Omni Hotel

[Urbanized]

A headquarters hotel is optimally adjacent to a conference/convention center where an event is happening, though for some meetings an HQ hotel itself provides the meeting space. When booking meetings/conferences/conventions, a planner will look for a hotel that can provide a block of rooms, usually reserved for organization officials, presenters, vendors and attendees, in that order.

Most larger conferences or conventions will also negotiate discounted room rates elsewhere if possible. The largest are known as citywides, which fill rooms throughout the city, only a small portion of which might be discounted, with discounted rooms being booked on a first-come-first-served basis after prioritized attendees are booked.

A HQ hotel usually also has its own meeting space, which might also be booked as a part of an event (breakout sessions or annual board meetings of presenting org are examples of what might be booked here).

In the case of an attached CC hotel, very often the hotel itself also provides the catering/services for the convention center.

[Laramie]

^ ^ ^ Thank you, Urbanized . . .

Oklahoma City remained stagnant from 1960 - 1990 (30 years) while we talked about the I.M. Pei Plan of the 60s, Myriad Convention Center & Tivoli Gardens of the 70s and the String of Pearls plan of 80s.

By the time we passed a bond issue to build the Myriad Convention Center (fully operational - 1973) ; we didn't have the hotels braced to support the convention center; until the Westin opened in 1975.

Major hotels like the Skirvin, Skirvin Twin, Hotel Oklahoma (Old Sheraton), Tivoli Inn & Holiday Inn had closed their doors. We had one quality DT hotel. We opened a new downtown convention center in 1973 that couldn't attract conventions until 1975 with the opening of the Westin (Sheraton).


The 600 room Omni convention center hotel will put us in a better position than where we are today with the support of neighboring hotels like the Sheraton, Renaissance, Courtyard by Marriott, Colcord, Hilton Skirvin, Hampton, Hilton Garden Inn, Aloft, Holiday Inn Express & Embassy Suites with a host of hotels in the core under construction or in planning stages.

. . . And let's not forget the street car route to the convention center - OKC get ready to rock.

[Pryor Tiger]

I think it will be interesting to draw the 15 minute walking radius (streetcar route will help) to see how many hotel rooms will be in that magic area. Reality is with 2-3 hotels across shields in Lumberyard area totaling 300-400 rooms, 600 room CC hotel, and the projected 4,000+ other guest rooms in Downtown/Bricktown, OKC is looking at 5,000+ guest rooms within range of walking or streetcar use, with 1,000 of those guest rooms next to the CC when it opens.

Hotels like ours (HIE Bricktown) will now be right on the edge of the 15 minute radius, where now we are one of the closest options (2 blocks).

In comparison, Nashville is pushing 9,000 hotel rooms in downtown and in the 5 years since their CC opened, occupancy is up 27% even with supply growth and they have some of the highest Avg Daily Rates in the nation. Now they have 350,000 sq ft of exhibit space to our 200,000. 25 meeting rooms there, I'm not sure how many in OKC but probably 1/2 as many. They also have 5000+ rooms in the downtown pipeline still. They have a 21 story Omni hotel as headquarters with 800 guest rooms.

I think the streetcar route is really a key to this being successful as the location of the CC really de-centralizes it from the rest of the hotel supply. However it absolutely creates a development boon for that end of downtown for hopefully retail/restaurants/hotels.

[Dustin]

I really like the design.

Could it be better? Sure, but it will look very sleek once finished.

It kinda reminds me of the River Spirit Hotel currently topped out in Tulsa.

[Pryor Tiger]

This is the hotel scene around Music City Convention Center in Nashville. They share a lot of factors with us. Proximity to River, next to the NHL arena, but the CC is a little off to the side of central DT. The furthest hotel on this map is the Indigo which is a 13 minute walk. There are only 4 hotels in the immediate block, but some large properties like the Hilton within 5 minute walk.

[Pryor Tiger]

Hopefully this conversation is relevant to the Omni in some way, but I love doing side by side comparisons of other markets we aspire to be like. Of course our CC will also be at the far south end of our photo like Nashville. I think the Omni surrounded by 3 branded properties will be similar here as well. Also, 600 vs. 800 rooms like our Omni compared to Nashville probably makes sense due to our CC being smaller in terms of space.

[Swake]

This hotel will be 600 rooms.

The two hotels connected to Tulsa's convention center have 597 rooms.
DoubleTree - 417 rooms
aLoft - 180 rooms

[Laramie]

aLoft - Tulsa:


180 rooms

DoubleTree - Tulsa:


417 rooms - Good combination of hotels to anchor the Tulsa Convention Center.

Looks similar to the Marcus-Mortenson Marriott that lost out to the Omni.

Maybe OKC's convention complex in proximity to the Chesapeake Energy Arena will allow for the connection of our main arena to handle large conventions based on what they have done in Tulsa with the new convention hotel to be built just to the south.

[TU 'cane]

Thanks for the explanations.

[G.Walker]

They can come with a taller design, without increasing the room count. It's just how its designed, with a wider footprint. The new Tulsa River Spirit Casino Hotel only has 483 rooms, but its 26 stories high. HKS could easily modify the design to increase height, but stay with the same room count.

[HOT ROD]

I recall that the original cc hotel study said 735 hotel rooms as the benchmark; which interestingly has now decreased to 600 rooms. Also note, this was the rooms needed for the typical large convention OKC is hoping to get - so you'd usually have a room count higher than your benchmark for non-convention purposes and crush large bookings.

So here we go, OKC settling with the bare minimum benchmark ONLY (at 600 rooms) and not even using the original study of 735.

As for the hotel, I don't too much mind the design as it is modern and goes along with Devon and BOKPP. But what irks me most besides the relative lack of height is that the hotel tower is set back away from the boulevard. Is there a master plan for more towers in this area? Otherwise, this will look stranded and separated from downtown rather than 'somewhat' connected as Omni is desiring/stating.

Can we have a compromise here? A) can the hotel tower(s) rise from the boulevard or better yet, B) how about an L shaped 'tower" so that some rooms can have park side views if we can't go higher than 19 floors (15 hotel floors)? It seems as though the conceptual design is trying to create a resort with poolside facing the park and views of Devon yet this is supposed to be a HQ convention hotel.

Finally, can we reconsider the room count? While I like the idea of possibly another hotel being built, I think the likelihood of such happening is closer to zero especially given the cost of this lower end cc hotel proposed by Omni vs. the amount of public subsidy. The city already owns the land (right?) and there doesn't appear to be anything particular about this proposal that would warrant it to be double BOKPP in cost.

Anyway, I don't want to be a downer as I am excited about this all moving forward. But it appears to be the same 2nd rate thinking/design that starts out as being a 'conceptual' rendering but that very same concept ends up as the final with nobody questioning anything (except Shadid; who always argues about projects after they've already been approved RATHER than argue about the design and/or quality/capacity of the conceptual design that turns into final far too often).

[Laramie]

Nothing is set into stone with the draft proposed by the Omni; we do know that the city's cost assistance will be about $85.2 with the Omni pitching in $150.1 million. It's substantially less than what Nashville & Louisville are paying for their headquarter's hotels.

Texas consultant Jeremy Stone, hired by The Alliance for the Economic Development of Oklahoma City, told the council his research shows the city can support a 735-room, $200 million conference hotel as part of development of a $250 million convention center south of the Myriad Gardens.

That wasn't a full feasibility study, it was a consultant hired to analyze the feasibility of a convention hotel back in 2013 that was not commissioned by the city.

While we opine that the market will inevitably perform at levels exceeding 64.2 percent in some years, it will also likely decline in some years,” Stone wrote in his report.

“The city council wanted to know if with the building of a new convention center, did we need a hotel,” O'Connor said. “And if so, what size? This tells them they need a convention center hotel. The next step is to look at financial feasibility.”

http://newsok.com/article/3914440

http://www.theallianceokc.org/sites/...0CC_121313.pdf

[bombermwc]

I prefer the glass look of the Omni to the stucco of the Marriott. Just a couple of thoughts, and they really are just opinions more than anything.

I dont feel like either design really has much design interest to it. They're both your basic rectangle of a hotel. I really wish we could get something that had some design interest to it, but it's not exactly a big deal. It would be nice, but i'm not losing sleep over it or anything.

I dont feel like stucco should be accepted in any way/shape/form for something downtown. There needs to be a glass or stone curtain if you're downtown...end of story (i hate the Kerr McGee look).

Omni is still building their presence in terms of being a convention hotel. I feel like Marriott is still the big name in terms of conventions. I dont think it necessarily makes a decision for where people have their meetings, but it might affect who comes (do my points work there?). That being said, i have ZERO love for the Marriott corporation and their overpriced fees on everything in there. Next thing you know, they're going to charge you for toilet paper squares.

[Decious]

I wish it was 40 storeys tall too but...

New Omni Nashville is 21 storeys.

Omni Dallas is 23 storeys.

Ft. Worth Omni is 33 storeys but has a large housing component.

Louisville Omni is 30 storeys but has a large housing component.

Ours has no housing component. So... what am I missing here?

What makes us call this "low end" or feel that it's lacking?

I like height too but I don't get the reaction to this. Well, I get that we're disappointed that we aren't getting more height, but the notion that the development is lowball is a stretch. It's clearly the model that Omni follows when there is no dedicated housing involved in the development.

I like the choice of Omni and I like the renderings. Design doesn't blow my doors off but none of their designs do. Seems like our main complaint... if we should have one... should be that Omni didn't include housing. Even then, I don't know what kind of complaint that would be. :-)

[HangryHippo]

Is there any chance the OKC hotel can get some housing added to it to make it taller?

[Colbafone]

Maybe we can add an additional floor for a sex shop up at the top, to get it a little further away from the park, but also further away from Heritage Hills. Only downside is it would detract from the one planned in Midtown. Most convention goers are a bit...rowdy, so I feel like this is a win/win.

[G.Walker]

Our design is very similar to the recently built Omni Hotel in Nashville. I wish we could have something unique to OKC.

[Pete]

Here is more info and more images.

Most a quasi high-res if you right click then use "open in a new tab"

http://www.okctalk.com/content.php?r...nvention-hotel

[Richard at Remax]

I like the Omni design, just wish it was turned 180 degrees and had same footprint as the Marriott

[Pete]

Here are a couple of interesting ones.

Note the retail in front of CHK and on the north side of the hotel, both facing the boulevard.

[soonerguru]

OKC should push to add 4 floors of residential at the top of the hotel, much as Onni Austin had.

[Laramie]

Surprised that Omni themselves hasn't suggested or pushed the residential piece since that's the trend they have done with recent developments in major cities. Now that they have been selected; they could have more room to spice up this development

[warreng88]

$10 million parking proposal stuns advisory group

By: Brian Brus The Journal Record September 23, 2016

OKLAHOMA CITY – The appearance of a $10 million agenda item in the construction of a downtown parking garage surprised members of a citizen advisory committee Thursday.

Rather than approve a request to commit a quarter of the contingency fund to close a funding gap in the $37 million garage adjacent to the planned Omni Hotel, the MAPS 3 Citizens Advisory Board moved the question to a subcommittee for further consideration. Councilman Ed Shadid said the item would have otherwise gone to the City Council on Tuesday on the same day the hotel developer is being named for the first time.

That timing did not sit well with Shadid, who has repeatedly questioned the legitimacy of paying for a garage out of the MAPS 3 temporary tax issue that voters approved nearly seven years ago. Shadid said it seemed as though other officials were trying to push through the $10 million question without drawing attention.

“Within one week, you would have minimized the public discussion and deliberation,” he said Friday. “And then when the council authorizes negotiation with the hotel developer on Tuesday, they can sit down and say, ‘Hey, we’ve got the parking garage settled. We got an extra $10 million from MAPS 3, so let’s talk about the $85 million you need to build a hotel.’”

Shadid said board chairman Tom McDaniel presented the proposal from Mayor Mick Cornett and City Manager Jim Couch’s offices. McDaniel said a parking garage was a logical consequence of developing downtown by building a convention center and nearby 77-acre park.

Preliminary plans call for 500 parking spaces in a surface lot south of the convention center, with 865 more spaces in a three-story garage across the street. That site is now occupied by an OG&E property, which will cost about $35 million to acquire. The Central Oklahoma Transportation and Parking Authority has the capacity to borrow only $27 million for the project, city Finance Director Craig Freeman said, leaving $10 million to cover.

The $288 million convention center will be built on the site bounded on the north by SW Fourth Street, south by SW Seventh Street, west by Robinson Avenue and east by Shields Boulevard. It will feature a 200,000-square-foot exhibit hall, 45,000-square-foot meeting space and 30,000-square-foot ballroom.

Three hotel developers had expressed interest in the project, but one dropped out recently and another advisory group chose Omni in the final stage. That issue is scheduled to be discussed in greater detail at Tuesday’s regularly scheduled council meeting.

[stile99]

So we're planning 500 parking spots for 600 hotel rooms, with another 865 across the street if we can have enough bake sales to make up that $10,000,000.

Which leads me to wonder where the hypothetical residents are supposed to park if housing floors are added.

[Pete]

Here is the timeline, designed to circumvent the public process as much as possible:

Wed: Committee led by Cathy O'Connor picks Omni; no public announcement
Thurs: MAPS3 Board asked to approve moving $10MM from MAPS contingency fund for new parking garage (details of this garage had not been previously mentioned anywhere, nor was it mentioned that leasing it to convention hotel is part of the prelimiary deal struck the day before)
Thur/Fri: O'Connor gives Omni story to the Oklahoman
Sun: Oklahoman puts pretty renderings on front page; briefly mentions required $85MM public subsidy without providing details on where exactly this money is to come from or that the Omni will likely be leased the proposed garage for next to nothing. Also no mention of ground lease amount or terms for Omni, also presumed to be another form of public subsidy.
Tues: Council to vote on approving Omni deal in principle; still no public sharing of incentive details or much info at all about ground lease and garage terms

This is pretty typical these days when the Powers That Be want to jam something through. And they have already garnered enough votes on the council to assure passage long before the public has any knowledge that hundreds of millions of incentives will be provided.