OG&E Tower

[CuatrodeMayo]

I think I'll give this some time and thought before I weigh in.

[sroberts24]

I don't hate it, I'm irritated they changed their stance from 20+ to under 20. Love the interaction it will have and honestly could make the arts festival 10x better. But so frustrated with the height.

I do believe this will have as big of an impact on the street front interaction as Devon had on our Skyline.

[KayneMo]

I very much like it! Of course, I would've LOVED it if it was taller, but I still really like it, nonetheless.

[G.Walker]

Design is good, but the height is a disappointment, he said at least 20 stories, and we are not even getting that!

[Richard at Remax]

well combined its almost 30 stories....SMH

[tomokc]

Wish it were taller, faster and incorporated residences upstairs overlooking the Myriad Gardens, but it isn't my money so I don't get to vote.

Kudos to Rainey Williams not only for undertaking this $100 million project, but also having the courage to replace Stage Center. No matter what other great things he does in life, he'll be remembered for that.

[bchris02]

I don't hate it, I'm irritated they changed their stance from 20+ to under 20. Love the interaction it will have and honestly could make the arts festival 10x better. But so frustrated with the height.

I do believe this will have as big of an impact on the street front interaction as Devon had on our Skyline.

I agree. Downtown really needs more streetfront placemaking and it looks like this building will provide it.

[shawnw]

Curious why the delay in construction start to 2015? Will it take all year to demo stage center?

[pickles]

Great looking building. Love the layout.

[BoulderSooner]

well combined its almost 30 stories....SMH

Makes you wonder if they were looking at having it all in one building and then switched it to 2

[warreng88]

From Steve's blog:

"Don’t get caught up on height. The OGE Tower is shorter than some may have expected, and shorter than the “at least 20 stories” previously indicated. But the plan changed. There is also more ahead than what you see. There is one more tower now firmly in development beyond what is being shown in renderings today. And I’m tracking up to two more towers, one of which also is appearing to be an increasingly real deal as well. If * current trends continue, this skyline has a lot of change yet to take place."

[BoulderSooner]

Also the. Could still be close to 300 feet tall.

[kevinpate]

The height is fine with me. Too much height will ruin afternoon sun on the gardens. I think the interaction with street at the lower levels, plus how they've left the festival grounds intact, is fantastic.

This. Plus it is planned as a good mix of office, retail, housing and gives a better than minimal nod to festival of the arts. Fare thee well SC. Welcome OGE et al.

[catch22]

Looks good. I think this will fit on that block perfectly. Would have hoped for a little taller, but I'm not complaining.

[Just the facts]

From what I see so far - I love it. I was hoping they could re-open California so as to provide a nice terminal view as California Ave is re-urbanized, but they did appear to put some sort of architectural feature at the current terminus so hopefully that will suffice. Lots of retail will be facing the MBG, and dare I ask, could it be a CityTarget?

[warreng88]

From Steve's blog:

"Don’t get caught up on height. The OGE Tower is shorter than some may have expected, and shorter than the “at least 20 stories” previously indicated. But the plan changed. There is also more ahead than what you see. There is one more tower now firmly in development beyond what is being shown in renderings today. And I’m tracking up to two more towers, one of which also is appearing to be an increasingly real deal as well. If * current trends continue, this skyline has a lot of change yet to take place."

This leads me to believe that the Preftakes tower is very real and could be announced soon.

Edit: or maybe this is in reference to the hotel/housing tower? Steve?

[BoulderSooner]

This leads me to believe that the Preftakes tower is very real and could be announced soon.

Edit: or maybe this is in reference to the hotel/housing tower? Steve?

Also the Bank of America lot

[DoctorTaco]

Even though it isn't as tall, this could be as big a deal for downtown as the Devon Tower, in that it really interacts with the street level in a way that no other downtown building currently does.

[warreng88]

Also the Bank of America lot

Just from Steve's quote, I was thinking he was talking about the immediate surrounding area that was shown in the renderings. Of course, there could be one built south of this for all we know and a Preftakes building and a BOA lot building.

[bchris02]

Also the Bank of America lot

I agree. The Bank of America lot is screaming ripe for a major tower. It would really help balance the skyline as well.

[G.Walker]

Forget the office tower, I am more interested in that downtown OKC will likely be getting its first modern residential high-rise.

[jccouger]

Nice tower, but in hindsight I wish I wouldn't have spent the last 2 years of my life reading the mystery tower thread for this....

[G.Walker]

Note that they stated this is a 'conceptual master plan', so the design could be modified a bit before the final blueprints are set for groundbreaking.

[Bellaboo]

And we're getting a much needed increase in a parking structure.

Anyone know aproximately how many square feet the office will be ?

[ljbab728]

Steve's additional comments.

More Towers Are Coming* | News OK

Don’t get caught up on height. The OGE Tower is shorter than some may have expected, and shorter than the “at least 20 stories” previously indicated. But the plan changed. There is also more ahead than what you see. There is one more tower now firmly in development beyond what is being shown in renderings today. And I’m tracking up to two more towers, one of which also is appearing to be an increasingly real deal as well. If * current trends continue, this skyline has a lot of change yet to take place.