Give me the skyline of Edmonton any day over a couple 1000' buildings. Their tallest building is only 479'.
Give me the skyline of Edmonton any day over a couple 1000' buildings. Their tallest building is only 479'.
If only our CBD sat up on a hill like that....
Folks, this is amazing! Chesapeake to build a giant skyscraper in downtown OKC:
Chesapeake Energy announces plans for large skyscraper in downtown Oklahoma City
Here's the text:
April 1, 2013
Royters News Service
Chesapeake Energy revealed plans today for a massive new skyscraper in downtown Oklahoma City.
The plans call for a 1300 foot tower to be built on the current site of the First National Center
building, which will be demolished to make room for the new structure.
"We're excited to announce this new building", said Fred, a spokesperson for Chesapeake.
"In fact, we're plumb ecstatic. We feel that this new skyscraper will not only symbolize the
strength and solidity of our company, but it will just plain knock people's socks off.
You could say we're putting the 'Peak' into Chesapeake!"
This development comes as a surprise to many given the financial trouble that the company has
recently experienced. In the past, Chesapeake has concentrated on purchasing and developing
real estate far from downtown, much of which is being divested now. But according to Fred,
that was all part of the master plan.
"You know, we all got stuck in Aubrey's campus style development plans for a number of years.
And we went along, because, as you know, Aub is a very persuasive guy", Fred said with a smile.
"But after awhile, we began to realize it was a little nuts. Now that we've gotten rid of him,
we can return to our original idea which is to build ginormous skyscrapers in downtown OKC."
Originally, the company sought to build on the Stage Center site, which had recently been
placed on the market. But another company got there first. "Yes, we were quite interested in
the Stage Center site, but then we found out the Exxon Mobil had already purchased it and
plans to build a 1200 foot tower there." Fred related. "Well, you can imagine our disgust
at this. I mean, we're not going to let a bunch of bozos from south of the Red River upstage
us! So, if they can build a 1200 footer, we can build a 1300 footer. See how that works?"
But with their original desired site no longer available, the company had to scramble to find a
suitable location. "We were thinking of building in Bricktown because we heard that's where
all the action is in downtown. In fact, there was a great spot available next to Toby Keith's
that really had our eye, but what do you know? Kevin Durant decided to build his little
restaurant there. What are we, cursed or something?", Fred stated with a smile. "But you know,
we all love Kevin in OKC, so it's alright -- we wish him the best".
Finally, they managed to find the perfect location. "Well, looking all around downtown we
realized that there was this old building just sitting there that nobody cared about and so
we decided, hey, why not." Fred commented. "I mean, the First National Center was cool and all
back in the day, but it's really old now. Really, really old. So who's going to miss this
thing? Problem solved."
When asked if the First National Center might be considered a historical building that will
be missed by lovers of great architecture, Fred was taken a little by surprise. "Oh really?
Well, I guess there are always a few of those types that will complain. Anyway, that's the way
it goes".
Aubrey McClendon, former CEO of Chesapeake was contacted for comment on this new downtown
skyscaper. "Wha, really? Man, that's so childish", said McClendon as he rolled his eyes.
"Look guys, while they're building their meaningless downtown phallic symbol, I will be
amassing a giant swath of land in the true heart of America, suburbia. And there I will
create a community of inter-connecting intellectual and social hubs that will rival the greatest
institutes of learning in the world. Lots of big trees and flowing fountains -- the whole works".
Construction of the new Chesapeake skyscraper is set to begin July 1, 2013. It will take
six days to build. On the seventh day they will rest.
I doubt too many people had to get farther than the first line to see its an April Fools post. But it was funny.
April First is the dumbest holiday on the face of the planet.
I believe this would have been last Friday - says 4 days ago. I do not have a login to see the details, but it says 2.5 billion in loans (secured and Unsecured) had been approved...?
Sign In
4 days ago – Centerpoint Energy and Enogex have secured a three-year, US$1.05 billion term loan facility, as well as a five-year, US$1.4 billion unsecured ...
They're in a hurry to get something going. The loans mean they don't want to wait for an IPO to generate funds. Maybe it's all just infrastructure. But two and a half billion is a lot of infrastructure. Makes you wonder....
I think I may have to amend my response to Sid just a bit.
The info about actually obtaining the loans is new, but the intent of getting the loans may have been out for awhile. A least it appears in the following investor summary:
http://mlpprotocol.files.wordpress.c...ion-031513.pdf
This is a good read and has TONS of info about the new MLP. Go grab it.
According to the investory summary pdf, the 1.05 billion (secured) loan is being used to pay off debt CenterPoint owes to a subsidiary. The 1.4 billion (unsecured) loan is being used for liquidity -- i.e. startup cash. So any new headquarters would have to come out of the 1.4 B.
I was thinking today, there better not be announcement today. Would make all of our head's spin off trying to decide if real or not.
Hate to be so cryptic, but I want to give everyone something to look forward to this week following Steve's guidance on another 90 days until something is solid on the Stage Center site. Look for an exciting announcement soon that will be very impressive for OKC. NOT tower or Enogex/CNP related.
I agree. It's hard to tell how tall buildings are in the distance. A skyline like the above looks great. I wish ours had that density. I think it really becomes impressive when buildings start to overlap each other, when you look past one and see part of another behind it.
Just for fun, I was looking for cost estimates to build a generic office building. I didn't think I'd actually find anything. But I wanted at least a ballpark figure to see what it would cost to build, say, a 10 story brick building similar to the Hightower. I think OKC could use a ton more buildings of this size, and there should be many, many entities in the city that could afford to finance something of that scale (as opposed to Devon Tower, where there are a tiny handful of businesses that could afford it and you just have to keep your fingers crossed and hope that they do it).
Anyway, I ran across this website:
Construction costs
If these are accurate, I think it's quite reasonable to think we could spur much more downtown development with a lot more midrises.
I'd kill to see more midrises in downtown. I love sleek, shiny buildings like Devon, but smaller scale buildings will do so much more for the skyline in terms of density. I like huge skyscrapers, but OKC's skyline is not matured enough to be worried about a super-tall. I do think we'll see some 350-750 footers though over the next 10 years or so.
Thanks for posting that link. As my curent line of work seems to be a dying industry I have been working on what to do next and I would love to get into developing 5 to 10 story buildings. I agree with your assesment of the Edmonton skyline. My favorite skylines are the ones where buildings are all about the same size and close together.
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