Convention Center

[Urbanized]

You bring up a good point Rover. While Bricktown is the current entertainment option that makes the identified location most salable to convention planners, proximity to up and coming areas like Film Row an improved CBD and even reasonable closeness to Midtown and Automobile Alley (outside of the hard and fast 10 minute walkability bubble but closer than they would be to east Bricktown), plus nearness to Chesapeake Arena, MBG and Central Park, the art museum, the Memorial...ALL make this a superior location. Convention planners and convention-goers will be floored by what OKC has to offer.

Again, the overriding motivation in CC site location MUST be its walkable proximity to hotels and amenities. Otherwise, it will be incredibly difficult to book, and will be a humongous waste of taxpayer dollars. You want the boondoggle so many people predict? Start fiddling with the location.

[Teo9969]

You all are speaking like the substation is like 15 blocks away from the Bob Howard site.

They're literally caddy-corner on the Boulevard/Robinson intersection.

You would also get 5x the development from a private investor on the Bob Howard site than you would on the substation site, if you're even going to get something on the substation site (given that it's a lot larger investment for your average developer than it is for a municipal entity).

Again, I'm not saying definitely move it, but at least make an offer on the substation and if you get it for a bargain, put the convention center there.

[Laramie]

A decision has been made on the convention center site. Let's move on...

June 2011 - Convention Center Site Selection Analysis Report:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/conventioncenter.pdf

[Rover]

You all are speaking like the substation is like 15 blocks away from the Bob Howard site.

They're literally caddy-corner on the Boulevard/Robinson intersection.

You would also get 5x the development from a private investor on the Bob Howard site than you would on the substation site, if you're even going to get something on the substation site (given that it's a lot larger investment for your average developer than it is for a municipal entity).

Again, I'm not saying definitely move it, but at least make an offer on the substation and if you get it for a bargain, put the convention center there.

You lost this argument months ago. And, for good reason.

[Teo9969]

You lost this argument months ago. And, for good reason.

Okay.

[Urbanized]

The substation has a number of significant drawbacks:

• The hotel location would by necessity be on the north end, which by necessity would require the entrance to the CC to be moved a block south of where you are thinking it would be.
• The entrance would be required to be on the park (west) side, as loading docks would be on Shields (adding additional distance to entertainment amenities).
• It would place one more barrier to walkability (a speedway of a boulevard) between the CC and everything else, adding to the barriers that already unfortunately exist for the current site (while removing none).
• Would be about 3/4 of a mile from the Skirvin, and nearly that for the Renaissance and Sheraton, taking all of them outside of the magical 10-minute walkability bubble
• Would do the same for most of Bricktown (Sheridan/Oklahoma, considered zero corner for Bricktown, would be a 14 minute walk, Sheridan/Mickey Mantle even further)
• Would require an estimated $30 million relocation of the substation. Estimated years ago, I might add.

You're talking about placing millions of dollars in bookings and many millions more in economic impact and tax revenue into extreme jeopardy just to save a few million on the front end...that oh, guess what? You won't save anyway.

We've been over this it his thread before - ad nauseam - but monkeying with the location to save a few bucks is penny wise and pound foolish. Sacrificing the bookability and mortgaging the future of the most expensive component of MAPS3? Perish the thought. Only if you want to waste taxpayer dollars would I encourage you to stick with you substation idea.

[ChowRunner]

Press release from OKC

City to reopen MAPS 3 Convention Center site selection process

Oklahoma City will reopen the site selection process for the MAPS 3 Convention Center in search of a location that better fits the land acquisition budget.

The Municipal Counselor on Tuesday dismissed Oklahoma County District Court lawsuits against the owners of the property that the City Council selected for the convention center. The action marks the end of the City’s current attempt to acquire this property, the site of a former car dealership south of Myriad Botanical Gardens and west of the downtown arena.

“It became obvious to the City Manager, the Municipal Counselor and me that purchasing this proposed MAPS 3 Convention Center site is not in the best interest of our residents and the MAPS program,” said Mayor Mick Cornett. “This protects the integrity of the MAPS program and shows our commitment to build every MAPS 3 project within budget while meeting or exceeding the expectations of our residents.”

The City’s budget for the MAPS 3 Convention Center includes $13 million for land acquisition. The property’s owners provided documents estimating its value at more than $100 million.

This isn’t the first time the City has reopened the site selection process for a MAPS project. Previous MAPS projects that involved a reopened site selection process include the ballpark, the downtown library and the Bricktown Canal.

The City and the project consultant, Populous, will revisit the site selection process with the MAPS 3 Citizens Advisory Board and the Convention Center subcommittee.

“This remains a citizen-led initiative, which has been the bedrock of MAPS since the very beginning and has helped us earn the trust of Oklahoma City’s residents,” Cornett said. “We’re going to get right back to work on the site selection process, and our expectation of building an incredible, on-budget MAPS 3 Convention Center is unchanged.

[Bellaboo]

Wow !

[Pete]

Been following this for a while and waiting for them to release some info; here are the details:

OKCTalk - Breaking: City to seek new site for Convention Center

[s00nr1]

Good grief. How many dollars were wasted on the site planning for this location? What a mess.

[Pete]

This is an absolute bombshell with so many ripple effects they are difficult to separate and list.

[Bullbear]

hmm.. well a mess for sure but perhaps we will end up with a better overall product when its all said and done. I think south of boulevard wouldn't be a bad placement and could definately elimiate the barrier between parks and allow for some great development on the old site. it definately left those owners with some prime real estate.

[Stickman]

Been following this for a while and waiting for them to release some info; here are the details:

OKCTalk - Breaking: City to seek new site for Convention Center

I was told closer to 50 million, but could not believe it myself, just gossip...........did not want to say anything.
Ridiculous....................

[Paseofreak]

What about the responses to the hotel RFP? Do we get to see them, or will the whole thing be reissued? I'd sure be interested to see what was submitted and by whom.

[CuatrodeMayo]

That sound you just heard was the s*** hitting the fan...

[Pete]

It would have been way more than $50 million had the streets and alleys been included.

REHCO had sought to close them years ago; very similar to Devon, Hines and Clayco. But the City never provided their approval.

[Paseofreak]

I suspect it has hit the fan, yet hasn't reached it's final destination.

[Pete]

What about the responses to the hotel RFP? Do we get to see them, or will the whole thing be reissued? I'd sure be interested to see what was submitted and by whom.

We still should be able to see them but they are meaningless now.

[shawnw]

So... if a new site is chosen that is not on the now-approved streetcar route (which I thought was a selling point), could this cause a re-opening of the streetcar route as well?

[Pete]

This will also impact the streetcar, pending TIF's, the redevelopment of the Cox Center, perhaps the Clacyo deal....

Hard to get my mind around all of this.

[89er]

WOW what a fiasco... What a waste of time, resources, and money. Not to mention that this dropped today on all the teams submitting RFPs, and the only team to maybe have a heads up is populous. Everyone else has just wasted a bunch of $$$ wouldn't be surprised to see some of them walk away from the city and not come back.

Or the optimist in me says...

Maybe city had its stuff together and in the RFP told them to explore other sites and we might see even more unique options that haven't been thought of yet.

[jn1780]

Took the city long enough to figure out what we knew two years ago. There was no way the city could ever afford that site.

[Paseofreak]

I figured that they would but obsolete, but I'd sure like to know about the responding brands, number of rooms, aesthetics, and most importantly, the subsidy ask.

[CuatrodeMayo]

For those of us that are hoping this announcement opens the door for a continuous urban park from core to shore: If the City balks at a $100 mil site acquisition for the beloved convention center, there is no way in Hades they spend it for a park...

[Paseofreak]

I figured that they would but obsolete, but I'd sure like to know about the responding brands, number of rooms, aesthetics, and most importantly, the subsidy ask.