Brickopolis

[BDK]

Um, it's a density and transit issue. It's just gonna take time, residential construction, and an economy on sure footing.

[wschnitt]

It is sad that at this juncture there is more economic value to a surface lot in BT than an income producing other structure. As long as land is cheap there and business opportunities few we will see continued efforts for projects like this. The real question is what can we do to increase the economic value of land in BT. Restrictions dont create opportunities. We need more opportunities.

I agree. With almost no one living in Bricktown, it is obviously going to be somewhere that people drive to.

[wschnitt]

No one responded to my comment how there is no street parking in Bricktown!!!

[BG918]

Hopefully this is going back to the drawing board. The grass lot is better than this.

[Spartan]

Rover, I did NOT mean to embarrass you. I generally don't "know more" than you so I am surprised if you didn't already know the deal with the downtown zoning/parking requirements, but yes, there is a BAD ordinance on the books for other parts of town requiring adequate parking to be provided. Same as there is the ordinance on the books requiring basic uniform set backs on all streets, but in the case of downtown, it's the complete opposite--no setback is allowed with the new zoning, hence how we got into the SandRidge debacle (that ordinance is why the Planning Dept kept issuing recommendations to not pass their proposal). Parking, especially of the surface lot variety, is a well-known problem in Bricktown--so obviously more right on the canal is not going to come to pass.

No one responded to my comment how there is no street parking in Bricktown!!!

Well, because you're right. I wonder if the city would encounter resistance if it introduced more street parking in Bricktown..it could easily get hundreds of new spots if it did that.

This proposal is interesting and I still have questions whether it will ever happen. If this is an attempt by a business owner to open up and do business in Bricktown, it will come to fruition eventually and we'll meet a compromise. If this is an attempt to get some parking through the BUDC, then this is a joke of a proposal that is just wasting everyone's time. I think we have a process that will likely involve him having to go back to the drawing board once more, and then we will see the real intentions.

My personal thoughts on this are that he should be allowed to include AS MUCH parking as he should desire in his "garage" if he would put a building on top of it. You can include structured parking in mixed-use developments, it was definitely included in the Cotton Exchange.

[pickles]

Parking lot capitol of the western hemisphere!

[wschnitt]

Is it that he needs parking for his business or he also wants to be in the parking business?

[Skyline]

It is sad that at this juncture there is more economic value to a surface lot in BT than an income producing other structure. As long as land is cheap there and business opportunities few we will see continued efforts for projects like this. The real question is what can we do to increase the economic value of land in BT. Restrictions dont create opportunities. We need more opportunities.

I find this post Sad but very True.

It will be interesting to see what happens with this latest proposal.

Has a developer ever had their project rejected twice by the BUD committee?

I ask because it seems like most developers comes back with a design that does receive the approval. I have been through this process myself and after the initial proposal was rejected, the city was very helpful with the second proposal in order to receive their approval. Meaning most often the second proposal is being seen a few times before hand and altered with the necessary recommendations by the city as to what exactly is needed to receive the approval.

[coldbeer]

He has owned parking in bricktown before...Its about a parking lot more than a "house of bedlam". My post regards to the existing bar business in the ally that his build out will disrupt. There is no ingress egress to build anything without possibly shutting down that side street.

[kevinpate]

BT needs more parking like it needs another under capitalized bar. I'd rather see an empty lot with the painted bisons fake grazing than see a p lot put there

[BG918]

I wish the Cotton Exchange would be resurrected on this site.

I would say this is the single most high profile site remaining in Bricktown. Right on the turn of the canal, right by the ballpark. It deserves a fantastic building like JDM Place, IMO, across the canal.

[Larry OKC]

Does anyone know what was on that site before the Canal was built? Or was it a larger vacant lot before that? Did a building come down to make room for the change in direction for the Canal, and the grassy knoll was what was left over?

UPDATED INFO FROM STEVE:
http://newsok.com/developer-pushes-a...ad_story_title

[Steve]

There were a couple of buildings across from JDM. Photo is on Retro Metro OKC somewhere, I'm sure.

[SkyWestOKC]

Good article Steve. Too bad he didn't pursue the mid-rise hotel idea....

He obviously wants to just run a parking lot. The fact that he added a second building to the plan, and made it 35 feet tall to make it look 2 stories.....seems rather fake and trying to just make the site more visually appealing, with the main use being parking.

[king183]

Are you kidding me?! He turned down a 10 story hotel proposal, so he could build his crappy parking lots?

Kick this guy out of downtown development forever.

[mcca7596]

I saw this on the new agenda too, but didn't know if it was different from the original. If they don't allow this, who knows how long it will be until something else is even proposed on that site. It really doesn't need to be empty and I don't think this proposal falls in the "better than crappy makes us happy" category. It really would be a nice addition and an obvious improvement over what is currently there.

Yeah, the more I think about this and realize that this guy just wants to run some parking lots, I have to retract my support. We can wait for someone who cares about quality and synergy with the area.

[SkyWestOKC]

Yeah, the more I think about this and realize that this guy just wants to run some parking lots, I have to retract my support. We can wait for someone who cares about quality and synergy with the area.

Me too. Kick this guy out! If I had known he'd been approached by a developer for a 10 story hotel and turned it down, I would have not shown any support for this guy.

[MDot]

How can you turn down a 10 story hotel on prime, undeveloped land in the heart of Oklahoma Cities premier entertainment district so you can have a little parking lot and be taken seriously? This guy is a joke. I was in support of him and was hoping that it would be approved so something would get built here but not by a fraud like this man. Hopefully someone else with a better grasp of what should be built here will recognize the potential of this spot and develop something worth while here.

[UnFrSaKn]

[Skyline]

Only in Bricktown would a property owner choose Parking Lots over a Hotel partnership development.

[wschnitt]

Continued until next meeting. There was not a vote on this project.

[wschnitt]

The application was deemed incomplete with the developer to come back with the following 3 things:

1. More ornamentation on the buildings
2. Screening so you cannot see parked cars
3. And a diagram showing that you cannot see parked cars from the canal.

The developer claimed the parking lot was simply an efficient use of space that otherwise would be a white roof of the building that is the 1 story canal level retail space. Apparently there is 30,000sq feet of retail space in this project. How much of that will get filled is yet to be determined. There is plenty of potential retail space as it is right now, just no actual retail. The developers were claiming this would bring a much needed piece to bricktown, retail, but had no actual retailers other than his own business, House of Bedlam.

[wschnitt]

I would be fine with the project if they added one more level to the parking garage so it's not a "surface lot" from street level. I could deal with the small surface lot on Mickey Mantel if the other side didn't have surface parking too.

I would prefer no surface parking on either side, but if it came to a compromise, I would be willing to allow that as long as the garage added one more level to set it out and make the project denser.

Apparently a garage on the canal is not allowed.

[kevinpate]

Sadly, it sounds like it is 99% approved, subj. only to very minimal modifications.

[Larry OKC]

The application was deemed incomplete with the developer to come back with the following 3 things:

1. More ornamentation on the buildings
2. Screening so you cannot see parked cars
3. And a diagram showing that you cannot see parked cars from the canal.

The developer claimed the parking lot was simply an efficient use of space that otherwise would be a white roof of the building that is the 1 story canal level retail space. Apparently there is 30,000sq feet of retail space in this project. How much of that will get filled is yet to be determined. There is plenty of potential retail space as it is right now, just no actual retail. The developers were claiming this would bring a much needed piece to bricktown, retail, but had no actual retailers other than his own business, House of Bedlam.

Agreed, but I don't see retail as happening in Bricktown full-blown all at once (would be great if it did). If his is successful, perhaps it would spur other retail. A synergy. Plus businesses may be willing to go into a newer building rather than having to deal with the inherent challenges of an existing space. But there is something lost in the transition too. Not apples to apples at all, but they were hoping for the same with Bass Pro and that didn't work out.

Is the Sonic headquarters building fully occupied?

UnFrSaKn: thanks for the pic, if I am looking at it correctly it looks like that may be where the Ballpark is, but the squarish, 2-story slant-roofed building near the center of the pic, what was it? What about the l-o-n-g low building across the highway from it (towards the bottom of the pic). Looks like some type of rail depot???