American Fidelity

[Pete]

[category=]Office Buildings[/category]
[category=]North[/category]



[toc]no[/toc]

Address: 9000 Broadway Extension Status: Owner: Oklahoma Publishing Company Finish Date: 1991 Height in Feet / Floors: 12 (Tower); 5 (parking); 3 (plant) Sq. Feet: 282,971 (Tower); 269,706 (parking); 279,440 (plant); 10,164 (day care); 842,281 total Acreage: 20.66 (Tower & parking); 15.74 (plant); 21.5 (day care); 49 vacant; 41 vacant II; 138 total Other:

Information & Latest News

9/15/11: Billionaire Philip Anschutz buys OPUCO

5/1/12: There are strong rumors the OPUBCO building has been sold to new local owners who intend to occupy it for their purposes, at least eventually. OPUBCO is no longer using a good deal of that space but even if this sale happens, they will likely stay a while. It seems the availability of this building caught the interest of both MidFirst and American Fidelity and one of them may be buying it. Since both have been rumored to be interested in a new downtown HQ, this latest development may have had an impact.
Links

County Assessor Tower & Parking
County Assessor Plant
County Assessor Day Care
County Assessor Vacant Land
County Assessor Vacant Land II
Gallery

[lasomeday]

I don't see American Fidelity moving there, but Midfirst could be likely to move there. Hopefully it is a different company. It would be awesome if Chaparral moved in there. They are growing pretty fast and are right next door.

[catcherinthewry]

There are rumors the OPUBCO building has been sold to new local owners who intend to occupy it for their purposes, at least eventually. OPUBCO is no longer using a good deal of that space but even if this sale happens, they will likely stay a while.

I believe the availability of this building caught the interest of both MidFirst and American Fidelity and one of them may be buying it.

Since both have been rumored to be interested in a new downtown HQ, this latest development may have had an impact.

I am hearing AF outbid MF. Just the fact that MF was interested tells me that Chesapeake must've made them a great offer on their buildings. I wonder if CHK's recent troubles have affected that offer.

[Pete]

I am hearing AF outbid MF. Just the fact that MF was interested tells me that Chesapeake must've made them a great offer on their buildings. I wonder if CHK's recent troubles have affected that offer.

If true, it's very ironic because about 10 years ago civic leaders made a big effort to keep American Fidelity closer in after they bought property out on Broadway Extension and started to make noise about moving.

The still own 55.6 undeveloped acres on the SE corner of Wilshire & Santa Fe.

[Spartan]

How does the Broadway Extension become a more attractive relocation prospect than downtown? Whatever company is doing this, there must be a pretty Edmond-centric culture, rather than a downtown-centric one.

Any guesses where Anschutz will be moving the company formerly known as OPUBCO? That will be a huge shame if we can no longer call them the Dark Tower..

[Vito]

Apparently American Fidelity has bought the OPUBCO building and will announce it soon. The move will begin almost immediately, I was told, at least for some employees. I'm not sure what the plan is for OPUBCO. I think it will stay there for a while -- maybe five years -- and then move. Not sure about those details.

[Teo9969]

Apparently American Fidelity has bought the OPUBCO building and will announce it soon. The move will begin almost immediately, I was told, at least for some employees. I'm not sure what the plan is for OPUBCO. I think it will stay there for a while -- maybe five years -- and then move. Not sure about those details.

Yuck

[bluedogok]

The Benham Group was the A/E firm on this project, it was designed built during my first stint at TBG (88-91). We did a tour while it was still under construction, I think it was completed in 1990.

[Pete]

The information about American Fidelity buying the OPUBCO Tower & Parking (perhaps more as well) is starting to firm up.

Not sure what is going to happen to the American Fidelity Campus or the land AF already owns at Santa Fe & Wilshire (shaded green in second image below).

Here are some aerials that provide a bigger picture; click the ARTICLE tab at the top of this page for more information and photos:

[Pete]

We had heard some time ago that both American Fidelity and MidFirst were looking to move downtown.

I wouldn't be surprised if they first started talking to the City then OPUBCO about the land they own shown below (labeled #1); the triangular property that had been slated for a new Chamber of Commerce HQ. Once engaged with OPUBCO, they probably floated the idea of selling their existing HQ on Broadway Extension, as we heard both companies toured the facilities there and made offers.

In yellow is everything OPUBCO owns downtown, about four acres total. The empty area around tract #1 is owned by the City of OKC:

Tract #	Acres
1	1.8343
2	.3214
3	.16
4	.16
5	.16
6	.4017
7	.9115
Total:	3.9489

[Spartan]

Pete - your proactively moving all of this to a new thread indicates how strongly you believe these reports. Are you thinking an announcement on Monday?

[Pete]

I already tweeted this news, as I'm pretty confident in it.

I first heard this was a possibility about a month ago, with MF touring the OPUBCO Tower. It didn't make sense at the time, so I didn't think much of it.

But then I heard that AF bought the tower or is in the process of doing so from three separate, reputable sources.

It could fall through, but I'm quite certain there is a deal in the works and it may have already closed. The IT people at AF have been notified and some of their employees may move in next month.

Remember, OPUBCO is only using about half that building right now.


Don't know when they'll make an announcement but the fact we are talking about this openly may cause them to say something sooner rather than later.

[Pete]

BTW, here's an interesting fact: American Fidelity currently has more square footage at its campus on Classen than there is in the entire OPUBCO Tower.

The numbers are close, but AF's current buildings have slightly over 300,000 sf and OPUBCO is slightly under that number.


Of course, at that Broadway Extension property there is plenty of room to grow just on the land that is associated with the Tower, let alone all the vacant land to the south.

[wschnitt]

An announcement as to where OPUBCO will move or to AF moving there?

[Pete]

I don't think OPUBCO is going anywhere any time soon.

They just built a pretty elaborate studio in that building a couple of years ago when they severed ties with Channel 9 and started producing their own video segments.

I would expect them to stay a few years then find another home. I'm sure they'll keep the printing facility, but their general offices don't need to be adjacent.


But why they are looking to sell this building is a bit mystifying. We know Philip Anschutz bought them last fall and he's a multi-billionaire with tons of real estate holdings.

It may be that AF is willing to buy all the adjoining property too, and OPUBCO certainly has no need for 135 acres.

[Spartan]

The biggest question that remains, and I have a lot of questions about this deal, but for now - is just how much of a hit this represents to downtown's new headquarters outlook.

[Pete]

We know American Fidelity was looking downtown, so this is a bit of a bummer IMO.

If this plays out, it represents a double bummer really because this will be a real blow to 23rd & Classen without helping downtown.

[Spartan]

American Fidelity will still own that property. Thing is, if anything softens the blow of this, American Fidelity was a LOT more speculative than MidFirst who I felt a lot more confident would move downtown.

[bluedogok]

I think there are areas within the printing plant that could be converted to office use, it was a satellite facility with the main offices downtown until the OPUBCO tower was built. With modernization of printing equipment in the past 25 or so years they may be using less area to print than they did in the past, maybe enough space with the reduced staffing they have now.

[wschnitt]

We had heard some time ago that both American Fidelity and MidFirst were looking to move downtown.

I wouldn't be surprised if they first started talking to the City then OPUBCO about the land they own shown below (labeled #1); the triangular property that had been slated for a new Chamber of Commerce HQ. Once engaged with OPUBCO, they probably floated the idea of selling their existing HQ on Broadway Extension, as we heard both companies toured the facilities there and made offers.

In yellow is everything OPUBCO owns downtown, about four acres total. The empty area around tract #1 is owned by the City of OKC:

Tract #	Acres
1	1.8343
2	.3214
3	.16
4	.16
5	.16
6	.4017
7	.9115
Total:	3.9489

There is a construction fence around plot 2 I believe.

[ljbab728]

AF moving that far out will go down as one of the biggest blunders in OKC corporate relocation history. This is what happens when decisions are made by executives who don't pump their own gas or make a car payment. How are their employees going to get to work when gas goes north of $5/gal?

Kerry, I assume that depends on where their employees live. If they have a lot of employees in North OKC or Edmond it won't impact much in that regard.

[BoulderSooner]

AF moving that far out will go down as one of the biggest blunders in OKC corporate relocation history. This is what happens when decisions are made by executives who don't pump their own gas or make a car payment. How are their employees going to get to work when gas goes north of $5/gal?

i wanted them to build/move downtown as much as anyone ... but they are not moving "that far out" ...

[Just the facts]

i wanted them to build/move downtown as much as anyone ... but they are not moving "that far out" ...

Compared to their current location they are. Using downtown as the center of the metro area they go from 1.6 miles away to 7 miles away. In the coming transportation crisis the closer major employers are together the better because employees can change jobs without having to relocate or increase their driving distance. Sprawl, whether it be bedrooms or boardrooms, is bad for everyone.

[kevinpate]

Compared to their current location they are. Using downtown as the center of the metro area they go from 1.6 miles away to 7 miles away. In the coming transportation crisis the closer major employers are together the better because employees can change jobs without having to relocate or increase their driving distance. Sprawl, whether it be bedrooms or boardrooms, is bad for everyone.

Or, depending on where their workforce primarily resides, they are moving several miles closer to the majority of workers, a most kind gesture should transportation expenses rise dramatically. Indeed, it might tip the scale to some staying with them rather than seeking out other north side empoyers.

There is that possibility of acting in a way that benefits their actual workforce and not a hypothetical one. I've no idea if that's accurate or not, but then, I suspect that may be true of both of us.

[BoulderSooner]

Compared to their current location they are. Using downtown as the center of the metro area they go from 1.6 miles away to 7 miles away. In the coming transportation crisis the closer major employers are together the better because employees can change jobs without having to relocate or increase their driving distance. Sprawl, whether it be bedrooms or boardrooms, is bad for everyone.

i would bet that moving to OUpubco moves AF closer to their employees ....