Convergence (formerly Innovation Plaza)

[HFAA Alum]

This is awfully futuristic as hell. I'm all for it if they can manage the permits. Of course we probably won't see the fruit of this until ten years from now, but it's up there with the proposed entertainment district filling in that quadrant of land southeast of OKC's core. But much like that project, I'm not counting any eggs until the ground breaking. Rooting for this to succeed.

[Plutonic Panda]

I’m pretty hopeful 2021-22 will be a defining year for OKC. MAPS 3 essentially wraps up and we get a more definitive timeline and details on MAPS 4.

We have this project, along with OAK and Chisholm Creek which I’m sure will get going.

The only question is will the I-35/Covell, Strawberry Fields, Mustang Creek Crossing, and UNP(urban village aspect) developments happen. I’m more skeptical of those living up to their promises but we’ll see.

[Pete]

^

Also starting this year will be 700 West, Boulevard Place and 4th & EK Gaylord, all large multi-story projects.

I'm sure there will be much more to come, as things start to get back to normal and we move forward with some optimism after one of the worst years imaginable.

[Pete]

The sale of the property hasn't closed, so this is my best guess as to the site plan.

The property to the west of the circle has been owned by Baker Hughes. To the east is owned by the OK Dept. of Commerce.

[Plutonic Panda]

I had thought Boulevard Place had already broken ground.

[Pete]

I had thought Boulevard Place had already broken ground.

Not yet.

[Pete]

[Plutonic Panda]

Is that getting torn down?

[Pete]

Is that getting torn down?

No, you can see it in the renderings. They will build around it.

[Plutonic Panda]

I see it now yes that worried me for a second.

[SEMIweather]

I’m pretty hopeful 2021-22 will be a defining year for OKC. MAPS 3 essentially wraps up and we get a more definitive timeline and details on MAPS 4.

We have this project, along with OAK and Chisholm Creek which I’m sure will get going.

The only question is will the I-35/Covell, Strawberry Fields, Mustang Creek Crossing, and UNP(urban village aspect) developments happen. I’m more skeptical of those living up to their promises but we’ll see.

Anxiously awaiting an updated MAPS 4 timeline once we learn the extent of the sales tax collection deficit.

From what's previously been discussed in various threads on here, 2021-22 also seems to be a likely timeframe for the RTA vote.

[Plutonic Panda]

Yes I forgot about the RTA vote. That’s another big one.

[Sooner.Arch]

Okay. Maybe I might be the first but this is poor architectural taste. It already looks outdated. For a place that supposed to be considered innovated, this design is definitely not that. I just don't see the excited for building bad design?

[Rover]

Okay. Maybe I might be the first but this is poor architectural taste. It already looks outdated. For a place that supposed to be considered innovated, this design is definitely not that. I just don't see the excited for building bad design?

Please be specific. These seem very mainstream for better projects in cities across the country. What is dated, unless you mean only classical designed buildings remain “undated”. Please post examples of forward thinking designs you believe won’t look dated in 30 years. Maybe you own innovative work. Educate us please.

[5alive]

^^^^

[traxx]

this represents the single biggest investment in OKC history on the level of Devon Tower and much more sustainable (given Devon's current fossil fuel centric business model anyway).

So you think Devon is in trouble because they deal in fossil fuels? I'm not an expert in these matters but, unless there's a huge scientific breakthrough, I don't see fossil fuels going anywhere soon.

[stlokc]

I'm not an expert on the energy industry, but "going anywhere soon" is a relative term. Fossil fuels have either peaked, or are in the process of peaking. It may be a slow decline, but I think it will be a slow decline for the next 20-30 years. I don't think companies like Devon will be in their current form in 2040 or 2050. Now is the time for OKC and all cities dependent on energy to be diversifying. OKC does not want to be the West Virginia of the 2030s or 2040s.

[stlokc]

I'll also write this: simply creating a rendering of pretty "Innovation" buildings doesn't do a whole lot. So, so far this does not represent much of anything in the way of "the single biggest investment in OKC's history." However, if there are plans on how to fill these buildings and others with dozens of start-up companies, and the capital is found and infrastructure laid to keep them in OKC instead of just incubating them to a position where they are bought by someone out of state, than this may turn out to be way more of an investment than Devon Tower.

[traxx]

I'm not an expert on the energy industry, but "going anywhere soon" is a relative term. Fossil fuels have either peaked, or are in the process of peaking. It may be a slow decline, but I think it will be a slow decline for the next 20-30 years. I don't think companies like Devon will be in their current form in 2040 or 2050. Now is the time for OKC and all cities dependent on energy to be diversifying. OKC does not want to be the West Virginia of the 2030s or 2040s.

I think we should diversify our economy as well. I've been saying that on here for years.

We've been told for the last 40 to 50 years that we're running out of fossil fuels but with new technology we continue to not only find more but find new ways to extract it. And if fossil fuels have peaked, what's the alternative? Nuclear? That's about the only viable alternative that I can think of and actually not a bad alternative. Nuclear got a bad rap for 3 Mile Island and The China Syndrome but France has used it successfully for years.

[Laramie]

Black Fox Nuclear Power Plant, Inola, Oklahoma

In May of 1973, the Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) announced plans to install Oklahoma’s first nuclear power plant in Inola, just east from Tulsa. It was to use two General Electric boiling-water reactors and the project was to cost $450 million. With the support of U.S. Senator Henry Bellmon, PSO advertised that the nuclear power plant could provide unlimited power and help economic growth in the area. The power plant promised the opportunity of thousands of construction jobs and new tax money of $5 million a year that could make the Inola school district the richest in the state. Many people in Inola welcomed the new construction plans.

Oklahoma blew its chances for nuclear energy: https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/co...lant-1973-1982

[Plutonic Panda]

I was that plant was built. Nuclear is the best form of energy and there is zero comparison.

[SEMIweather]

I think we should diversify our economy as well. I've been saying that on here for years.

We've been told for the last 40 to 50 years that we're running out of fossil fuels but with new technology we continue to not only find more but find new ways to extract it. And if fossil fuels have peaked, what's the alternative? Nuclear? That's about the only viable alternative that I can think of and actually not a bad alternative. Nuclear got a bad rap for 3 Mile Island and The China Syndrome but France has used it successfully for years.

Geothermal energy has had some interesting breakthroughs recently. https://www.vox.com/energy-and-envir...-supercritical

[Pete]

People completely overestimate the reliance of OKC on the energy industry.

For example, Chesapeake has gone from over 5,000 employees to under 1,000; that's a loss of 4,000 very well-paying jobs plus tons of ancillary companies just wiped out and it barely caused a blip on the local economy.

And just yesterday, the Oklahoman reported Devon is down to 850 OKC jobs. I looked through my notes and just a few years ago that number was 3,200.

SandRidge is effectively gone, Heartland is taking a big chunk of office space that had been used by Tapstone... On and on.


We've already diversified and no matter what happens in the energy industry, it will be a very slow decline after what has already been a fall off a steep cliff.

[Pete]

They closed on the purchase: 2.7 acres for $4.5 million, which is a ton of money.

They bought the property from Baker Hughes.

Although renderings show a building to the east of Stiles Circle, that property is still owned by the OK Dept. of Commerce.

[traxx]

Geothermal energy has had some interesting breakthroughs recently. https://www.vox.com/energy-and-envir...-supercritical

I feel I've taken this thread off topic. Pete, if you need to break these posts out into a new thread then that's cool.

Interesting read so far. I haven't read the entire article yet so I may have more to say later. I hope it's not pie in the sky. I sometimes read about these technological breakthroughs that never seem to come to fruition. If geothermal is close to being viable on a large scale (hopefully within the next 20 years) then hopefully we can get read of all of these wind farms and solar farms that take up acres and acres of land, disrupt wildlife and use materials that can't be recycled or reused.

I did find this passage early in the article odd:

it’s an opportunity for the struggling oil and gas industry to put its capital and skills to work on something that won’t degrade the planet.

The oil and gas industry is a mature industry to the point that they can now get it out of the ground with a much smaller impact than ever. I find it odd though that the people that say the oil and gas industry degrade the planet also think that electric cars are the future. The mining that it takes to get the rare metals out of the ground to make all of the batteries that it takes to run electric cars is astonishing. And then once the batteries are no longer useful in holding a charge they are either not recyclable or very difficult to recycle.

Batteries are one of those technologies that I've read about for decades that continuously promise a technological breakthrough that never seems to come. For 25 or so years I've read about new battery breakthroughs that are supposed to be smaller, not develop memories, provide more power and so on.