives from our local taxing entities (Payne County, the Public Schools, Meridian Tech) and four citizens (Jeremy Bale, John Killam, Mark Blakeman, and Susan Arrington). The committee will examine the anticipated financial benefits, tax revenues, and other factors. The committee’s meetings are open to the public. The committee with then make a recommendation to the City Council about whether to approve, deny, or modify the request. The City Council will then discuss the same issues in open meeting before making a final determination.

There are certainly a lot more questions that we will continue to discuss, and most of this is based on policy decisions that are really up to what we want to do as a community. Based on my conversations and the feedback I get, I believe that Stillwater is ready to invest in itself and pursue more opportunities to grow and prosper.

[Plutonic Panda]

I’m really not digging these incentives anymore. I think Stillwater should hold out but that’s my opinion.

[Bunty]

New Magnolia Ridge Apartments: https://exceldg.com/properties/magno...fpuA2BYU3jgceg

How the new Westwood Elementary School will look: https://www.stwnewspress.com/news/lo...ee6295caa.html

[RodH]

Congratulations Stillwater. It looks like you may make it Metropolitan area with the next census. This is from the latest estimates release.

Ten incorporated places exceeded the 50,000 population mark in 2018 — seven in the South, two in the West, and one in the Midwest. These cities and towns were Madison, Ala. (50,440); Maricopa, Ariz. (50,024); Bentonville, Ark. (51,111); Newark, Ohio (50,029); Stillwater, Okla. (50,391); Smyrna, Tenn. (50,775); Leander, Texas (56,111); Little Elm, Texas (50,314); Wylie, Texas (51,585); and Lacey, Wash. (50,718).

[Plutonic Panda]

I wonder if there is a chance we could see OKC-Stillwater MSA

[Bunty]

I wonder if there is a chance we could see OKC-Stillwater MSA

Nope. Quite likely more people, who live in Stillwater, work at Ditch Witch in Perry, at Sooner Power Plant and in Ponca City than in the OKC metro area.

[Bunty]

Stillwater Medical Center trustees hear construction update: https://www.stwnewspress.com/news/sm...76fd0acf2.html

[Bunty]

New store and restaurants update in Stillwater:
https://www.stwnewspress.com/news/lo...67a7bcb1c.html
https://www.stwnewspress.com/news/re...ea73a6df4.html

[Bunty]

Planet Fitness now open, located south from the Perkins Rd. Super Wal-Mart.


Central Drug Store now in new building at 1220 W. 12th. It had been downtown for many years. Unlike there, it can now have a drive-up window.


No update on progress of the new $60 million dollar OSU baseball stadium, but here is a feature about what it will look like done by the Oklahoman.

[Bunty]

Under new management: The Ranch rebranded as Legacy Village of Stillwater: https://www.stwnewspress.com/news/un...b5d388e2c.html

[Lazio85]

Beta Theta Pi
1207 W University Ave

[Eric]

Beta Theta Pi
1207 W University Ave

So the Beta House hasn't been banned again? Went through the old house when I was in college before they reformed. Looked like they just left in the middle of the night. There was stuff all over that old house. Of course a year or two into my stint they re-organized and cleaned everything up.

[Lazio85]

So the Beta House hasn't been banned again? Went through the old house when I was in college before they reformed. Looked like they just left in the middle of the night. There was stuff all over that old house. Of course a year or two into my stint they re-organized and cleaned everything up.

Since getting their charter back in 2004, they have been in the top 3 every year for shows, sports, and grades. Since 2010, the house has had 100+ members living in house, and an additional 20+ living out of house. Also, maintained top 10 in size since inception for all Beta chapters. I believe in the last couple of years they have had a member named IFC president.

https://my.beta.org/ors/chaptersoverview.aspx?id=100207