Devon Energy Center

[mugofbeer]

This is what I was responding to Pete and Mug:

Originally Posted by andimthomas
This might sound ungreatful and all, but I think they should just move their headquarters to Houston if they're just going to keep letting us down. You don't get the entire population excited for something that hasn't happened in awhile, then take it all back. I won't be surprised if they drop the height again before construction starts. Sooner or later- this building will just look the same as the rest of downtown OKC. Short and fat.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Thunder
Now it is 850?! That's it. I don't want it anymore. The final height will be 300.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ronronnie1
WOW - I just read Steve's confirmation that the height has AGAIN been chopped down to 850 feet. Tomorrow it'll be 790 feet, and by Monday it'll be just twenty feet shy of Chase tower.

Ugh - I'm over it. I don't give a sh!t if they build it or not.

Well, OK.....I try to be a glass half-full person and give people the benefit of the doubt but OK. I'll give you that one.....anyway, ignore them. They didn't get their desert today or something.

[Steve]

You and Pete are right, Mug.
After a tough day with my four-year-old and doing everything I could to smile and remain patient, maybe, just maybe, I took these guys too seriously.

[mugofbeer]

You and Pete are right, Mug.
After a tough day with my four-year-old and doing everything I could to smile and remain patient, maybe, just maybe, I took these guys too seriously.

Its why I don't post on the DOK site. I bet your four-year-old and my eight-year-old could hold better arguements than some very adult people do.

[Steve]

If there's to be a fuse lit, just know my four-year-old has some pretty fierce feelings about Word Girl and Hulk.

[blangtang]

Expanding the glut of Class A Office space, or not?

[bombermwc]

I don't care if it's 900 or 700 or whatever. As long as someone builds a new tower downtown, I'm still gonna piss my pants in excitement. This thing is still going to be massive no matter what, so "quit ya bitchin'".

It is interesting to note that a few of the floors were removed because they are adding onto their facility on Meridian and Newcastle Road just off Airport Rd. I'm not entirely sure what they do there, but it looks like warehouse space. So I'm not really sure how that space was supposedly included in the first design. But anyway, do we really neeeed to be "taller than Dallas"? No. Would it have meant anything? No. Would anyone think any more/less of OKC if the height of the building changed by 100 feet? No.

[okcpulse]

I don't care if it's 900 or 700 or whatever. As long as someone builds a new tower downtown, I'm still gonna piss my pants in excitement. This thing is still going to be massive no matter what, so "quit ya bitchin'".

It is interesting to note that a few of the floors were removed because they are adding onto their facility on Meridian and Newcastle Road just off Airport Rd. I'm not entirely sure what they do there, but it looks like warehouse space. So I'm not really sure how that space was supposedly included in the first design. But anyway, do we really neeeed to be "taller than Dallas"? No. Would it have meant anything? No. Would anyone think any more/less of OKC if the height of the building changed by 100 feet? No.

Their data center will be located at that site for disaster recovery purposes. Moving the DC out of the tower was a damn smart move.

[jbrown84]

Pete, you're right. As for the park, I'm going on memory but I don't think so. If it is, it's a fractional amount of the $115 million.

And it's not as if the park area on the north side of Sheridan won't be completely available to the public. It will most assuredly be a regular lunch spot for all of downtown's workers.

Expanding the glut of Class A Office space, or not?

Not. The "glut" is class B and C. There is hardly any contiguous Class A space available downtown.

[Rover]

One of OKC's problems has been the lack of contiguous large spaces of class A office space. It is hard to get companies to move into downtown when they would have to split up their offices into 2 or more locations. I think this will actually result in move-ins.

[Easy180]

MidFirst may be a good bet to move downtown...Big push into the AZ market and I've heard they are busting at the seams in their current buildings

[bombermwc]

Their data center will be located at that site for disaster recovery purposes. Moving the DC out of the tower was a damn smart move.

OOOOOHHHHHH. Definitely a smart move there. The downtown telecomm infrastructure is far from the best. A lot of the phone lines are still copper!!!! Our office is right up the road, and Devon will have a better power rate at the Meridian office. We're all on the same grid as the airport, so power is very stable.

Not to be dramatic or morbid, but should the tower ever become a target, the data will still be safe. No company can survive if it doesnt have a good system in place to be able to recover it's data in a DR situation.

[OKC74]

54 or 50 stories...I'm still SO super excited about this building...and all it will do for OKC!!

[RedDirt717]

There are still only going to be 8 states in the entire country with taller buildings.

[OKCRT]

Lets hope that a few more skyscrapers follow Devon downtown in the not so distant future. I think that a 40-50 story apartment building downtown would be a big hit. This would add many more people living downtown and spur more growth.

[OKCisOK4me]

Lets hope that a few more skyscrapers follow Devon downtown in the not so distant future. I think that a 40-50 story apartment building downtown would be a big hit. This would add many more people living downtown and spur more growth.

As long as each unit doesn't go for a quarter million...

[onthestrip]

I think that a 40-50 story apartment building downtown would be a big hit.

Easy now, let's not get ahead of ourselves.

[andimthomas]

as long as each unit doesn't go for a quarter million...

amen.

[betts]

I calculated that the Devon Tower will cost almost $400 a square foot to build, if the estimates given earlier were accurate. They don't need to make a profit on their space. I'm not sure how a 40 to 50 foot tower could possibly have living space that wouldn't cost a quarter million per unit, if the developer isn't a nonprofit organization.

I think Metro was right when he said the difference between OKC and some of the other cities with less expensive downtown or near downtown living space is that most of the less expensive housing in other cities is in older buildings, which we just don't have.

[ourulz2000]

Construction is supposed to start October 1st - which means we're less than 30 days away. Are we still on target, or could this get pushed back?

[mireaux]

lets just build a skyscraper so tall in downtown OKC so that when youre up at the top floor you can look immediately to your south and see all the better opportunities south of the Red River.

[circuitboard]

lets just build a skyscraper so tall in downtown OKC so that when youre up at the top floor you can look immediately to your south and see all the better opportunities south of the Red River.

Niceeee...

[OKCisOK4me]

lets just build a skyscraper so tall in downtown OKC so that when youre up at the top floor you can look immediately to your south and see all the better opportunities south of the Red River.

Can we then build a mega waterslide off of that that goes all the way down to Wet N' Wild--wait, is that still there?!?

[mugofbeer]

lets just build a skyscraper so tall in downtown OKC so that when youre up at the top floor you can look immediately to your south and see all the better opportunities south of the Red River.

Mireaux - the hiway is there and the bridge is open across the Red River. Good luck to you!

[progressiveboy]

Mireaux - the hiway is there and the bridge is open across the Red River. Good luck to you!

Mireaux, your welcome to Texas anytime. You are correct, there is so many opportunities that await in Texas and we would embrace you with our "can do" spirit!!

[Pete]

I calculated that the Devon Tower will cost almost $400 a square foot to build, if the estimates given earlier were accurate. They don't need to make a profit on their space. I'm not sure how a 40 to 50 foot tower could possibly have living space that wouldn't cost a quarter million per unit, if the developer isn't a nonprofit organization.

You really can't compare an elaborate corporate HQ to a residential tower.

Devon's figures include a massive atrium, big park, an auditorium, a huge parking garage, a health club, connecting to the Colcord and the Underground, etc., etc. It also includes furniture, window coverings, telecommunications, wiring, and many other things a developer wouldn't include in a residential building. Even the construction itself is very different with taller floors and suspending ceilings, and differences to the floors and HVAC systems.

Having said all that, a true high rise with great views and amenities might actually warrant some of the prices currently being charged by developments that offer neither.