Glimcher

[Pete]

[SIZE=2]Glimcher Realty Trust of Ohio recently paid Chesapeake $51,820,000 for several properties:

1. Nichols Hills Plaza and two adjacent parcels
2. Classen Curve
3. Triangle at Classen Curve (Whole Foods center)
4. Vacant land between NH Plaza and the Triangle
5. Vacant land (old Kensington Apartments)

Chesapeake took a substantial loss on all these properties, having at least $115 million invested; they received less than half what they had paid for in purchases and improvements.

In the graphic below, Glimcher properties are shown in yellow, those still owned by Chesapeake in green and pink represents other CHK properties recently sold.

[bchris02]

Gander MTN is a big box store that is usually in suburban or even exurban areas so I personally doubt that NHP/Classen Curve would be where it ends up. REI has a smaller footprint and is more upscale so it may be more likely.

[Platemaker]

REI please!

[NWOKCGuy]

Sur La Table
H&M
Restoration Hardware
Urban Outfitters
Crate & Barrel
Container Store
REI

Yes please.

[Spartan]

These guys are bigger money than you'd think - major art patrons in Ohio.

I think $51M is great for ALL of that property along Western.

[Pete]

BTW, pretty sure they plan to build condos / townhouses on the old Kensington Apartments site on the west side of Grand.

[SoonerFP]

Would love to see an iPic in OKC!


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[Urbanized]

The map graphic makes it very clear how contiguous all of this is. Due to the way it developed in the past it all feels disconnected and sprawling, but it would be a fairly simple matter to redevelop in such a way that it all felt knitted together and unified. Considering the property itself AND the (rare for OKC) location near reasonably dense high-income neighborhoods (and ease of access from the rest of the metro), this is an exceptional opportunity for something very special.

[Spartan]

Absolutely, but now it's a matter of undoing the damage done by Rand Elliott and past shortsighted developers.

[Urbanized]

Meh. I'm not sure anything Rand has done needs to be "undone". Classen Curve needs to be finished, with the buildout of the interior pad, which will cause the interior drive make much more sense and make it truly feel like the "Main Street" of that development. Obviously it needs the Gilmcher leasing touch, but I don't think you change much about it physically at this point.

The overall look and feel of The Triangle is actually nice; it can be continued north with more attention being paid to layout and interaction of the new buildings.

What I'm most interested in is how the "undeveloped land" north of and contiguous to the existing Triangle is developed, how the two are tied together, how the property on the west side of Grand develops and how it ties to everything across the street, and how NHP is tied to everything else across 63rd. I really think that is important to the success of both, but will be a challenge considering the traffic volume on 63rd and at the 63rd/Western intersection.

[Spartan]

I think you have to tear down everything west of Whole Foods and build a pad site in front of Whole Foods to frame the intersection and maintain continuity across.

Basically what Rand did was extremely lazy, unimaginative, strip mall development. He clearly wasn't thinking of how to bridge from Classen Curve up to Nichols Hills Plaza. The Anthropologie and West Elm sites are merely "meh let's extend the strip here with parking in front to get just two more retailers in."

[Urbanized]

I don't disagree that those particularly spaces are stripmallish in layout; that is why i said "look and feel." I actually really like the buildings themselves. I just think you pick your battles. That space was partly dictated by the creek/culvert behind it, and as CC and The Triangle are limited in their ability to relate to each other at that intersection I don't think you invest that much money in fixing something with only limited potential to begin with. Now, if they acquired the land on the SE corner of Grand and Classen, maybe...

As it stands, I think you put most of your creative effort into everything north of WF/Triangle (existing) and let the success of those areas elevate the other portions.

[Pete]

They aren't going to tear anything down, especially the strip next to Whole Foods. They just signed a lease with West Elm in that building and the store is already under construction.

I suppose they'll take some design cues from Classen Curve and the Triangle and just build new to the north.

[Urbanized]

Yep. They didn't buy it because they wanted to tear it down.

[Spartan]

You can't touch the historic cemetery. You can find a way to bridge Classen. Whatever is built and however this development is rescued by a capable developer, the bigger picture is made better by connecting to Classen Curve. Which we both agree, isn't as bad.

[Urbanized]

Gotta say, if I were them I really WOULD be interested in making a play for the land north of Flip's (even including Flip's, but as a patron I'd hate to see that happen). Inclusion of that parcel would really make it easy to tie the area together better visually/thematically/functionally.

[Spartan]

Agreed!

[Teo9969]

The Pink land in that set is owned by MidFirst, no? And both of those lots are 3 story + towers? I just don't see them getting torn down to build something new.

They've got plenty of stuff in front of them to get working on for the near future. If they want to expand, I'd be more in favor of them buying out the office park south of the Grave Yard and fixing-up that mess. In fact, if they were smart, they'd buy that complex now before any of their improvements have a chance to raise the property values around them.

[Pete]

The Pink land in that set is owned by MidFirst, no? And both of those lots are 3 story + towers? I just don't see them getting torn down to build something new.

They've got plenty of stuff in front of them to get working on for the near future. If they want to expand, I'd be more in favor of them buying out the office park south of the Grave Yard and fixing-up that mess. In fact, if they were smart, they'd buy that complex now before any of their improvements have a chance to raise the property values around them.

Urbanized was talking about the pink property (indicating recently sold) just north of Flip's.

[Teo9969]

Right…that's what I'm saying…was that not bought by Midfirst, which would mean there's pretty much a 0% chance Glimcher could get ahold of it?

[Pete]

No, it wasn't bought by Midfirst. They only bought the properties along I-44, the rest of the pink properties were bought by others.

[Teo9969]

Very well then, carry on :-)

[Spartan]

Just to add another dimension, especially as we're talking about a true mixed-use development in the works here, I wonder to what extent this neighborhood also benefits from the quiet zone. I found it really peculiar that the quiet zone goes all the way up to Britton, especially considering we were only asking for downtown and it took us years and years and years and then another decade on top of that.

[Urbanized]

I think they're far enough from the tracks to make train noise a non-factor. Besides, none of the crossings in that area are at grade until you get up by Wilshire, so they shouldn't be sounding horns in the area anyway..?

[Spartan]

Well it's included in the quiet zone anyway, oddly enough.