Broadway Park

[pickles]

None, I met one of the owners of this proposed development today and he told me in no way are they backing down .

Good for them.

[bchris02]

None, I met one of the owners of this proposed development today and he told me in no way are they backing down .

Awesome. I think if Rand Elliott is that concerned about Broadway Park stealing the limelight from the Oklahoma Contemporary Museum as the entryway to Automobile Alley, he should go back to the drawing board and come back with a better proposal. Competition is a good thing because it raises standards. Trying to backhandedly kill the competition because your proposal is mediocre is ridiculous.

[Plutonic Panda]

Awesome. I think if Rand Elliott is that concerned about Broadway Park stealing the limelight from the Oklahoma Contemporary Museum as the entryway to Automobile Alley, he should go back to the drawing board and come back with a better proposal. Competition is a good thing because it raises standards. Trying to backhandedly kill the competition because your proposal is mediocre is ridiculous.

+1

[HOT ROD]

+2

[David]

Molly Fleming with the Journal Record is tweeting out updates to this right now.

The 4-story building planned for #autoalley is on today's DDRC agenda. Rand Elliott is here. He previously spoke against the project.

Rand once again disagreed with the proposed 1122 N. Broadway building design. He said it doesn't fit the #autoalley design guidelines.

The debate on 1122 is about the balconies. DDRC is going back and forth on brick balconies versus a metal, open look.

1122 N. Broadway building was not approved.

Interesting tidbit: DDRC committee member Chuck Ainsworth recused himself from the vote. He and Rand have worked together on projects.

[David]

How immensely disappointing.

[warreng88]

What a d!ck... He is building that monstrosity called the Contemporary and he has an issue with balconies one block over?

[Pete]

The Auto Alley design guidelines have exactly zero impact on anything, especially not the DDRC approval.

The City could easily get sued over this. As far as I'm aware, there is nothing in this design that does not fit the DDRC's guidelines.

[dankrutka]

Nm

[sroberts24]

This makes me sick, does Elliott have that much pull over the committee? Or are they all just ignorant?

[baralheia]

Interestingly, the DDRC Staff Report recommended approval. Reading through their report (PDF), in Section D, objections were noted to the balconies along the west and north elevation, the height of the building, the color of the window openings on the first floor, and location of the garage exit stairwell; the strongest disagreement seems to be with the balconies, but they note, "In the revised design, the applicant has reduced the overall length of balconies on the west façade." All of the other items had considerations that clearly supported approval of the design; for instance, the height issue defers to the Downtown Development Framework's recommendation of 3-5 stories on this site, the window opening color issue notes that existing guidelines do not specify appropriate or inappropriate colors and that colored window systems are not unheard of in Automobile Alley, and the stairwell issue is mostly moot as the garage is reserved for the tenants.

Here are a few screencaps of new renderings from their presentation to the DDRC today:

[soonerguru]

This is infuriating. What a bunch of spineless nitwits.

[Paseofreak]

These appointed boards are completely out of line and don't seem to know their role. Guyutes was a complete travesty as well. Cost those boys a fortune and a lot of sleepless nights for no justifiable reason.

[HOT ROD]

Since Rand was there to lend his disapproval of the project, I'm curious if anyone was there to dispute Rand and lend their support? If so, then I agree that the city might be vulnerable to lawsuit in that preferential treatment is being given to Bland (I mean Rand); among other reasons.

If there was no counter to Rand at the meeting then THIS is what needs to change. We can't just sit on a forum and voice our approval of design, we need to show up particularly when we KNOW someone like Rand is going to try to get it blocked. At least if there is somebody in REASON to speak against the idiot NYMBYS or folks like Rand who think they are the ONLY architect for OKC. If I were in OKC I surely would make it a priority, hopefully we can assemble folks from the forum who can as well.

Seriously, I totally think the DDRC needs to be revamped with real city planners who know urban design and encourage all schools of thought (at least in the downtown core) and not just be a rubber stamp for the status quo - which sometimes is counter-productive as is in this case.

[dankrutka]

What if OKCTalk organized a group of people committed to quality urban standards and design and then someone representing the group could make any important meetings. If you can get 15 or so members then it's really not a huge commitment. Hash through the issues to come to a reasonable consensus on the board and then 1-2 people show up to speak.

[HOT ROD]

That would be awesome. If I were in OKC I'd be on board.

I hope folks can organize and we at least speak the voice of OKC Talk consensus at these things and hopefully the status quo and back room boys club won't keep holding this city back.

[pickles]

What a disgrace.

[Pete]

Balcony battle: Downtown review committee rejects Automobile Alley building again
By: Molly M. Fleming The Journal Record June 16, 2016

OKLAHOMA CITY – Banta Properties broker Chad Elmore arrived a few minutes after the Downtown Design Review Committee meeting started Thursday morning.

“I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be a good meeting,” he whispered to Muhammad Safdar, the owner of 1122 N. Broadway Ave.

By 11 a.m., Elmore and Safdar felt differently. The DDRC did not approve Safdar’s four-story building. GSB Inc. architect Haven Mankin said he will appeal the committee’s decision, which would send the project to the Board of Adjustment.

“I came in with a positive attitude,” Mankin said. “I thought (the design) would work this time. I expected it to get approved. I’m quite shocked they brought up new ideas that they didn’t before.”

At Thursday’s meeting, the committee took notice of planned balconies, as it did at a May meeting. This time, they were looking at the design rather than their existence.

The city Planning Department staff’s review of the building in regard to the downtown business district guidelines states that balconies are not consistent with Automobile Alley’s character.

A rendering shows a metal rail balcony, with the area below the railing being all-metal woven fencing. Some committee members supported the balconies’ designs because they allowed a better view of the windows. Automobile Alley has several buildings with large windows.

Architect Rand Elliott, representing the Automobile Alley district design group, proposed closing the open metal railings and making them brick. Committee chairwoman Betsy Brunstetter disagreed with Elliott’s proposal; she later cast the tying vote on the application, meaning the application was not approved.

The DDRC is a seven-person committee, and all members were present. But committee member Chuck Ainsworth recused himself from the vote and the hearing on the project. Ainsworth and Elliott worked together on redeveloping the flatiron building at NE Fifth Street and N. Harrison Avenue.

At the May DDRC meeting, the committee did not mention the balcony materials. Members discussed how many balconies the building had. Mankin said at Thursday’s meeting that he had eliminated the second-floor balcony on the north and south sides. He also eliminated 10 spaces in the attached parking garage to create more leasable area on the third floor. He said the balcony remained on the fourth floor because it helps with the area’s flow.

Even with those changes, committee member Cory Baitz said balconies do not align with Automobile Alley’s character. Committee member Connie Scothorn said she’d suggest the balconies being made from brick and metal.

Mankin said the brick balconies would block the windows’ interaction with the street.

“We think Automobile Alley is a sensitive area,” he said. “We’re trying to build a building that brings services to all the housing in the area. The services need to have exposure, but the only way to expose them to open up the building more.”

The committee discussed approving the application if the balconies were changed, but Brunstetter said she would want to see that kind of change before approving it.

Mankin said he didn’t want to come back to the DDRC.

“We have a building that works,” he said.

[Urbanized]

The Auto Alley design guidelines have exactly zero impact on anything, especially not the DDRC approval.

The City could easily get sued over this. As far as I'm aware, there is nothing in this design that does not fit the DDRC's guidelines.

Automobile Alley has no official district design guidelines, but the district - and this building - is in the DBD planning boundary. Those guidelines call for new buildings to be architecturally sensitive to their surroundings. In this case due to the strong surrounding building stock to the south it should be taking its design cues from Automobile Alley, which has multiple blocks of intact fabric, almost all of which is clearly related to a building type, purpose and time frame. This building doesn't do a good job yet of drawing on the design elements of its neighbors to the south, and I think that criticism is valid.

The problem is that I don't think Planning communicated this clearly and early enough in the process. And since then they have deferred to Rand and given undue weight to an un-appointed committee that doesn't have purview. I know what I am talking about here; I used to chair that very committee. That said, I think the vilification of Rand is unfair. He is trying to fill a vacuum here, since Planning really didn't seem to give enough guidance to this project's architects. They are letting Rand be the heavy instead, which is unfortunate for him and for everyone else concerned. Though I haven't discussed it with him, I honestly think his motivation is to protect Automobile Alley's architectural theme and fabric rather than having anything to do with his Oklahoma Contemporary project, as has been alleged here. He is EXTREMELY passionate and caring about AA's historically-oriented architectural legacy.

Also, the Oklahoma Contemporary comparison is a total red herring; they might be right across the street from one another, but they are in different design districts. This project is DBD (downtown business district), while OC is in DTD-1 (downtown transitional district). As such, this project is once again supposed to draw its design cues from the neighborhood it is in (Automobile Alley), while DTD-1 transitions between the urban and the suburban, so has much more design latitude. This is very much on purpose, and founded on longstanding principles of urban planning.

[Pete]

^

Yes, but that "must be architecturally sensitive to their surroundings" clause is nebulous and has been in effect for quite a while, and still this committee applied that standard and still passed Chase Bank, the Dowell Garage and a ton of other pretty awful projects that didn't even approach this standard.


BTW, the OK Contemporary project is out of compliance with several of the guidelines that apply to it, like the severe lack of windows.

We'll see how the committee regards that.

I think everyone knows that who you are has a great deal of influence on these types of decisions.

[catch22]

This is very disappointing. Very disappointing. These boards are out of control.

[catch22]

What a d!ck... He is building that monstrosity called the Contemporary and he has an issue with balconies one block over?

Absolutely asinine. This proposed building will do more for the district than his enclosed suburban box with no windows.

[Plutonic Panda]

Very disappointing indeed and quite honestly, this makes me loose respect for Ran Elliott, who I usually support.

[2Lanez]

Does the DDRC know how they're regarded in this (the OKCTalk and general pro-OKC development) community? Say, after this and the Chase branch decisions?

[dankrutka]

Does the DDRC know how they're regarded in this (the OKCTalk and general pro-OKC development) community? Say, after this and the Chase branch decisions?

I wonder how many citizens showed up to the Chase decision and this one and let them know their thoughts...