OG&E Energy Center

[5alive]

This is probably bad info...BUT...if it is true, someone needs to be held accountable in a big way for the destruction of the theatre with nothing left but empty land with a small lake!

[LocoAko]

That'd be terribly unfortunate. The latest I'd heard was in Steve's latest article that mentioned that he'd heard a deal was near for a "scaled-down" version.

Exciting Times Ahead in Film Row | News OK

[Pete]

I'm hearing that the office tower is going to come in around 20 stories (rather than the 25 most recently proposed) and that the residential tower -- which be a later phase after the first building and parking -- would be 22 vs. 26.

I posted this back on 11/11/15 from a very good source.

Checking to see if anything has changed.

[Chitty]

I totally agree.

[bchris02]

The original Clayco rendering did seem a little too good to be true. I'll be interested to know how "scaled down" he is talking about. If the final product is still better than the initial 14-story concept released by Rainey Williams, that is a win. By the way, if you doubt Rainey William's ability to deliver on this project...well you don't know Rainey Williams.

[TU 'cane]

Oh, come on… Say it isn't so.
I don't even know where to begin, so we should just wait to hear back from Pete's source.

[Chitty]

I don't doubt the developer. Maybe they lost their biggest tenant is all. Like I said, I hope the information I was told is bad.

[bchris02]

Heard that OGE will release a statement later today that the Tower HQ is not happening. I'm hoping it's bad information tho... that would be harsh news.

Hopefully the info is bad. It's time to tie demolitions with building permits, at least in the jurisdiction of DDRC. This kind of thing has happened far too many times through OKC's history.

[David]

Let's wait for confirmation of this rumor before we start the "I told you so"s and the recriminations.

[TU 'cane]

It's official, story just broke:

OGE Energy Center development halted | News OK

However, there is a positive in this decision, a little silver lining, so to speak:

By Steve Lackmeyer

On Monday, OGE Energy Corp. CEO Sean Trauschke announced the company is assuming ownership of the land, which was originally purchased by G. Rainey Williams Jr., and will beautify and maintain the property until an appropriate development can be secured.

“OGE continues to have a need for downtown office space, and we were excited to be a part of a new building,” Trauschke said. “After consulting with developers and city leaders, it is very clear that there is currently insufficient demand for additional downtown office space.”

“This is a prime site and deserving of a bold development, and OGE is committed to preserving it,” Trauschke said.

They'd rather wait and return to the 25 and 26 floor proposals it sounds to me, rather than settle and build a 13 floor facility.
Perhaps at some point in the near future we can see a return to the full scale of the project, at least in respect to the two towers to be built for OGE offices and the apartments. Four I think was always too much and too risky.

[KayneMo]

I don't even know what to think about this...

[Pete]

From that article:

OGE Energy Corp. CEO Sean Trauschke announced the company is assuming ownership of the land, which was originally purchased by G. Rainey Williams Jr., and will beautify and maintain the property until an appropriate development can be secured.

So, fill in the lake, plant some grass and hope maybe someday something gets built there.


Before energy prices are blamed for this, it should be noted that BOK Plaza started way later and is now coming out of the ground. This was just a cluster from the beginning including the ridiculous ruse by Rainey Williams that was happily promoted without scrutiny by the local press.


Wow, is this the ultimate indictment of OKC's strong bias toward developers and big business vs. preservation of our history.

Cue a huge uproar and an avalanche of told-ya-so's.

[TU 'cane]

And the told-ya-so's would be justified for this particular project. Leaving BOK Park Plaza out of this for now, considering it's already having the foundation laid, this was by far the bigger disappointment, speaking for the present. There was absolutely no need to tear down SC so soon. They should have simply bought the land and waited. This is awful, but again, maybe there is hope as indicated previously. Long term it'll be, but hope nonetheless.

This hurts.

[jccouger]

Wish I could say I was surprised.

[bchris02]

It's time to tie demolitions to building permits within the jurisdiction of the DDRC.

This kind of thing isn't surprising...its business as usual in Oklahoma City. Change is needed to ensure that what little history is left here isn't demolished by a developer with big promises who ultimately fails to deliver.

[TU 'cane]

It's time to tie demolitions to building permits within the jurisdiction of the DDRC.

This kind of thing isn't surprising...its business as usual in Oklahoma City. Change is needed to ensure that what little history is left here isn't demolished by a developer with big promises who ultimately fails to deliver.

I'm not even sure what's left constitutes the amount of "little."
But I will say that there needs to be vocal cries regarding this. Contact the DDRC, City Council, anything at this point and ask to have current bylaws and the permit process reformed before this happens again. This time, there's ammunition, and a lot of it, that can be used.

[Pete]

BTW, that article quotes Williams as saying:

there is simply not the market downtown today to lease half of a 27-story structure, and a smaller building to serve OGE alone would be a disservice to the great property of our city,

Only 7 of the floors were to be leased; that's 27% of the space, not nearly 'half'.

Not the market in two years time to lease 7 floors downtown with structured attached parking where there is almost zero Class A space for rent in the CBD or anywhere else in town?


This deal has stunk from Day 1 and they are still not being honest.

[HangryHippo]

By the way, if you doubt Rainey William's ability to deliver on this project...well you don't know Rainey Williams.

You nailed it here, bchris. Many of us knew we were in trouble then, but told not to worry. How great that we're left with another empty lot.

[Chitty]

Thanks for getting the story Pete. Sad news for sure.

[PhiAlpha]

Wow what a joke.

I guess we really didn't know Rainey Williams....

[gopokes88]

Tip of the cap to the posters who saw this coming. You nailed it.

[David]

Okay, yeah, this is pretty disappointing.

[HangryHippo]

BTW, that article quotes Williams as saying:



Only 7 of the floors were to be leased; that's 27% of the space, not nearly 'half'.

Not the market in two years time to lease 7 floors downtown with structured attached parking where there is almost zero Class A space for rent in the CBD or anywhere else in town?


This deal has stunk from Day 1 and they are still not being honest.

Why are we still not getting the truth regarding this development? We've all heard the stories about the lack of Class A space yet this can't work?

[Anonymous.]

The article almost implies that if the city had agreed to the outrageous TIF requests, that construction would have started in summer 2015 and the towers would already be coming out of the ground (at least two of them).

It sounds like the city not agreeing to the TIF has actually saved OGE's butts and essentially Clayco/Williams' butts, too.


I asked many times over the last year, where OGE was in all of this, do they need space or not?! The fact that they were never upset about their new HQ being a year in construction delay shows that they knew long ago that this would never happen.


What a perfect storm.

[Pete]

The only thing you could say about the downtown office market is that there is a fear of SandRidge going out of business and leaving their tower empty.

That would be a big chunk of space but not as big as most people think, at 490,000 square feet.