Project 180

[khook]

There's some drawings i think on the Okccity site.... look for the Devon Implementation Committee Public Improvement timeline & Status of Current Projects Devon Implementation Committee - August 25,2009

I downloaded this document sometime this last month from a thread somewhere.

And there are actually two documents I found from different sites but I don't know from which sites, they both have the same date.... One is from the City of Oklahoma city with the coverhead is from the City for the start of the document and the other was a presentation for the committee from the office of James Burnett Landscape Architect.

Good luck in finding them.

Pretty detailed with all the proposed streetscape changes throughout all of downtown and the changes for the gardens.

[khook]

Also of interest to you may be the Master Plan for the Oklahoma Health Center "Vision for Growth" prepared 2007 by Miles Associates and HOK Planning.

Take a look at all these presentations.... nice to see how the OHC vision really ties into the downtown/bricktown river plan.....

If it or most of what is proposed happens the downtown corridor will be in for some incredible changes.

Again this was mentioned on some thread during the past month.

[shane453]

There's some drawings i think on the Okccity site.... look for the Devon Implementation Committee Public Improvement timeline & Status of Current Projects Devon Implementation Committee - August 25,2009

I downloaded this document sometime this last month from a thread somewhere.

And there are actually two documents I found from different sites but I don't know from which sites, they both have the same date.... One is from the City of Oklahoma city with the coverhead is from the City for the start of the document and the other was a presentation for the committee from the office of James Burnett Landscape Architect.

Good luck in finding them.

Pretty detailed with all the proposed streetscape changes throughout all of downtown and the changes for the gardens.

Yeah, this is what I saw also... so the information is publicly released and I don't think it's because of a "leak."

[EBAH]

Aren't there images of the plans on the okc thread on Skyscrapercity forums? (I hope it's ok to mention that site on here)

[Pete]

Once again, Steve comes through:



Robinson to be 1st Devon project
Avenue will be shredded in coming months to make way for tower, streetscaping
BY STEVE LACKMEYER
Published: October 15, 2009

If you work downtown, pay attention: Robinson Avenue will be the first street to be closed and torn up, likely within the next six months, as Oklahoma City embarks on a $95 million makeover — a project being coordinated with construction of a new Devon Energy Corp. headquarters.

"As we look towards the future, being located downtown, I’m excited by the approximate 1.5 billion in construction that is occurring in the central city, that is all local investment."

With Devon Energy chief executive officer Larry Nichols in attendance, designs unveiled Tuesday show granite pavers being used on sidewalks, bike lanes being marked with green paint at each intersection, and all one-way streets — except Colcord and Couch — being converted to two-way traffic.

Assistant City Engineer Laura Story said the segment of Robinson between Sheridan Avenue and Main is starting early at the request of Hines, which is developing the 50-story Devon tower. More than half of the $95 million in street improvements will be let out for construction contracts in May.

About the design
Some of the improvements are being designed to not be noticed by the public — most notably light and utility poles.

"We’re designing them to evaporate,” Story said. "They will be uniform all the way down to the river.”

Story said conceptual designs call for boldly marked pedestrian crosswalks and sharpened intersection corners that will still be curved just enough for buses and trucks to make safe turns.

Plans also call for the addition of sturdy wood benches that resist scraping, enclosures for newspaper racks, trash cans and bike racks.

"We want to put the money underneath the pedestrian’s foot, and concrete we can color and put that under the cars,” Story said.

Story said the city selected eight of 16 design consultants interviewed to assemble final drawings based on the concepts developed by the Houston-based designer James Burnett.

Another three designers will be hired, with one overseeing utilities, one overseeing traffic and one in charge of landscaping work being compiled by the other consultants.

For Steve Mason, owner of Cardinal Engineering, the Devon-related projects have been a much needed boost after he saw a drop in sales and revenues when the national economy crashed.

His company was hired to do surveying for The Office of James Burnett, which is overseeing conceptual designs, is one of eight consultants chosen by the city and now is negotiating contracts to complete designs.

"As we look towards the future, being located downtown, I’m excited by the approximate 1.5 billion in construction that is occurring in the central city, that is all local investment,” Mason said.

"I doubt there is any other city in the United States with a larger local investment occurring in the core of their city,” Mason said.

When will it be done?
After the meeting, Nichols acknowledged the pace of the improvements may seem rapid, but he believes it can be accomplished because they are all being funded at once.

The agreement between the city and Devon calls for improvements throughout the central business district to be completed by when the tower is open in 2013.

When Devon announced plans for its $750 million tower last year, it requested the existing tax increment finance district for the property be replaced with one with a longer term that would then funnel funds to downtown-area improvements.

Typically, such districts are used to assist developers with improvements directly related to their projects.

Assistant City Manager Cathy O’Connor, tasked with overseeing financing of the work, said she’s not worried by the need to start work so soon on Robinson Avenue.

"To me, getting ahead of schedule is not a problem,” O’Connor said. "Getting behind schedule is a problem because we have completion dates in the implementation agreement.”

[metro]

Thanks for the article Pete. I wish we'd get some modern street signage at major downtown intersections, similar to Houston's Galleria area on Westheimer Rd. These signs are super impressive at night when they glow and you can't see the wires, it appears the sign is just floating.

[Architect2010]

When and where can we see the designs that were unveiled Tuesday? Oh, and I read a PDF not too long ago that had shown improvements to the streets and a section on the Myriad Gardens also. Does anyone know what & where I'm talking about? I'd like to read it over again.

[gmwise]

lol
my luck is it snaps just as i passed under it..

[Pete]

I found the PDF of the final streescape plans on the City of OKC planning site:

http://www.okc.gov/planning/resource...Plan_FINAL.pdf

It's a huge document but these are most the renderings... They have a separate, yet cohesive, design scheme for all the various downtown disticts (i.e. CBD, Bricktown, Auto Alley, Arts District, etc.):

[David Pollard]

One small tip. If bike lanes are actually created in downtown OKC, please let them be separated from the street by a curb or some physical barrier as they often are here in Amsterdam. It make it so much nicer (and safer) to ride a bike. Also better for the automobile drivers as they don't have to worry about hitting bikes. In the rendering above it is hard to tell if the lane is separate or part of the road.

[gmwise]

good idea David

[bombermwc]

Looks nice and all....but why a flower?

[metro]

One small tip. If bike lanes are actually created in downtown OKC, please let them be separated from the street by a curb or some physical barrier as they often are here in Amsterdam. It make it so much nicer (and safer) to ride a bike. Also better for the automobile drivers as they don't have to worry about hitting bikes. In the rendering above it is hard to tell if the lane is separate or part of the road.

Unfortunately in the United States that is usually not the case, and the renderings I've seen show just a dedicated lane, painted with green paint and bike lane signage. I seriously doubt we'll see seperate curbs for bike lanes, hey bike lanes is a HUGE step forward for this City, or any city for that matter.

[gmwise]

Looks nice and all....but why a flower?

Shrugs shoulders...
Because of OKC is a blooming city?




just grasping there.

[Pete]

Once you start looking at all this you realize the scope is MASSIVE!

Virtually every street downtown (not just the CBD!) will be completely transformed.

God Bless Devon (and Larry Nichols) for not only settign up the TIF to make this happen, but fronting $95 million so it can get started *now*. That way when the tower is done, all this will be too -- in addition to the changes at the Myriad Gardens and the Ford Center... With the new I-40 not too far behind.

That's a tremendous amount of change and activity in this "bad" economy. Three years down the road things are likely to be much better and if MAPS III passes, there is likely to be incredible momentum in the central city.

Very exciting stuff!

[Steve]

Pete, those drawings were done by an earlier consultant as part of a master plan and from what I understand, they're not coming into play with the current project. You are correct in summizing that what's at hand here is massive and a potential game changer for downtown. Not sure people believed me on that when I first popped this story....

[Pete]

Those renderings I posted from the OKC Planning site do look quite a bit different than the one shown in Steve's article.

Would still like to see more details since this is ready to get started and is very comprehensive.

[Steve]

More detailed renderings should be out this next month. I'll get them out as soon as I can.

[DelCamino]

Pete, those drawings were done by an earlier consultant as part of a master plan and from what I understand, they're not coming into play with the current project. You are correct in summizing that what's at hand here is massive and a potential game changer for downtown. Not sure people believed me on that when I first popped this story....

Steve is correct - these renderings are a part of the Downtown Streetscape study the City commissioned a couple of years ago. The pictures reflect ideas for a streetscape design offered by the consultant who worked on that plan (EDAW, Denver CO). Instead of concepts, the Plan will be used for identifying what streets should receive treatment. And even then, the new streetscape improvements may vary from it.

This consultant isn't involved with the Devon/TIF streetscape implementation and while some of the concepts may be used, it's unlikely any of those renderings will be utilized.

[DelCamino]

Shrugs shoulders...
Because of OKC is a blooming city?

just grasping there.

The consultant was going for a replica of the state wildflower, the 'Indian Blanket.'

[DelCamino]

You're right, Pete, it is a massive project.

I don't think, though, that the Devon TIF dollars will be spent on streetscape projects throughout all of downtown, including Bricktown. This is a map I lifted from the City website, discussing the TIF:



The map reflects where the streetscape improvements will happen. Also, accompaning text:

"•Streetscape improvements funded through TIF and
G.O. Bond
•Approx. 6 miles of streets between Dean A
McGee / Reno / Dewey / E.K. Gaylord
•Hardscape, softscape, urban amenities,
accessibility, wayfinding, intersection
enhancements, public art, monumentation
•Project completion anticipated in fall 2013"

[ksearls]

GO Bond Del?

[Pete]

Del, there was already $30 million for streetscapes and $14 for the Myriad Gardens from a 2007 general obligation bond. There is also $40 mil in an opportunity fund (not sure of source).

This would all be on top of the $95 million from the Devon TIF.



BTW, although I assumed this to be the case, I'm not 100% sure that all TIF funds have to be spent within that established district. I believe the district, in this case, can just be the Devon property, as that is the only development that will be contributing tax dollars. But those dollars are obviously being spent outside the Devon property, and since the funds will be going towards specific urban projects, it may be that that area can be quite large (like all of downtown rather than just the CBD or the area actually generating the tax revenue).

[DelCamino]

GO Bond Del?

Yeah, I'm guessing that's what they'll do. But the TIF dollars can only be spent within the boundaries of the TIF District.

How you doin??

[DelCamino]

Thanks Pete. Yes, I remember the 2007 Bond devoted to downtown streetscaping projects and you're right; it's that money which will have to be utilized in the areas outside of the Devon TIF. That TIF district was specifically defined in the creation of the TIF last December.

I'm trying to make sure about the actual boundaries, and so far, have only found the info I posted above.