Health Sciences Center

[G.Walker]

That is why I said there has been talks, but nothing officially confirmed. The main reason for the talks was that they have additional parking in the parking garages to support new employees if new office building was developed.

It doesn't have to be busting at the seams for them to consider expanding, it depends how much square feet a new tenant might need. If there is 10,000SF in one building and 10,000SF in another, its not going to help a company needing 50,000SF of office and lab space.

[Spartan]

i would have thought the same thing... i don't know phf's expansion plans one way or the other but from what i can tell, the place isn't exactly busting at the seams.

-M

True. Biotech in OKC has been faltering since state support for initiatives has dropped, and the financial crisis also hampered people's ability to embark on start-ups and/or relocate headquarters. The point though should be that biotech will have to spark its own momentum, and the best growth plan I can think of for the PHF campus is to partner with a local research university.

[lasomeday]

With the population of Oklahoma growing and more competition to get into OUHSC and OSU Tulsa Osteo schools, I wonder if OBU, OCU, or SNU have thought about starting a med school. I know in a few other states that med schools have started to pop up. It would be awesome if we could have two or three med schools located downtown. OBU, OCU, and SNU all have nursing schools. I wonder if they could branch in PA, PT, or a full fledged medical school?

[Pete]

The City of OKC is looking to create a Planned Unit Development for the area just south of the existing Health Sciences Center. OCURA owns many of the lots in the delineated area.

This application is in front of the Planning Commission:

The concept for this planned unit development is to create an area of land that would accommodate the expansion of the Oklahoma Health Center and the
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in a campus setting that provides locations for academic, clinical, hospital, research, office, commercial, limited
technology, industrial uses that do not have adverse impacts on surrounding properties or the environment.

[CaptDave]

I bet this neighborhood would become revitalized if we could ever get light rail running from the Santa Fe hub up the NE line. It really isn't too bad now, but a little TOD would be great for this area and the entire corridor. There is a ready made stop at the parking lot located at Lottie Ave and 4th. Then add a street car line on the western edge of the area and it will be poised to be one of the best connected neighborhoods in OKC.

[BoulderSooner]

I bet this neighborhood would become revitalized if we could ever get light rail running from the Santa Fe hub up the NE line. It really isn't too bad now, but a little TOD would be great for this area and the entire corridor. There is a ready made stop at the parking lot located at Lottie Ave and 4th. Then add a street car line on the western edge of the area and it will be poised to be one of the best connected neighborhoods in OKC.

everything west of lottie will be part of the HSC just give it time to grow ...

and this would not be light rail .. it would be heavy rail ...

[Pete]

Yes, the area outlined will be primarily for new health facilities, office buildings, etc.


The little neighborhood south of NE 4th has great potential for residential.

[G.Walker]

I am a member of 5th Street Missionary Baptist Church, that is located at 801 Northeast 5th Street, and the other cross street is N Phillips Ave. We are directly south of the new Toby Keith development. Its a fairly large and prominent church with the African-American community, and is growing rapidly. I hope they don't try and buy us out and raze my church! But then again, it might help us expand, because we do need a larger church to foster our growth.

[CaptDave]

everything west of lottie will be part of the HSC just give it time to grow ...

and this would not be light rail .. it would be heavy rail ...

True - good catch.

I hope in the next ten years neighborhoods like this and Core to Shore are filled with new or revitalized neighborhoods. If we could get two or three developers to stop greenfield overbuilding and look at areas like this, I think we would get a rapid increase in available, affordable housing downtown.

[CaptDave]

I am a member of 5th Street Missionary Baptist Church, that is located at 801 Northeast 5th Street, and the other cross street is N Phillips Ave. We are directly south of the new Toby Keith development. Its a fairly large and prominent church with the African-American community, and is growing rapidly. I hope they don't try and buy us out and raze my church! But then again, it might help us expand, because we do need a larger church to foster our growth.

I hope not too. I think we need to keep neighborhoods intact as much as possible and rebuild around long standing institutions like your church.

[G.Walker]

It would be great if they did revitalize the neighborhood around my church, it would help property values, and increase our membership. However, we are very crowded right now, so crowded that we currently have an 8:00a and 11:00a worship service on Sundays, and they are looking to start a 3rd worship service at 3:00p! It would be neat if they did offer us money to move, so we could build larger, but somewhere in the same vicinity...

[Praedura]

wow, I feel dumb, but I didn't know anything about this until I stumbled upon a link today:

Venger Wind Unveils World's Largest Rooftop Wind Farm in Oklahoma City








Evidently, judging by previous posts on this thread, that OMRF rooftop wind farm was actually built a couple of years ago. But the announcement from the link above was just from a month ago. So I guess that they were testing them for a few years before making the official announcement to the world?

[Praedura]

neat little video here explaining the idea behind those helical blades

World's largest rooftop wind farm installed in Oklahoma City

[CaptDave]

I am very glad to see this type of forward thinking in OKC. I had no idea OMRF had done this - going to go take a look at it soon. I wonder how much it cost for this installation. If the amount of generating capacity is sufficient for 7 average households, would it be affordable for seven average homes? As a proponent of using alternative energy production methods like wind, I hope to see these systems become affordable soon.

[lasomeday]

I am very glad to see this type of forward thinking in OKC. I had no idea OMRF had done this - going to go take a look at it soon. I wonder how much it cost for this installation. If the amount of generating capacity is sufficient for 7 average households, would it be affordable for seven average homes? As a proponent of using alternative energy production methods like wind, I hope to see these systems become affordable soon.

CaptD. It is hard to see.... you may have to loop around a few times to see it. I think it is easier to see from the north. It is a really cool building!

There are many different technologies out there that are better than this one for smaller sites. This one was more for asthetics.

[bombermwc]

It is a nifty building, but with all the times i've been down there, i've never seen them actually spinning. After this long, i really thought they would do using them by now.

[Just the facts]

Venger Wind and US renewable distributor SWG Energy just installed the world’s largest rooftop wind farm atop the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) in Oklahoma City. The project saw Venger Wind construct 18 V2 vertical axis wind turbines on the medical center’s roof as part of OMRF’s sustainability strategy to create a zero emissions research tower.

How do people who work in this zero-emissions research tower get there?

[HangryHippo]

How do people who work in this zero-emissions research tower get there?

Cars, but that's irrelevant to the research tower being zero emissions.

[HangryHippo]

wow, I feel dumb, but I didn't know anything about this until I stumbled upon a link today:

Venger Wind Unveils World's Largest Rooftop Wind Farm in Oklahoma City








Evidently, judging by previous posts on this thread, that OMRF rooftop wind farm was actually built a couple of years ago. But the announcement from the link above was just from a month ago. So I guess that they were testing them for a few years before making the official announcement to the world?

They just recently, within the last two or three weeks, finished putting these up on the roof. And only one or two of them spin so far.

[Bellaboo]

How do people who work in this zero-emissions research tower get there?

Those that live close walk.

[HangryHippo]

Interesting development here:

OU near deal to buy Presbyterian Health Foundation Research Park | NewsOK.com

[okcfollower]

Interesting development here:

OU near deal to buy Presbyterian Health Foundation Research Park | NewsOK.com

Would this have anythign to do with the tweet that OU Medicine released Friday?

"OU Medicine ‏@OUMedicine

Starting Monday, you’ll see an OU Medicine you’ve never seen before. Keep your eyes open and stay tuned to TV, radio and the web. "

[Pete]

Yes, 700,000 square feet are in those buildings and reportedly they are 90% leased.

I'm not sure if this means some of them will be moved out into private buildings eventually to make room for what OU wants to do...

It's a massive transaction but I'm not sure exactly what it means.

[onthestrip]

Interesting development here:

OU near deal to buy Presbyterian Health Foundation Research Park | NewsOK.com

And people wonder why tuition has skyrocketed over the last decade.

Maybe they have a way to reasonably fund this purchase but colleges need to start reigning in their spending.

[Pete]

In the article, it said the properties are well leased and throw off a positive cash flow.

Also, OU has a pretty massive endowment these days, right around a billion.