700 W. 4th
acreage=1.8 acres
Information & Latest News
3/18/14: Project proposed
3/17/14: Detailed plans posted
1/18/14: RFP Issued
Links
Gallery
700 W. 4th
acreage=1.8 acres
Information & Latest News
3/18/14: Project proposed
3/17/14: Detailed plans posted
1/18/14: RFP Issued
Links
Gallery
Looks good. OCURA has its **** together under O'Connor.
This development site will bridge downtown, Arts District, Midtown, and SoSA. Important site in the grand scheme.
The will announce the responses to the RFP for this property this morning.
I expect at least one proposal and it will be for housing.
There was one response to the RFP: a 255-unit housing project dubbed 700 West; design by Butzer Gardner for a group of local investors with some out-of-state money as well.
Small amount of retail space on the corner; 15 ground level "live/work" spaces (interesting!), all surface parking.
Will add more details soon:
If they want to re-establish Lee Ave, they need to adjust their site plan to have some kind of building along it. Or allow for the future expansion involving a parking garage and more units on the Lee ROW.
A couple more:
Rendering looks killer.
I don't like the surface parking.
The apartments are SMALL... 387 is tiny even for a studio. 787 for a 2 BR is really tight as well.
I wonder what the affordability of these units will be. Especially the 36 efficiency units. I think that might be something lacking in Midtown. Decently affordable efficiencies.
The lead investors are GFO and Nimes Capital, both based in Los Angeles and the same group that recently bought the Sycamore Square Apartments.
Andy Burnett -- who used to work for GFO -- is also involved.
Note the largest floorplan is not even 800 square feet and the one bedrooms are very small. Clearly, the emphasis is smaller, more affordable units for this development.
From the proposal:
Our Value Approaches
The proposal for 700 West is founded on sensible notions of exceptional urban development: walkability and urbanity, timeless and sustainable architecture, market responsiveness, and profitability. With 700 West, the developer proposes a residence for those whose needs have not yet fully been addressed in recent years of our city’s redevelopment.
Walkability and Urbanity
The building massing of 700 West is set forward to the extents of the property lines along North Shartel Avenue and Northwest Fourth Street, helping define the western edge of downtown Oklahoma City. The modulation of the 20’-30’ bays of its facade and its five-story height speak to best practices of walkability and urban design. A community room anchors the corner of the block where its activities and visual interest can foster safety and excitement at the city edge. Ground floor living units are conceived as live-work sites, supporting individuals whose work relates to nearby arts and fabrication districts/venues. Resident parking is off-street, while street side parking and vegetation enhance the accessibility and comfort of the building’s urban edges.
Timeless and Sustainable Architecture
The street edges of 700 West crisply reinforce the city grid. The block’s L-configuration opens towards downtown, framing premiere views of the Oklahoma City skyline. Masonry is the primary building material, promoting an elegance and longevity worthy of its site. Fine-scaled detailing of the facades, entries, and edges will ensure a timelessness that engages the human-scaled aspects of an architecture for people. All residences enjoy common sense strategies for sustainability: affordable units that foster a more socially diverse population, compact floor plans, water and energy efficient appliances and fixtures, robustly insulated building envelopes, permeable paved and high albedo outdoor horizontal surfaces, and locally or regionally sourced materials within a dense, transit-ready environment.
Market Flexibility
The programmatic and structural layout of 700 West is defined by its modularity. The module accommodates smaller-sized apartments as well as flexible placement of efficiency, one- and two-bed units. With a Metro bus stop along NW Fourth St, and the Downtown Transit Center and a proposed downtown streetcar stop within a 6-minute walk, potential residents’ reliance on ownership of automobiles is reduced, as a large number of service-type jobs are proximate through public transportation and walkable streets. The live-work apartments or ground-floor community room can adapt to commercial retail use if the market shifts in this direction. An outdoor amenities deck, including pool and game area, provide programmed uses that complement smaller residences. A strong management structure for the development maintains the integrity of its common spaces, architecture and the urban contributions
Micro-studios are a new fad. Hugely profitable. I'd put pressure on the materiality to sustain the long term durability of these small units. You don't want a future tenement but it could also be a cool opportunity to add more artists, studios, and young professionals.
Neighborhood Lounge (seen at the left of this rendering) is happy:
Pete these days it is the So Fine Club. Much to the consternation of the (mostly-downtown) Millenials who adopted it in the past couple of years...
Why not a parking deck? They'd have the option space to do more retail and office? Otherwise, I think it's a decent use of an underutilized area.
Looks great from the street. Perhaps the surface parking provides flexibility for future infill on the same lot; maybe along the Lee alignment?
I'm sure there is no parking deck to keep costs and rents down.
Even without it, they are squeezing 255 units into the same amount of land as Sycamore Square Condos or Apartments; each comprised of 58 units.
It's definitely an approach to land use that we haven't seen in this town. On multiple levels. Will take a while to digest. I'm initially a little troubled by the vast amount of surface parking, yet it has little negative impact on walkability or the neighborhood as it currently exists (and lots of positives on the two streets it fronts). It honestly is pretty clever.
In the future, it seems it would be easy to add a parking structure in the middle and add more buildings to the south and east borders.
Which underscores what I was saying the other day about the Sycamore owners' ultimate goal of converting all 2 bedroom units to 1 br/efficiency units, which I still maintain would be lousy. Also makes my think they could infill even more units around SS and utilize the parking from this project, which would further downgrade SS compared to where it sits today.
Oh well, Andy Burnett's involvement in the project that is the subject of this thread could change my mind. He can't do much wrong as far as I can tell. Really like Hans' work too.
Dang those are small units. And dang that is incredibly dense. And dang it only has surface parking for being so dense..?
That said, I may not have a problem with them. And I can see how packing them in tight like that can be hugely profitable, as spartan mentioned.
I see lots of IKEA vignettes!
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