Mideke Building

[G22]

Tell me the last time some college kid could afford 1700/month. Like I've complained for years, housing downtown still has a long way to go for anything but the upscaler. I had a 2 bed 1.5 bath townhouse that I paid just at 500 a month in MWC...still only a 20 minute commute on a bad day. Had a nice fenced area with plants (grew all my own herbs then) with a creekside view so I looked a trees from my porch/bedroom. Nice big living room. Washer/dryer in the apartment not a laundry center. So it was built in the 70's...i had nice quiet neighbors, fairly speedy maintenance, non-annoying office folks. That's what a college kid is looking for....cheap.

I think Bombermwc needs to head up to Norman and drive around OU. Yes, some college students live cheap but some parking lots that are full of SUVs and Trucks that cost 40K to 80K. Mom and dad give them plenty of cash to spend and you will not find them living in a $400 rental house. A lot of new home purchases in Norman are made by parents of OU students. OCU Law School is moving downtown and I'm pretty sure you will see some law students and professors moving downtown.

Bricktown needs housing options for people that make 45k to 70k. There are plenty of young professionals that would love to live downtown if there were $850 - $1,100 a month options.

[BoulderSooner]

I think Bombermwc needs to head up to Norman and drive around OU. Yes, some college students live cheap but some parking lots that are full of SUVs and Trucks that cost 40K to 80K. Mom and dad give them plenty of cash to spend and you will not find them living in a $400 rental house. A lot of new home purchases in Norman are made by parents of OU students. OCU Law School is moving downtown and I'm pretty sure you will see some law students and professors moving downtown.

Bricktown needs housing options for people that make 45k to 70k. There are plenty of young professionals that would love to live downtown if there were $850 - $1,100 a month options.

there are lots of 850-1100 option in downtown/midtown right now

[Pete]

From OKC.biz:

Ellard has teamed with commercial real estate advisers Andy Burnett and Zach Martin, and builder Jeff Johnson to covert the top three floors of the five-story Mideke building in Bricktown, 100 E. Main, into 36 apartment units. McKown is again working with Wade Scaramucci, an architect with London-based Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, to bring a new multifamily project to vacant land just west of Level. The project is dubbed Mosaic.

The Mideke building team received approval for $500,000 in tax incremental financing money from the city council to help make the $6 million project a reality. Rather than price the units at the high end of the spectrum, the group plans to start rents at $600 per month. The highest priced units will be about $1,400 per month. Martin said it was important to make some of the units more affordable.

“So many projects Downtown have been built to capture the high end of the market,” he said. “You can’t keep doing that forever, and you have to build affordable stuff for everybody.”

Work is set to begin this summer, with completion in about 12 months.

[betts]

The $600 rent will make it within reach for students at ACM, I would guess. That is some great space. I wouldn't be shocked to eventually see those units sold.

[ChaseDweller]

The $600 rent will make it within reach for students at ACM, I would guess. That is some great space. I wouldn't be shocked to eventually see those units sold.

Yup. Good news indeed for ACM.

[Anonymous.]

1400? That is pretty damn good considering those corner units look to be pretty good size and the views would be great. Those two bedroom units look comparable to the Maywood lofts, which run in the 1800-2100 range.

[Pete]

$2,000,000 building permit today for this project.

Looks like it's getting ready to roll!

[Urbanized]

Excellent!

[Spartan]

The $600 rent will make it within reach for students at ACM, I would guess. That is some great space. I wouldn't be shocked to eventually see those units sold.

600. wow.

[Pete]

This project set to go before the Bricktown Design Review Committee on 8/14.

Note, they have deleted the balconies:

[Anonymous.]

No balconies? No longer interested...

[Spartan]

Rent is $600 supposedly. Keep that in mind. That's cheap...

[Pete]

Just to be clear, although there will not be balconies there will be sliding doors with guard rails. You can see them better here.

Also, note the addition of both a glass-enclosed and open rooftop area:

[Spartan]

Yeah, I don't know if they'll really be able to keep rents around $600 when it's all said and done, but if they can that will set the bar for affordable housing AND it will allow more ACM students, artists, etc to move in. That will be HUGE for Bricktown alone, and probably help create more of a "scene" than higher-end apartments would.

The way that I would do these renovations is use fairly prefab materials, don't necessarily cut corners, but just don't add some amenities - but purposely leave some amenities that can be added later once these apartments are 10 years old or so. Balconies, for example, would be a great amenity that could be easily added to increase value as the units age.

We want affordable housing downtown but we don't want to be stuck with section 8 10 years down the road...

[betts]

Sliding doors with guard rails are "Juliet balconies" in Chicago. I remember my daughter excitedly telling me her new apartment had a Juliet balcony and I was surprised at the reality. You can put flower baskets on them, and on a beautiful day/night, it's nice to open the sliding door. I'm sure adding balconies would have increased what the developers would have to charge for rent, so it's a trade-off.

What would be cool is a rooftop garden/space. I've been up on that roof and the view is amazing. I'm sure that would increase rents as well, though.

[Pete]

Wouldn't this be the first downtown residential project without dedicated parking?

Not sure how they are going to handle that but at the very least there won't be directly adjacent parking specific for this project.

[Spartan]

Park Harvey.

[betts]

Wouldn't this be the first downtown residential project without dedicated parking?

Not sure how they are going to handle that but at the very least there won't be directly adjacent parking specific for this project.

I've been told the developers are leasing dedicated space in the big Bricktown lot due north of Main St.

[Pete]

What would be cool is a rooftop garden/space. I've been up on that roof and the view is amazing. I'm sure that would increase rents as well, though.

You may have not seen the rendering I posted above that shows a glassed-in and open rooftop terrace.

[betts]

You may have not seen the rendering I posted above that shows a glassed-in and open rooftop terrace.

Ah, didn't realize that's what those boxes were. I thought maybe it was for mechanicals. That's great news. Too bad those units aren't for sale. Maybe someday! If I'm ever going to downsize in OKC, I'd totally buy space in that building, parking or no. By then the streetcar will be in place and maybe better bus transit on the way and my car could sit most of the time.

[Anonymous.]

I can almost guarantee rent for these won't be $600. Some of those units on the floorplans show 2 bedroom and 2 bath.

With location being selling point over amenities downtown right now, the owners would be cheating themselves by renting for $600.

[jn1780]

Yeah, I don't know if they'll really be able to keep rents around $600 when it's all said and done, but if they can that will set the bar for affordable housing AND it will allow more ACM students, artists, etc to move in. That will be HUGE for Bricktown alone, and probably help create more of a "scene" than higher-end apartments would.

The way that I would do these renovations is use fairly prefab materials, don't necessarily cut corners, but just don't add some amenities - but purposely leave some amenities that can be added later once these apartments are 10 years old or so. Balconies, for example, would be a great amenity that could be easily added to increase value as the units age.

We want affordable housing downtown but we don't want to be stuck with section 8 10 years down the road...

Well, they said starting at $600. I don't know what you get for $600. Probably a very small studio apartment.

[Pete]

The balconies were to be very small; just large enough to step out.

However, the corner units should still have private outdoor space, as the interior walls are actually set back from the building walls as you can see in the upper left and right corners of this layout of the third floor (I believe the 4th & 5th will be the same):

[Anonymous.]

I thought that floorplan draft was the original, with balconies. It is extremely hard to read the text on these graphics.


But yes now that I study it further, it looks like the (what appears to be) east end of the building corner units will have balconies still. Granted that is the side of the building without the best views, but still decent nonetheless.

[Pete]

Here is a closer look at the latest plans.

The walk-out balconies are still shown as highlighted, but only on the east side: