The Harlow (formerly 101 N. Broadway)

[Pete]

I've learned this building -- owned by BancFirst but vacated for BancFirst Tower directly east -- is under contract to Dick Tanenbaum.

My understanding is his plan is to convert to housing or a hotel. Tanenbaum has done downtown housing conversions in the past, such as The Montgomery and Park Harvey. He also converted the former Lincoln Plaza hotel into apartments.

The property has a large annex to the north. The main lobby is pretty stunning.

Link to Waymarking site

"Located on the northwest corner of Main and Broadway in downtown Oklahoma City, this 10-story limestone building is constructed in the Sullivanesque style. The building has three distinct horizontal sections. The first two floors form the base. The walls are rusticated stone and all windows have striped cloth awnings. A beltcourse above the second level separates it from the mid-section which is seven stories high. The stone walls on this section are smooth and the windows are symmetrically placed. All the original wood-framed windows have been replaced with fixed smoked glass panels. The upper section consists of the tenth floor and a projected eave with ornate exposed beams under the eaves, and floral and sunburst designs.

The building was constructed in 1921 and was occupied by the Tradesman's National Bank until 1949. At that time, the bank merged with First National Bank and the building was sold to City National Bank, who occupied the building until 1971. At the time the building was placed on the register in 1980, the main tenant was Frontier Federal Savings and Loan. It is now occupied by BankFirst, with the upper floors occupied by a variety of business offices.

A plaque at this location, placed by the Oklahoma Heritage Association in 1977, describes the history of this building, as follows: "City Center Building / This building and its predecessors have served Oklahoma City over the years as a communications center, a financial center, and in numerous other capacities. The City's first major post office building was constructed on this location beginning in 1889. Later, a three-story building was constructed which served at various times as Ward II elementary school, as a Masonic meeting hall, and as the home of Citizens Independent Telephone Company, a forerunner of Southwest Bell. In 1921 the Tradesman's National Bank Building -- to the left of this plaque -- was erected. This elegant "fireproof" structure was the first air-conditioned building in the City. The Trademan's Bank merged into the First National Bank and the building became the home of the City National Bank in 1949. Remodeled and enlarged, the buidling was re-opened as the City Center Building in January 1977."

[HangryHippo]

Housing here would be incredible!

[Pete]

Would make a very nice boutique hotel as well, ala The Colcord.

At least that way, that fantastic lobby would be open to the public.

[soonerguru]

I would love to see either housing or a hotel here. Beautiful building.

[Urbanized]

Dick did a pretty great job with ESPECIALLLY the Montgomery and Classen Tower projects. Considering the proximity of this building to FNC, I think apartments would do incredibly well here.

[Pete]

It would be nice to have more people living in the central business district.

Anything we can do to make it less of a ghost town in the evenings and on weekends would be beneficial.

[Mississippi Blues]

Whatever comes of it, I’m in agreement with Pete. That lobby has the potential of being another fine showpiece for downtown if used correctly. It wouldn’t be near the undertaking that First National was but, in the right hands, would be a wonderful piece to add to the showcase of the glory years of Oklahoma City architecture.

[stlokc]

This is the building that introduced me to downtown as a child. My mother worked at A.G. Edwards and their local office was in the lobby of this building in the 1980s until they moved northwest. I remember coming down and visiting my mom, and we would take the elevators down to the concourse and get something to eat and explore around. My aunt worked at some sort of office in the upper floors.

I'm sure housing or a hotel is the way to go in this century. But I remember that building being densely packed with offices, which brought lots and lots of people and foot traffic.

[Urbanized]

^^^^^^^
I had a similar early 80s intro to downtown, as my stepmom (R.I.P.) worked at ATT/SWB at 6th and Robinson. Fairly often I’d ride with her in the morning (or drive her to work when I got a bit older) and I’d spend the day walking around and exploring downtown on my own. We’d meet for lunch at one of the 3 or 4 decent lunch places downtown, then I’d explore some more before we headed home. I look back at that now as one of the main reasons I came to love and be involved with downtown stuff.

Also - regarding offices - I’m of the opinion that the pandemic has forever altered demand, regardless of what anyone says. I’m in the CBD daily, and from a daily activity level it is a shell of what it was in 2019. Nearly everyone I know who works downtown splits time between office and WFH, and some of them are closer to 100% WFH, eleven if they still maintain an office downtown.

I think the best way forward for much of downtown (and probably most similar districts in other cities) is aggressive housing conversion, or at the very least a mixture of office and housing in some buildings.

[David]

101 N. Broadway would be a really neat address to live at so I am mildly disappointed that it is a hotel and not housing, but aside from that inconsequential complaint this looks like a great project.

[stlokc]

Urbanized, agree with your post on several fronts. Almost everybody that I know (including myself) is working some sort of hybrid or complete 100% WFH arrangement.

I further agree that housing conversion is the key to keeping these buildings somewhat activated. But I do emphasize the word "somewhat" because instead of 200 people per floor you're going to have about 20. It's the times we live in and there's no getting around it but it is somewhat sad for the vitality of the CBD. Downtown for the longest time needed to add people primarily after 5pm. We finally started seeing residential interest - which is great - but then everybody's work habits changed.

Long term, a mix of everything is really the healthiest plan. (To the degree that it can be planned)

[Pete]

Also - regarding offices - I’m of the opinion that the pandemic has forever altered demand, regardless of what anyone says. I’m in the CBD daily, and from a daily activity level it is a shell of what it was in 2019. Nearly everyone I know who works downtown splits time between office and WFH, and some of them are closer to 100% WFH, eleven if they still maintain an office downtown.

I have been saying this since the pandemic started.

I believe what you are seeing now are businesses that already had long-term leases and huge capital investment in their current office space. Not to mention decision-makers who don't know anything other than the butts-in-seats approach to management.

But as those leases start to roll over and small and middle-sized companies continue to grow (which is the primary economic engine in this country) and are increasingly led by younger people with little investment in the old way of doing things, I believe you'll see less demand for office space, and maybe even far less.

If you've ever managed a business you know how much money is spent on office space and it's a huge drag on profits. My prediction is you'll see more and more businesses formed without consideration given to physical offices.

[Urbanized]

^^^^^
If all of this is true - and I strongly believe that it is - it will underscore how fortunate we are in OKC that we have invested so much in quality of life in the center of our city over the past ~30 years.

Had we not done so, there would have been no hope for OKC’s downtown moving forward. As it is, we have a place that can pretty easily be transitioned to a hybrid office/lifestyle/hospitality center, and perhaps even take advantage of the fact that many people will be seeking such places when they decide where they’d like to live while they remotely work at places dozens, hundreds, or perhaps even thousands of miles away.

[BoulderSooner]

not to be a contrarian but i think you are going to see a big come back of in person work .. in the not too distant future ..

[Anonymous.]

not to be a contrarian but i think you are going to see a big come back of in person work .. in the not too distant future ..

This is literally your entire post history.

I do agree with the above posters in that converting office space to residential is likely the bet course of action for a lot of our downtown buildings. It actually perplexes me to see new office construction going up with the recent projects announced in Midtown and over by the OKC Memorial.

[Pete]

^

It seems the only way new office construction happens these days is with the majority pre-leased.

There will always be the need for office space, I just firmly believe more and more businesses will be using less.

[shawnw]

Just put this podcast in my queue, haven't listened yet. Relevant to the current discussion.

"How virtual meetings can limit creative ideas"
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01197-x

[catch22]

What goes around comes around. It's a very new idea that hasn't had enough time to really tell one way or the other, I think. 2 years ago the major airlines (which focus on business traffic) were all but doomed. Everyone said it would take decades for premium business demand to return to even a fraction of pre-pandemic levels, at my carrier it is rebounding at a very steady and healthy rate. I think the same thing will happen with office work.

People are going to get tired of being home so much, right now it is still a new concept. The spousal fights will resume, people will want the excuse again of staying late at the office to avoid coming home or to sneak in a beer with a friend on the way home, etc. Not that those are healthy things but the reality for a lot of people. My neighbors across the street now work from home and I have been counting down the days until one of them goes to jail for domestic abuse. A neighbor has already called the cops on them once from hearing their fighting from several doors down. I am sure they are not alone in this society.

I think once the newness fades off, productivity begins to slack, and people long for separation of the work/home life again those fluorescent tubes will start humming in the 2x4 grid above and the same old boring small talk about how crazy the weather has been will start up over the sound of the coffee maker buzzing in the corner.

[Roger S]

^^^

I may be in the minority but I dread the days I have to go to the office. 45-60 each way in traffic is not my idea of productivity and I don't do small talk.

While most of my coworkers are raising their blood pressure in traffic. I'm already logged in and getting stuff done. And I can use that 90-120 minutes I would have sat in the traffic to keep things around the house done... Start a load of laundry, run the dishwasher, even mow the lawn at lunch so I don't have to race the sun to get it done in the evening while I'm trying to do laundry, dishes, cook, and spend some time with my fiance at the same time.

[BoulderSooner]

^^^

I may be in the minority but I dread the days I have to go to the office. 45-60 each way in traffic is not my idea of productivity and I don't do small talk.

While most of my coworkers are raising their blood pressure in traffic. I'm already logged in and getting stuff done. And I can use that 90-120 minutes I would have sat in the traffic to keep things around the house done... Start a load of laundry, run the dishwasher, even mow the lawn at lunch so I don't have to race the sun to get it done in the evening while I'm trying to do laundry, dishes, cook, and spend some time with my fiance at the same time.

because of the nature of my job i have very limited ability to telework .... that said i enjoy the commute ..

[HangryHippo]

^^^

I may be in the minority but I dread the days I have to go to the office. 45-60 each way in traffic is not my idea of productivity and I don't do small talk.

While most of my coworkers are raising their blood pressure in traffic. I'm already logged in and getting stuff done. And I can use that 90-120 minutes I would have sat in the traffic to keep things around the house done... Start a load of laundry, run the dishwasher, even mow the lawn at lunch so I don't have to race the sun to get it done in the evening while I'm trying to do laundry, dishes, cook, and spend some time with my fiance at the same time.

Agreed!

[HOT ROD]

my hope is for this to become a new hotel, a very very fine flag like Conrad, JW or better.

I think hotel is better than housing in that the building is too small for housing amenities and I don't want to keep hearing about the parking requirements. Hotels dont need that, and can lease space in other garages for valet. Also, I think hotels bring more foot traffic to downtown than housing; most residents stay inside actually and don't really mingle on the streets/sidewalks - whereas this is exactly what visitors do.

Finally, having this as a high end flag hotel ties into the Park Avenue high street theme, a block away. ..

Make it happen!

[Urbanized]

^^^^^^
Parking isn't an issue for this building, which adjoins the Main Street Parking Garage. Not sure where the "too small for housing amenities" comment comes from; this building is very similar in scale to The Montgomery and also Park Harvey, where this owner executed housing pretty effectively about 15 years ago.

[shawnw]

(and park harvey has no associated parking, residents are on their own in that regard)

[HOT ROD]

housing amenities - Pool, Clubhouse, you know - urban living in building.