Boardwalk at Bricktown / Dream Hotel

[zefferoni]

Pretty funny stuff in those comments. I especially liked the comments on the new Harvey Bakery post talking about losing the parking that was once inside it.

I am wondering though, was this string of parking lots actually free?

That was me

[Pete]

The Uhaul lot is generally free parking except when the Thunder are playing or when there is an event in Bricktown.

[Ginkasa]

And unless something has changed (been a while since I've been in Bricktown during an event; wonder why) you can get validated at any Lower Bricktown business for free parking even during Thunder games, etc.

[shawnw]

Correct, still will continue to be the case probably for the other big lower bricktown lot.

[jn1780]

The company I work for pays for monthly parking in this lot. Its kind of funny/ridiculous, because they tell us we need to leave by 5 during Thunder games and events while the average Joe can get there at 4:55 and park for free before a parking attendant gets there. Hopefully, my company is paying too much for a parking lot that is free 90 percent of the time.

[riflesforwatie]

This looks completely of a piece with the rest of Lower Bricktown but it's obviously a giant improvement over surface parking. And really, what would a more urban solution for this land look like? They already screwed up the eminent domain thing with Compress Ave connecting through to the Boulevard so you're always(?) going to have the goofy-looking U-Haul building there. And speaking of the Boulevard, you have that and the BNSF viaduct blocking this plat from interacting with the Lumberyard or Producers Coop sites, should either be developed, or the rest of downtown. To me this seems mostly like.... the best we can hope for!

I guess another way of thinking of this is there's a reason this was the warehouse district when OKC was first platted :-)

[Timtoomany]

No no no! This at-least-it's-better-than-surface-parking attitude drives me crazy; it's why OKC feels like it's stuck in the mid-90s. Sure, scraping a pass is better than flunking a test, but what if you'd aimed for an A and got B-? A lot better than a pass. What if you'd aimed for an A and got it?!

Cities develop slowly over years. Change can only happen incrementally and these development opportunities don't come up all the time. This is a significant and prominent downtown development site. If you just cut'n'paste what the neighbors in Lower Bricktown did you just perpetuate the problems, you don't move anything on. Walking down Reno between LB and the arena is grim--I've done it many times--blasted by the sun and the dust off the parking lot. What if it was lined out with stores and coffee shops and bars and restaurants; even enlivened by entrances to offices or apartments? An enjoyable walk down a city block in the shade.

Maybe you can't do anything about the neigbors, but you've improved part of the journey. Maybe people realize that your stretch of street is much more enjoyable than everyone else's and they try and do what you did. Or maybe they even try to do it better ...

[5alive]

This^^^

[chssooner]

Why are people making it seem like there are 100's of acres to work with here? 3 towers on a few acres, with a railroad barrier on the west side, and the boulevard (a whole other issue) to the south, is not bad. Literally 50% of the borders of it are taken by ROWs that will never be changed. I'm legit curious what people would do to make this infinitely better. The canal is not expanding here, so let's remove that from any and all answers. Just curious. There are a lot of natural barriers to this that will never change, so I am wondering what should change? The height can't really change much, either.

[Timtoomany]

Urban sites typically are bounded on several sides by Rights of Way, but you put buildings where you can define streets and where people can get to them. Shove parking, or servicing, or trash against the immovable obstacles like elevated railroad lines. This site doesn't need to be massive to deliver something outstanding; it doesn't even need to be that tall to get plenty of density (eyeballing it on the map it looks like a Level Apartment Building plus a Mosaic). And imho, the last thing Bricktown needs is another water feature. Just make it a piece of downtown, not some transplant from a suburban business park.

[GoGators]

Why are people making it seem like there are 100's of acres to work with here? 3 towers on a few acres, with a railroad barrier on the west side, and the boulevard (a whole other issue) to the south, is not bad. Literally 50% of the borders of it are taken by ROWs that will never be changed. I'm legit curious what people would do to make this infinitely better. The canal is not expanding here, so let's remove that from any and all answers. Just curious. There are a lot of natural barriers to this that will never change, so I am wondering what should change? The height can't really change much, either.

Change the orientation of tower 3 so that it faces Reno and push it to the street. Mass tower 2 at the corner of Reno and Oklahoma. Get rid of the hokey lagoon. remove two of the curb cuts on Reno. Pretty simple stuff.

[Plutonic Panda]

Yeah this site plan layout is just absurd. Horrible street interaction. I don’t understand why Hogan doesn’t throw his apples either on the COOP lot or maybe NWE. It’s a cash cow here obviously. I hope the city blocks this development and makes him redesign the layout.

[Dob Hooligan]

I'm not zoning expert, but it looks to me that there is a set back on buildings on the south side of Reno that lines up with the other buildings to the east in the pic provided. I think the city requires the curb cuts to make sure each building keeps from overloading Reno with inbound traffic. I recall that rain water has to be maintained on property nowadays, and that is the purpose of the lagoon?

[LocoAko]

This is up for approval at this week's Planning Commission meeting, FWIW. I assume after that it will have to go through additional Bricktown Design approval?

[BoulderSooner]

This is up for approval at this week's Planning Commission meeting, FWIW. I assume after that it will have to go through additional Bricktown Design approval?

south of reno is not part of brick town design .. https://www.okc.gov/home/showpublish...17191748500000

this is not in a design district

[Bowser214]

Thank GOD!!!!

[ourulz2000]

I hope it passes and construction starts soon.

[catch22]

How many accounts do you have Randy?

[GoGators]

I'm not zoning expert, but it looks to me that there is a set back on buildings on the south side of Reno that lines up with the other buildings to the east in the pic provided. I think the city requires the curb cuts to make sure each building keeps from overloading Reno with inbound traffic. I recall that rain water has to be maintained on property nowadays, and that is the purpose of the lagoon?

I don't think any of those things are true for this spot. The reason the building to the east is set back off of Reno is because lower bricktown was designed terribly, not because of any special requirements. That lagoon is not necessary for rain runoff, its already a completely paved area in an urban setting surrounded by existing drainage infrastructure.

[Dob Hooligan]

I don't think any of those things are true for this spot. The reason the building to the east is set back off of Reno is because lower bricktown was designed terribly, not because of any special requirements. That lagoon is not necessary for rain runoff, its already a completely paved area in an urban setting surrounded by existing drainage infrastructure.

Very possibly true. Again, I'm no expert. But, I recall hearing that a substantially changed property usage (for lack of a better term) must adhere to the rules for the new usage. Just because an asphalt parking lot could flow 100% of rain runoff into the storm drainage in 19XX year doesn't mean this development can in 2021.

[Pete]

These are from today's Planning Commission meeting; going on now:

[Pete]

[LocoAko]

A few more screenshots (feel free to consolidate, Pete) -- I couldn't get them all, but it's worth watching. They are seeking rezoning for a residential tower to be *300* feet, with parking above retail and residences above that. This would almost certainly be a game changer in downtown residential prospects.

[T. Jamison]

Very possibly true. Again, I'm no expert. But, I recall hearing that a substantially changed property usage (for lack of a better term) must adhere to the rules for the new usage. Just because an asphalt parking lot could flow 100% of rain runoff into the storm drainage in 19XX year doesn't mean this development can in 2021.

Why not? It's the same amount of water falling on an impermeable surface. The addition of some improvements shouldn't change anything other than the route the water has to take, which should be addressed by the engineer. Also, if we're looking at the same thing, the proposed changes to the drainage ordinance has not been adopted yet. Also, those new changes in their current form do not required on-site detention if the property drains onto a public street, storm sewer system or creek/river channel.

[BoulderSooner]

if all 3 towers get built this would be a home run