Will retail save Bricktown?

[metro]

Good job Steve! Way to put pressure on Brewer and Hogan!!!! This is your best article yet!

Will retail finally ‘save' Bricktown?

By Steve Lackmeyer
Main Street

Make no mistake; Bricktown seems to spark strong feelings whenever it gets mentioned in this column. Last week's Main Street was no exception, with no fewer than a dozen readers indicating they're tired of property owners sitting on empty buildings and expecting to net a big sale price at a later time.

The discussion over whether property values in Bricktown are inflated included downtown brokers, owners and bankers. Andy Burnett is among those arguing the flip side — that the best times still await the entertainment district.

Burnett's firm, Sperry Van Ness, is representing two of the district's biggest sellers; nine buildings being sold at an undisclosed price by Jim Brewer, and 6.8 acres being sold for $13 million by Bob Meinders.

Burnett isn't arguing that sale prices and rent rates alike in Bricktown are running "very high.” But as he advised one local bank officer, the growth in Bricktown to date occurred without any nearby household rooftops. And that, Burnett correctly notes, is about to change.

"In the next three years Bricktown will see close to 800 new households coming on line with incomes averaging $150,000-plus,” Burnett told the banker. "Those types of demographics are a retailer's dream.”

Burnett also notes Bricktown rents are being driven by restaurants with some office space and "no real retail to speak of.”

"When all of these housing projects start to come on line they are going to demand retail and retailers will follow,” Burnett said. "When retail comes on line in Bricktown, occupancy will increase with rents, and the prices of today will start to make a lot more sense.”

Ah, retail — the legendary yet elusive Holy Grail for Bricktown. Five years ago residents were promised that if the city built an $18 million store for Bass Pro Shops, a flood of retail would follow.

To date the store is surrounded by offices, three restaurants, an ice cream store, a clothing shop and a 16-screen theater. In the near future the Lower Bricktown area will also be home to a bowling lounge, a dueling piano bar and a Starbucks.

In the original core of Bricktown, retail consists of small shops — the Painted Door, the Bricktown Visitor Center and the recently opened Oklahoma's Red Dirt Emporium.

Bricktown closings the past couple years include The Laughing Fish, Oklahoma Native Art & Jewelry, Bricktown Gift and Imports, Boone's General Store and Omni Flags.

Two of these stores, Oklahoma Native Art & Jewelry and Boone's General Store, reopened outside of Bricktown in other urban districts — the Stockyards and Automobile Alley.

And that brings us to the other response to last week's column — the suggestion by some in Bricktown that mentioning its woes while discussing progress in MidTown is somehow pitting the two areas as competitors.

To some extent, they are. Bricktown has for years enjoyed an almost exclusive status as an urban entertainment district for not just Oklahoma City but the entire state. But other areas are maturing quickly. Residents and out-of-state visitors craving something other than a trip to a suburban chain restaurant can choose to head downtown for a night of urban excitement without ever setting foot in Bricktown.

So they can choose MidTown over Bricktown. They can also choose Automobile Alley or the Arts District or the Paseo or the Stockyards or, soon, the Plaza District or Film Row.

So yes, the Bricktown property owners can continue to demand rent rates of $25 a square foot. They can refuse to fix broken windows or lure tenants into empty spaces believing a big multimillion-dollar sale is theirs if they wait just a few years.

Yes, the rooftops are coming. But will that be the spark that will finally inspire Bricktown to come of age?

[jbrown84]

Good article, Steve!

[BDP]

Andy Burnett is among those arguing the flip side — that the best times still await the entertainment district.

Maybe, but we may also never see those times come to fruition as the district is hindered by the speculative pricing and dead beat owners. We first heard about retail... didn't happen on any scale remotely resembling what was promised. Now we're hearing about rooftops... well, very few that were supposed to come online this year have been completed, let alone have any residents. Now we're hearing that retail is dependent upon these possible residents and that current pricing reflects these potential future residents.

This is fine, but these people need to realize that markets do not always develop at the developer's pace. Bricktown has taken a very long time to get to where it is, and it has largely stalled in the last two years or so. I am actually amazed at how long the window of opportunity has stayed open for the area, but I am even more amazed at how that opportunity has been largely ignored and/or discouraged by developers. The reality is that Bricktown is the fantasy of speculators right now and speculators are usually waiting for the peak to get out. Meanwhile, they have neglected a great portion of the area or built sub par developments. If their goals are met, they will sell at the highest point, which will mean that the next owners will most likely not have access to the capital to continue the development of the area or create the very vision upon which they were sold. It's future success will be dependent on the next buyers 1) having a passion for the area that may help guide difficult financial decision and 2) their money is patient enough that they can continue to develop the area despite any possible market downturns. That's a long shot, imo. If they can't secure such buyers, then we may have to see bricktown really bottom out before it can come back and one day be what these people are selling it as right now.

[dismayed]

Great article. I've been to the non-Bricktown areas downtown recently and have to say they seem to have a lot of potential. Bricktown property owners should take heed... their speculation may last too long and their market may go bust.

[Moondog]

My opinion: I think Bricktown is going to go downhill in a few years, if not sooner, especially once development catches on in other up and coming areas like Midtown and 23rd St. The same thing happened to Dallas' West End District, which is really what Bricktown was modeled after. Last time I visited the West End, which was in 04, it seemed to be a ghost town compared to what it was in the early 90s when I visited last. (Development caught up in other inner Dallas areas like the West Village and took the energy away from West End.)

The rule is: retail follows rooftops. And in Bricktown, there are very few of those. Even with all the residential spaces going in downtown and Deep Deuce, there still wont be enough to warrant those retailers everyone wants: i.e. bookstores, organic groceries, etc. At least with Midtown and 23rd, there are rooftops nearby.

[Midtowner]

Those retailers won't be following the rooftops if the rent prices continue to be what they are.

[betts]

The way I see it, Bricktown will have to be the restaurant/entertainment section for visitors, whether they be conventioneers or sports fans here for events. The Ford Center and most downtown hotels are close to Bricktown, and Midtown, although it shows promise, has the kinds of restaurants and services that are more attractive to locals. I think that's fine, and probably good. But, if Bricktown fails, unlike Dallas, we don't have another area for visitors to supersede it. Our downtown will simply look sad and lifeless again.

We're never going to have the downtown population for great retail, but neither do most cities. What you have to do is have retail that is attractive not only for visitors, but also that is unique enough to get people from other parts of Oklahoma City and environs to come downtown. Although I believe that Bricktown will eventually thrive, and we'll come to a mix of good restaurants and clubs that will be frequented both by visitors and those who live downtown, retail doesn't have to wait for population if it's different from what we already have. Anybody here not willing to drive downtown to go to a Nordstrom, Anthropology, Restoration Hardware or unique boutiques?

Although it's fashionable to knock Bricktown, we need it if we hope to not only remain attractive to the kinds of people who visit now, but also if we want to increase convention and visitor traffic. The people who live downtown do need a pharmacy, small grocery store, hair salons and drycleaners, but they don't need a Whole Foods. Those other services will follow population as it increases, but they cannot support themselves waiting for sufficient population.

[BDP]

We're never going to have the downtown population for great retail, but neither do most cities.

I wouldn't say most cities. I seem to have been to plenty with great shopping in the core.

But, it seems we don't have the population for great retail, period. Well, we do, but the low density doesn't fit the most high end retail models. Downtown could be a solution to that, as it would result in a central location and would reach all of the metro with one location. I don't know if Oklahoma City has the cultural disposition for that, though, as it would probably have to rely heavily on a park and walk model. Now, that could be a hurdle we aren't willing to overcome.

[Misty]

My opinion: I think Bricktown is going to go downhill in a few years, if not sooner, especially once development catches on in other up and coming areas like Midtown and 23rd St. The same thing happened to Dallas' West End District, which is really what Bricktown was modeled after. Last time I visited the West End, which was in 04, it seemed to be a ghost town compared to what it was in the early 90s when I visited last. (Development caught up in other inner Dallas areas like the West Village and took the energy away from West End.)

The rule is: retail follows rooftops. And in Bricktown, there are very few of those. Even with all the residential spaces going in downtown and Deep Deuce, there still wont be enough to warrant those retailers everyone wants: i.e. bookstores, organic groceries, etc. At least with Midtown and 23rd, there are rooftops nearby.

Moondogie??? It's Gidget, where have you been?

Hey where's Pugalicious been?

[betts]

I wouldn't say most cities. I seem to have been to plenty with great shopping in the core.

But, it seems we don't have the population for great retail, period. Well, we do, but the low density doesn't fit the most high end retail models. Downtown could be a solution to that, as it would result in a central location and would reach all of the metro with one location. I don't know if Oklahoma City has the cultural disposition for that, though, as it would probably have to rely heavily on a park and walk model. Now, that could be a hurdle we aren't willing to overcome.

You misunderstood me. I didn't mean cities don't have shopping in the core, or that we cannot because we may never have the population density to support downtown retail. All we need is enticing enough retail that people will drive downtown from places like Norman, Edmond, Midwest City and Guthrie. If we have that, we don't even have to have a huge downtown population.

There's a perception problem with regards to Oklahoma City. Why does Tulsa have a Saks and a Restoration Hardware when we don't? I think it might be because people look at our per capita income and assume we don't have the financial means to support some of the higher end retail. What they fail to understand is that our cost of living is so low that we may actually have more disposable income than a lot of the cities with apparent higher average income. I don't know how you get that across to retailers, but if I were talking to them, I'd have plenty of data to show it's a misconception.

I did have an interesting conversation with a person who used to be part of the Anthropologie home office. She told me that catalog sales are what that company uses to determine where they should locate their next stores. We may not be doing enough online shopping to warrant closer looks by some of the stores. I also heard that Nordstrom wants $40 million in economic development money to even look at Oklahoma City. That could be a problem.

Part of what we need downtown retail to accomplish is to provide shopping for people who are in Oklahoma City for business, conventions and sporting events. Perhaps we don't need an anchor tenant like Nordstrom to achieve that aim. The upper end Dillards stores, such as the one in Scottsdale, have merchandise that rivals Neiman Marcus. Perhaps we simply need a store like that, which is already established in our city and knows the market, to serve as an anchor tenant for downtown retail.

[solitude]

I also heard that Nordstrom wants $40 million in economic development money to even look at Oklahoma City.

When HELL freezes over.

[TStheThird]

We have a Nordstrom in downtown Norfolk. Norfolk is not that impressive. I would venture to say that OKC already has the edge and in five years... no contest.

[dalelakin]

Outside of the ball park I would venture to say the 3 most visited things in BT are Bass Pro, Harkins and Toby Keiths. Is that more of what is needed to save BT?

[venture]

Bricktown needs to have more variety of things to do. We went down there last night...watched a movie and left. As soon as the new one opens in Moore we'll go there. Bass Pro has no attraction to me...Cabela's is a much better outdoor store, much larger, and the animal displays are very interesting to look at. Toby Keith's...overpriced and overrated. We need some retail, a large gaming venue (GameWorks or D&B's), and I would also say one of the indoor waterpark hotels that are now all over the midwest.

[jbrown84]

Outside of the ball park I would venture to say the 3 most visited things in BT are Bass Pro, Harkins and Toby Keiths.

Based on what? Observation? Have you stood at every door and counted? Of course the theatre is huge, but I'd bet you anything that as many people go through the door of Chelino's as Toby Keith's.

[dalelakin]

but I'd bet you anything that as many people go through the door of Chelino's as Toby Keith's.

Based on what? Observation? Have you stood at each door and counted?


I make a post based simply on opinion and you come back with a need for specific statistics but yet you do the same and provide no basis for your opinion?



Not looking for a fight just pointing out the ambiguity to your post.