The Half (9000 Broadway)

[Pete]

Pete, there is a road that goes south from in from to Dolese to Wilshire. Do you know if the city (or anyone) is planning on improving it? The last few times I've been that way, it has been closed. For those working at Dolese, that road is key as it allows traffic to enter/exit the Broadway Extension at Wilshire instead of overloading the northbound service road just to head back south.

It's private property (McClendon estate).

I've never seen any plans to pave it; just dirt now.

[Pete]

[Pete]

[5alive]

Any idea how the middle of the building relates to the rest of the structure?

[HangryHippo]

Could Dolese have not built this on the land they owned downtown? Why did they choose here?

[jdizzle]

Could Dolese have not built this on the land they owned downtown? Why did they choose here?

For the greater good. They are selling that land, and I think a mixed-use development in Automobile Alley is better than a suburban office building.

[Ross MacLochness]

It's good to see some buildings are being built to complement this surface parking lot!

[GoGators]

This development is just so odd.

This makes perfect sense for Dolese moving here and selling their Auto alley property to hopefully higher and better use. Kudos to them.

The rest of the development makes no sense. I hope it works out, but im just not seeing a bunch of people getting excited to go play pickle ball or catch a show in an isolated industrial-park parking lot directly off of an interstate. In a city that desperately needs a more thoughtful approach to placemaking, this misses the mark.

[aDark]

[QUOTE=GoGators;1119060]This development is just so odd.

I hope it works out, but im just not seeing a bunch of people getting excited to go play pickle ball or catch a show in an isolated industrial-park parking lot directly off of an interstate. /QUOTE]

Well said!!

[Pete]

The other locations for Flix and Chicken n Pickle are similar and of course their site selection teams thought this was a good location. These companies don't enter expensive real estate deals without a lot of thought and research.

The layout with all the parking isn't great from an urbanism perspective but I suspect both these places will do very well.

[jdizzle]

Not every development needs to be urban. With this pandemic proving brick and mortar locations are almost obsolete, for everything, this development, for this area, is far better than an empty lot.

[HangryHippo]

Not every development needs to be urban. With this pandemic proving brick and mortar locations are almost obsolete, for everything, this development, for this area, is far better than an empty lot.

But this wasn't an empty lot, was it? I thought it was trees and fields.

[GoGators]

Not every development needs to be urban. With this pandemic proving brick and mortar locations are almost obsolete, for everything, this development, for this area, is far better than an empty lot.

Of course every development doesn't need to be urban. Good design isn't explicitly an urban concept. However the vast majority of suburban development clearly appears to ignore that.

[sooner88]

But this wasn't an empty lot, was it? I thought it was trees and fields.

Otherwise known as an empty lot....

I have some bias here, but due to its proximity to the highway and neighborhoods I think this will fill a nice void.. There aren't a lot of options nearby. I'm in the demographic that prefers the Midtown, Plaza, 23rd, Paseo, etc. but there are plenty of people that don't want to make the "trek" down there (see: Chisholm Creek)

[Pete]

Otherwise known as an empty lot....

I have some bias here, but due to its proximity to the highway and neighborhoods I think this will fill a nice void.. There aren't a lot of options nearby. I'm in the demographic that prefers the Midtown, Plaza, 23rd, Paseo, etc. but there are plenty of people that don't want to make the "trek" down there (see: Chisholm Creek)

And conversely, lots of people that live closer in don't want to deal with Memorial Road.

[HangryHippo]

Otherwise known as an empty lot....

I don't think of wooded areas that are undeveloped as 'empty lots'. Empty lot has conjures a different image, IMO.

[sooner88]

I don't think of wooded areas that are undeveloped as 'empty lots'. Empty lot has conjures a different image, IMO.

I'd take a look at the lot on pg. 1 of this thread. It wasn't heavily wooded, but you are correct it was undeveloped prior to this.

[HangryHippo]

I'd take a look at the lot on pg. 1 of this thread. It wasn't heavily wooded, but you are correct it was undeveloped prior to this.

Yep, I didn't remember the previous state as clearly as I thought I did.

[stlokc]

I agree that the layout is a hodgepodge and is not the most thoughtful design. But...

In my mind, the main thing this location has going for it is that it will hopefully spark a little bit of interest in Broadway Extension as a corridor. Perhaps with a nice development there, it will spark some more retail or office space north or south along that stretch.

I felt like throughout my childhood/young adulthood, the march of OKC was relentlessly NW...to an almost absurd degree...Memorial Road is getting built out near MacArthur, retail is following rooftops at May Avenue and Edmond Road, and yet Broadway clear down to Wilshire stays empty. That's very inefficient and unhealthy from a planning standpoint. And there are many reasons for that happening, but the more we can encourage a little bit of "recentering" within the metro area, or a push to the east, the better. The more we can revitalize those stretches through there, including "Old Britton" the better.

[stlokc]

And to further pontificate...bear with me here...

Urbanists should prefer development at Wilshire/Broadway to development far northwest because it will help to keep the geographic center of the developed metro area closer to downtown. In St. Louis where I live, the development has been west west west west for so long that downtown now exists lopsidedly in the east part of the metro area as a whole. That's bad for downtown because it is farther and farther away every decade from where most people live/play. Makes it harder to convince businesses to be there etc. I know I'm getting the thread off track, I've just noticed this particular phenomenon...

[Ross MacLochness]

I agree that the layout is a hodgepodge and is not the most thoughtful design. But...

In my mind, the main thing this location has going for it is that it will hopefully spark a little bit of interest in Broadway Extension as a corridor. Perhaps with a nice development there, it will spark some more retail or office space north or south along that stretch.

I felt like throughout my childhood/young adulthood, the march of OKC was relentlessly NW...to an almost absurd degree...Memorial Road is getting built out near MacArthur, retail is following rooftops at May Avenue and Edmond Road, and yet Broadway clear down to Wilshire stays empty. That's very inefficient and unhealthy from a planning standpoint. And there are many reasons for that happening, but the more we can encourage a little bit of "recentering" within the metro area, or a push to the east, the better. The more we can revitalize those stretches through there, including "Old Britton" the better.

One reason some people, including myself, bitch about parking and the very auto oriented, not so thoughtful layout of these projects is the fact that it could become like the unpleasant experience that is Memorial Road. I think development here is fine, it's just the way they are doing it is setting up the area to become like memorial road where in order to get from one place of business to the one next door, you must drive. Yeah, having big parking lots right next to each place of business likely makes the most sense to the developers short term, but that's really the problem with most things that we do, we don't consider how things will effect the fabric of the city and our communities years from now.

[GoGators]

Does this development even want to be where it’s located? They have insulated the entire development and turned every building inward completely ignoring their surroundings. It goes out of its way to exclude all adjacent neighborhoods, offers zero access to them, and it’s only access is coming off of an interstate access road. I’m sure this is to push people to leave the area as quickly as humanly possible after their business in the new development is done. This development isn’t there to help spur progress in the area. It’s there to pretend the surrounding area doesn’t even exist.

[PaddyShack]

Does this development even want to be where it’s located? They have insulated the entire development and turned every building inward completely ignoring their surroundings. It goes out of its way to exclude all adjacent neighborhoods, offers zero access to them, and it’s only access is coming off of an interstate access road. I’m sure this is to push people to leave the area as quickly as humanly possible after their business in the new development is done. This development isn’t there to help spur progress in the area. It’s there to pretend the surrounding area doesn’t even exist.

There really is not any adjacent neighborhoods for this to connect to. I work in the area and there is not much of any fabric for this to belong to. I believe this is really creating the foothold and we may see some new neighborhoods along Britton to the east, but currently it is the radio stations and the old Chaparral HQ. With a bunch of health related places on the north side. There is the Musgrave neighborhood , but it won't be directly adjacent.

[Plutonic Panda]

^^^ GoGators just bitches about anything that isn’t urban. Nothing new here. I drove this development and my only complaint was the main road weaving through this was only one lane in each direction which all but guarantees you’ll get behind someone going 10 MPH. But other than that this is a great development and lots of things are planned in this area.

I am not sure if people commenting how this is away from everything have been around this area lately. Lots being built and planned. It’s a matter of time before the entire hole between I-35/I-235/I-44/JKT is filled with development.

IF the Kimray HQ is ever built that will be a huge boon to this area. But even without it many housing and office developments are planned regardless. The Kimray HQ would be icing on the cake.

[GoGators]

I’ll say it again. I don’t bitch about everything that isn’t urban. I bitch about everything that is objectively terrible. Most suburban design is garbage so I can see where you would make that inference. But I assure you that there is no Direct correlation.