Mideke Building

[Anonymous.]

I will take the top floor NE corner unit please! Main is going to be an awesome street once the HIE is done and the residential down the street is ramping up.

[Pete]

Yes, Main has always had the potential to be more of a street for locals.

Would love to see the old foundry building just west of the Sherman Building turned into a cool bar concept. Perfect spot for a beer garden.

[city]

I'm the same way. I don't get it. The best locations in any city downtown usually have balconies. If I was looking to move from Deep Deuce to Bricktown I'd have considered this building but frankly I'm really interested in that little bit of outdoor access/balcony.

Sad to see the decisions being made that are only going to hurt their ability to compete with the out of state developers come in and show them how to build urban residential.

You must remember that this building is individually listed on the Historic Register and as such all amendments to the outside are totally dictated by the National Park Service.

[jn1780]

I'm really excited about this one. This is exactlly the type of thing Bricktown needs to have happen more often. We have SOOOOO many structures that sit with a restauruant on the ground floor, and nothing up above. It's so much wasted space and such a missed opportunity from the mixed-use density perspective as well. Take the Spaghetti Warehouse right next door. So many floors of bricked over windows....such a waste.

Yes, they really made that building look terrible when they did that. I hope there's a chance that the window openings could actually be unbricked in the future.

[Pete]

Hopefully the Mideke project will provide a blueprint for others in Bricktown to follow.

[Urbanized]

You must remember that this building is individually listed on the Historic Register and as such all amendments to the outside are totally dictated by the National Park Service.

This is not true. Only if they pursue tax credits do the Secretary of the Interior's standards apply. Of course, they might be pursuing them here, in which case it IS true. But the way your post reads doesn't indicate that. People think a National Register listing somehow protects buildings, or dictates what changes may be made to them, and it is a 100% wrong (but common) misconception.

The only things National Register placement does are:

1. Keeps a building's historic construction intact IF TAX CREDITS ARE PURSUED

and

2. Makes teardown extremely difficult to clear the way for projects that involve federal funding (roads, for instance)

If the developer is pursuing tax credits, you're technically correct. But the only thing that applies 100% of the time in Bricktown or elsewhere are the (City's) local design ordinances for a specific area.

[city]

Guess I left that part out. I stand corrected. They are pursuing historical tax credits; only way it can be done financially.

[Urbanized]

Gotcha. Thanks for the clarification. It's a minor detail, but so many people misunderstand both HP and National Register listings. Just the minor difference between voluntary and compulsory gives these things an undeserved negative reputation in some minds. There are plenty of people who would never think of tackling a reuse on an old home or building because they (usually incorrectly) believe there are too many hoops to jump through. Unfortunately such false assumptions mathematically reduce the chances of adaptive reuse and contribute to lots of great old buildings decaying or disappearing.

[Spartan]

I can almost guarantee rent for these won't be $600. Some of those units on the floorplans show 2 bedroom and 2 bath.

With location being selling point over amenities downtown right now, the owners would be cheating themselves by renting for $600.

Location is hardly a selling point over amenities in our tiny downtown... Come on, it's all one location - downtown, and the most specific that gets is sub districts. Design is the overriding selling point that differentiates developments. Most of the larger ones, especially DeepDeuce or The Edge, literally have CREATED the location considering how empty downtown used to be.

This is the ONLY place on the Interwebz where some downtown snobs can bash an awesome project that happens to include a few more affordable units for a few posts and then some suburban snobs pick up where they left off bashing HP. ARGH yoose people are relentless....

[Pete]

In advance of their hearing at tomorrow's Downtown Design Review Board, I'm hearing that Marva Ellard has now dropped off this project.

The other three partners will go forward and are hoping to really get this project going after obtaining the necessary approvals.

Hopefully this will free up Marva for other projects.

[HangryHippo]

I wonder why Marva dropped out...

[Spartan]

I'm sure it was the balcony v. no balcony debate that raged on in private discussions (not)

[Anonymous.]

Still have not seen any work being done or even activity on any of the upper floors. Did something go down?

[Drake]

Still have not seen any work being done or even activity on any of the upper floors. Did something go down?

I had heard the actual physical work would probably wouldn't start until towards the end of the year. Dealing with the red tape that goes along with projects like this is cumbersome.

[Garin]

It has taken close to 4 months to clean out the top three floors which is all complete now. They are keeping the original windows and just repairing broken glass ,stripping and painting the frames. Rehabbing the windows would have been over a third of the projects budget so they had to take a step back. The east side is where all the new doors and glass will go. The rooftop will make up for the lack of balconies IMO.

[Urbanized]

Garin, stripping and painting the original casement windows and replacing broken glass is exactly the right approach. Removal and replacement of them would have been a needless expense and actually diminished the building's value as a historic structure. There are techniques that allow historic casements to be rehabbed to energy standards comparable with modern windows. People need to get over the idea that it is preferable and should be the default position to replace "old" windows in historic rehabilitation.

They are doing exactly the right thing. It should not be characterized as a compromise.

[Garin]

Garin, stripping and painting the original casement windows and replacing broken glass is exactly the right approach. Removal and replacement of them would have been a needless expense and actually diminished the building's value as a historic structure. There are techniques that allow historic casements to be rehabbed to energy standards comparable with modern windows. People need to get over the idea that it is preferable and should be the default position to replace "old" windows in historic rehabilitation.




They are doing exactly the right thing. It should not be characterized as a compromise.

They are not putting insulated glass back in, they are leaving them as single pane.

[Urbanized]

Where did I suggest they are?

It could always be done later. But if they tore out the casements they would be gone forever. Re-working and sealing the frames is the most important part of making them more energy efficient, anyway.

[Garin]

You didn't I was saying they were weren't going to use ig units that's all

[Anonymous.]

I am so confused, so are the corner units going to have balconies still or not?

[Pete]

I am so confused, so are the corner units going to have balconies still or not?

Yes, only the corner units.

[Pete]

Has anyone noticed serious construction yet on this project?

[PhiAlpha]

Just saw this and happened to be driving through Bricktown. No noticeable progress that I could see from the outside. Couldn't tell if anything has gone on inside.

[metro]

Drove by the other day and couldn't notice anything either.

[catch22]

I parked by it a week ago and there were workers inside. If I was not mistaken.