Developers propose hotel in Oklahoma City's Bricktown area

Developers propose hotel in Oklahoma City's Bricktown area
By Pamela Grady - 6/18/2008

The Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority today approved a resolution for a proposed redevelopment agreement with Dihren and Amit Patel doing business as Shri Krishnapriya Hospitality LLC for a hotel development on the northeast corner of Reno Ave. and Lincoln Blvd.

The property site consists of a 104,000-square-foot parcel owned by Shri Krishnapriya Hospitality LLC along with co-developers James Durocher and David Box and a 16,000-square-foot parcel owned by Urban Renewal to be used for parking. The proposed development will include a six-story,100-125-room, extended-stay Candlewood Suites at the site across from Bass Pro.

Joe Van Bullard, executive director of Urban Renewal, said future plans could include a separate parcel near the proposed project owned by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.

“We will go to ODOT and see if we can acquire the property and put it together with this property which will allow for better landscaping and parking arrangements on this site,” Van Bullard said.

Bullard said because the site is located north of Reno, the project will fall under the Bricktown Urban Design Committee’s supervision as well.

Architect Fred Quinn with Quinn & Associates Architecture has been retained for the project.

“He (Quinn) is very familiar with the Bricktown Urban Design guidelines and how they hold,” Van Bullard said.

“We are planning on meeting and exceeding all of those standards,” Durocher said, who has been planning the project for nearly two years.

Durocher added the hotel project would ideally anchor the Bass Pro area of Bricktown. He also said the hotel would be a gateway project as the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum becomes more of a reality.

“In talking with people, some people have questioned how many more hotels can go into the Bricktown area. Right now, everybody that I’ve talked to has said, ‘Bring on more’,” Van Bullard said.

Hard to get excited about this.....

You can't get excited about this? Why? This is great news. At 100 to 125 rooms it will be about 5 to 7 stories and extend downtown/Bricktown even more. Just think of all the low-rise building that were removed as part of urban renewal. We are starting to get those back.

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Oklahoma City - The surprise your family has been looking for.

exactly, plus with this downtown now has its first - true extended stay hotel.

Residence Inns are supposedly extended stay but usually those are the suburban locations, downtown ones are HARDLY the same: see the upscale one we have now. ...

This new hotel will bring in another price range for people, which is needed. Downtown can't be all upscale and full-service, you need boutique and you also need extended stay!

So, let me take a stab on the room count downtown:

Candlewood Suites = 125 rooms (extended stay, 3 star?) *
Colcord Hotel = 150 rooms (all upscale/boutique, 4.5 star)
Courtyard Hotel = 250 rooms (all upscale and urban/hip, 4 star)
Hampton Inn and Suites = 250 rooms (upscale, urban 3 star) *
Hilton Skirvin Hotel = 225 rooms (all full-upscale 5 star)
Holiday Inn Express = 150 rooms (budget hotel, 3 star) *
Renaissance Hotel = 311 rooms (all upscale, convention 4.5 star)
Residence Inn = 150 rooms (upscale, business "extended stay" 3 star)
Sheraton Hotel = 395 rooms (upscale, business, and convention, 3.5 star)

= 2006 rooms Downtown.

* indicates hotels either u/c or approved

Need I say, we still need more hotels; like some heavy hitters (>500 rooms). Honestly, I think we low-balled the Renaissance hotel; it should ahve been at least 20 storeys which would have given us at least 415 rooms (which sounds more like a 'convention hotel'). I think Courtyard hotel is low-balled also; it should have been 12 storeys at least instead of 8 (which would give 375 rooms). That's 230 additional rooms and alone would put us over 2250 rooms.

I think we need to shoot for 3000 rooms total complete, u/c, and approved by 2010, and 5000 rooms by 2015.

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Oklahoma City, RENAISSANCE CITY!

Where are you getting these star ratings?

The Skirvin isn't and can't be 5 star. There are so many detailed requirements of 5 stars that it's not possible. In fact, the Skirvin has not even been Mobil star rated. If it was, it would probably get 3 stars (same as the Renaissance, Sheraton, Waterford, and Crowne Plaza...all of which do have Mobil ratings)

The Skirvin could possibly get 4 stars if they were seriously seriously on top of the inspector.

The Skirvin does (along with the others I mentioned) have a AAA 4-Diamond rating. Of course AAA Diamonds are much easier to get than Mobil Stars. Mobil is definitely the "gold standard" in hotel ratings.

I think OKC needs to focus on landing a couple 400-500+ room hotels instead of these 100-200 room ones

I'm pretty sure there was an article a few months back saying that the Skirvin was #1 on the Hilton Hotels list. With that said, it should be a ***** hotel..

I recall that same article... but I don't recall the publication, criteria, etc.

According to Mobil, the top rated Hilton is The Beverly Hilton and it is 4 Stars. You have to remember... Hilton really isn't the "fancy pants" brand anymore. For that try some Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, or St. Regis.

There is no way...that the Sheraton would even be on par with the Skirvin. The Renaissance isn't even on par with the Skirvin, it would surely get better ratings...by far.

"On par" is all a matter of opinion in the way that I think you mean. Mobil and AAA both have minimum requirements for their Star/Diamond ratings. That said, based only on the accommodation types and services advertised a property will have the potential for a particular rating.... then the inspector shows up and based on the level of service he receives makes or breaks the rating.

The Skirvin does not offer any services that the Shearton and Renaissance do not... at least not insomuch as it would put them above and beyond.

The Skirvin website says they have shoe shine service... negative. None of the downtown hotels do. If the inspector wanted his shoes shined....BAM.... they are farther from that star.

I agree that the Skirvin is more attractive, grand, and appealing... but it doesn't mean that the Sheraton can't score higher "by far" on rating systems with specific requirements.

5 Star (specifying Mobil) require crazy things like original artwork in each room.... 4 requires it too... but they can be prints. If the property can't meet that requirement, they have to make up for it in another area. It's a "we require all items from column C, at least 8 from column B, and 3 from column A" sort of thing.

Here's a 7 story Candlewood Suites in NYC:





I'm sure it will look like the Residence Inn across the street.

And here's what the rest of them look like...can anybody say EIFS?

East Lansing:


Detroit:


Hampton, VA:


Colorado Springs:

I think mainly because these things are a dime a dozen and rarely, if ever, are they any different or bring anything new to the area. The rooms are welcome, but these things are turning an area that many expected to be a unique and interesting enertainment district into another Meridian Ave or Memorial Rd.

So, I think it's pretty understandable that many will find it hard to get excited about something that the city already has many of and the huge compromise it represents compared to what many had envisioned for the bricktown district and its immediate surroundings. Add to it that the area has had a lot of public investment to try and bring new things to the city, and these kind of developments fall short of that goal. It's just a matter of opportunity cost because 1) once it's developed it will be decades before it can be redeveloped and 2) addings rooms with these mediocre only reduces the chances that another major hotel dedvelopment will come online.

But, in the end, I think it's just more of a statement on the area. It's not like it really planned for anything different and is still in pretty much "we'll take what we can get" mode....

It's tough because we do need the rooms, and if we say no to this, how long do we have to wait before something better is proposed? Funk had a good proposal and it got nixed. At least this is way on the edge of Bricktown.

That's the best argument for this type of development. That's why I can't get excited about it. It will be nice to have more rooms, and it's good to have rooms everyone can afford, but this will not have any improving effect on the Bricktown area, except that it will hide some of the really bad looking buildings just north of it.

Regardless of a 4 or 5 star discrepancy over the Skirvin... I think we can all agree it is a beautiful hotel and a great asset to OKC. I don't think anyone staying there will have complaints about it. It is good the "lower-end" nice hotels are on the edges of Bricktown... but... it would be nicer to see better hotels moving in. Guess we have to start somewhere... Right!

Here are two downtown photos I have found for Candlewood Suites, one in downtown Montreal and one is proposed for downtown Terre Haute, IN.

Montreal


Terre Haute


I think something similar to the second photo would be alright, minus the the colors of the children's museum.

They already said they were going to meet or exceed Bricktown standards, so I'm alright with it. It won't have any EIFS if the Bricktown design committee has any say-- witness the Hampton and Holiday Inn.

Secondly, I used to work in a downtown hotel, and trust me, there is no way any current OKC hotel could be a 5-star. There are physical requirements for such that no amount of amenities or service could overcome. 4 star or 4 diamond is nothing to get upset over, though. Most cities our size and larger do not have a 5 star hotel. Not even all Ritz Carltons, Four Seasons, etc. are 5 star hotels-- many are 4 star.

According to the hotel websites:

Renaissance is a 4 diamond
Skirvin Hilton is a 4 diamond
Courtyard Marriott is a 3 diamond

I could not find a rating for the Sheraton, so I assume it is a 3 diamond. The Colcord may not yet be rated. I did not find star ratings in my quick search.

Also, according to article about the Skirvin Hilton, it was the #13 Hilton in the world in customer satisfaction.

Those do provide some hope, especially the second one. I wouldn't even mind something like that children's museum on the first floor. At least it would be another attraction and a better use of street level real estate. However, that looks like it might be a conversion. I doubt we can anything like that with new construction. But again, maybe there is some hope for it. Please, just make it nicer than the Residence Inn and at least it will be a step in the right direction and maybe an indication to futrue developers that we're done with that.

Also, we could use some large banners on the buildings like those in the Indiana pic. I like the street light banners fine, but I think banners like that would make the area look even more active.

I saw in the Oklahoman this is actually on the NE corner of Lincoln and Reno. That is so far out there. Hardly seems like Bricktown.

at least the rooms will have nice views of I-235 or the ball park lights.

Maybe it will seem a tad more connected once whatever replaces the vacated collision service goes in, or up, on that property

I drove by the