New Arena (formerly Prairie Surf)

[Pete]

the city actually presented to the planning commission to close those streets ... a long time ago .... it was continued forever then removed from the agenda ..

And then there was the whole mess with the convention center, but even when that was proposed for this site, the Harvey Spine was to be preserved for pedestrians.

[BoulderSooner]

I understand why the city redid the SW 2nd and Harvey curb cuts, but I feel like when the development is done on the area, the whole intersection will most likely be closed and redeveloped.

I can see keeping 2nd street open .. (maybe even eventually reconnecting all the way to shields .. ) but there is very little use for Harvey to stay open as a street .... now maybe rip it in up and make it a pedestrian only access ..

[SagerMichael]

Too much demand there for 3 story buildings to be it. Need mid or even hi-rise to make it fiscally make sense.

This is by far the most mind boggling “equation” in urban development to me. The fact that low rise buildings stood downtown for years. People lived, shopped, and worked in these buildings. Years later they are blown up and cleared to be surface lots. These lots sit empty for decades because the land is “too valuable” to build anything other than a high rise on. Makes you think the land actually isn’t as valuable as it is made out to be. This isn’t just an OKC thing, it’s every major city in America. Empty land is better than reasonable development

[Urbanite]

This might be a waste of the space, but my dream for this area would be to recreate a small historic district with 1, 2, and 3 story brick buildings, etc. (much like what was lost during urban renewal). Maybe even mimic some of the iconic OKC buildings that were lost during that time, at least on the facade side.

Cool storefronts on the ground floor with loft apartments on the upper floors.

I believe this would be incredible placed between the Myriad Gardens and Scissortail Park and would add a lot of charm to the area and more housing downtown. Great infill.

I feel like more and more people are looking for these kinds of step-back-in-time experiences (think downtown Guthrie), although I recognize the new build facet of it might make it seem cheap.

Just a thought.

I always thought a good Market Hall would fit perfectly between the two parks and serve the downtown community, as well the entire city, well. Ultimate goal would be something like Markthal in Rotterdam, but there are several examples all over the US, but not just a "food hall", but something with the vision of Rockwood Market Hall in Portland:

"Rockwood Market Hall, a non-profit organization, is a welcoming open-air market in Downtown Rockwood that features micro-retail and restaurant spaces, micro-grocers, a commissary kitchen, rentable cold storage, flagship full-size restaurants, and office space. Our goal is to offer fresh, healthy food options to our community along with opportunities for entrepreneurship and vitality."



https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attracti..._Province.html
https://www.tasteofhome.com/collecti...m5NhD5nv6SBDNo

[dankrutka]

Milwaukee Public Market is a great model that would absolutely be perfect here. In this case, you having housing on top of it.

[Pete]

Milwaukee Public Market is a great model that would absolutely be perfect here. In this case, you having housing on top of it.

It's fantastic but that was/is heavily subsidized.

[warreng88]

It's fantastic but that was/is heavily subsidized.

To be fair, I am sure whatever goes here will be as well...

[Urbanized]

Urbanized,
Appreciate the color here on REHCO. You mentioned REHCO ownership group above, who actually owns the site and is there any overlap with Thunder ownership? At one point, I thought there was but a little unsure now.

Agree that getting this right is very important and patience was smart. Hopefully they will start kicking tires on development ideas once the renderings for the new arena start coming out next year. Would think they would need to see what the plan for the area surrounding the new Arena will be and even perhaps what the plan for the Paycom site will be before they move, but hopefully those data points will start coming into focus in the next year or so and then they can start planning in earnest on what will work best here.

Yes, Bob Howard is (to my understanding) controlling investor in REHCO, and he also holds an ownership interest in the Thunder.

[Pete]

To be fair, I am sure whatever goes here will be as well...

I mean the entire operation is continually subsidized in addition to all types of upfront costs to build it.

[Urbanized]

^^^^^^^^^
Meaning operating subsidy, I take it? Would make sense.

[Pete]

^^^^^^^^^
Meaning operating subsidy, I take it? Would make sense.

Yes. It's funded by a huge BID as part of the 3rd Ward.

And it really struggled in the beginning. I think it is doing better these days.