SEC NW 50th & Western

[Pete]

BTW, I wouldn't be surprised if Chesapeake finishes up with the various zoning and street changes then sells the land for someone else to develop.

They've already sunk a bunch of money into this, over $5 million (!) just for the land; almost $2 million an acre. That does not include demolition, attorney, engineering and architecture fees.

They'll never get their money back but it's pretty clear the new leadership wants to get out of the real estate business.


And don't forget, they already have a relatively new CNG fueling station on the southern end of that property.

[BoulderSooner]

Chesapeake is still moving forward with having some of the side streets closed.

Have no idea if they plan to build this project, something else or nothing at all.

them pursing the side street closing was per their agreement with the neighborhood .. they stated that they don't really care either way

[lasomeday]

Did anyone see in the Journal Record that Chesapeake was denied to develop a site on 49th and Western?

[ljbab728]

Did anyone see in the Journal Record that Chesapeake was denied to develop a site on 49th and Western?

Chesapeake Energy rezoning bid rejected | News OK

[Pete]

It sounds like the only thing that was denied was re-zoning of the two lots on 49th street, although that's not made very clear in that article:

The Oklahoma City Council on Tuesday denied Chesapeake Energy's bid to convert a residential lot to business use, a decision Councilman Ed Shadid characterized as a “turning point” in efforts to preserve residential neighborhoods in northwest Oklahoma City.

Chesapeake owns commercial property wrapping around the corner of NW 50 and Western Avenue. It wanted to expand parking onto its adjacent residential lot at 1009 NW 49.

They already have commercial zoning on the properties that front 50th and Western, so I don't think their larger plan would be denied -- but again, that's not clear in the reporting here.

These are all the properties they own in that area; you can see by the original site plan below that it didn't even include those two now-demolished houses on 49th; however, it eventually changed to the last image which shows expansion into the neighborhood and the closing of 49th:

[OKCTalker]

Their secrecy has never served them well. From today's story in the Oklahoman:

“City staff and neighborhoods are all left to guess how the development is going to grow,” he (Shadid) said.

Shadid asked attorney Dennis Box, who represented Chesapeake, whether he could tell council members what the energy company planned for the proposed building at NW 49 and Western.

“I would if I knew,” Box said.

A spokesman for Chesapeake Energy, Jim Gipson, declined to comment.

[Nick]

Their secrecy has never served them well. From today's story in the Oklahoman:

“City staff and neighborhoods are all left to guess how the development is going to grow,” he (Shadid) said.

Shadid asked attorney Dennis Box, who represented Chesapeake, whether he could tell council members what the energy company planned for the proposed building at NW 49 and Western.

“I would if I knew,” Box said.

A spokesman for Chesapeake Energy, Jim Gipson, declined to comment.

How can an attorney representing the company not have any idea what that company's plans are? Perhaps I know even less about corporate real estate than I thought.

[OKCTalker]

How can an attorney representing the company not have any idea what that company's plans are? Perhaps I know even less about corporate real estate than I thought.

Even CHK's in-house lawyer, Henry Hood, and top real estate guy, Dan LeDonne, said that they weren't privy to corporate plans.

[bluedogok]

It doesn't surprise me that the lawyers don't know, they have always operated under a "need to know" basis don't feel like anyone needs to know what they want to do. I know in Austin there were a few who tried to operate like that but were routinely shot down by the planning commission, they could never get anything to the city council because they wouldn't tell the planning commission anything. They wouldn't listen to the advice of long time Austin developers, they were the type who didn't like anyone questioning what they did. Some were used to the behind closed door deals they did in the Houston area and were shocked they couldn't get the same type of response in Austin.

[Pete]

Planning Commission approved an ABC-2 liquor license for a proposed Hideaway Pizza on the property owned by Chesapeake on the southeast corner of NW 50th and Western.

You may recall that CHK originally proposed a high-style convenience store for this location after scraping multiple acquired properties. The land has sat vacant for several years.

The property as of yet has not been sold and the plan shows a bank building and drive-thru lanes to the east and another proposed, smaller restaurant to the south.

With a patio on the north side, the Hideaway would have approximately 6,900 square feet.

There is a current Hideaway location about 1.5 miles north on Western. The Wedge is very nearby as well.

McGuiness -- directly to the north -- offered a letter of support.

[AP]

Why would they put one so close to the other location on Western? Is that Hideaway moving here?

[DoctorTaco]

Fascinating. This would be a great addition to this strip! I'm quite confident this would not compete much with the Wedge. The two pizzerias just have a totally different vibe and product with Hideaway is also much more focused on takeout orders than is the Wedge. But what I do wonder is how much this will compete with their existing Nichols Hills location? I feel that is likely to be a much bigger drain (on both locations) than the Wedge might be on this location (and vice-versa).

[DowntownMan]

Fascinating. This would be a great addition to this strip! I'm quite confident this would not compete much with the Wedge. The two pizzerias just have a totally different vibe and product with Hideaway is also much more focused on takeout orders than is the Wedge. But what I do wonder is how much this will compete with their existing Nichols Hills location? I feel that is likely to be a much bigger drain (on both locations) than the Wedge might be on this location (and vice-versa).

I'd have to assume this would replace the Nichols hills location

[sooner88]

I'd have to assume this would replace the Nichols hills location

I would be surprised, as they put a fair amount of money in to it after the fire 4 years ago. It is an interesting choice of location. Between Nichols Hills and Crown Heights / Putnam Heights, etc., the surrounding neighborhoods may be able to support both stores.

[Bill Robertson]

I would be surprised, as they put a fair amount of money in to it after the fire 4 years ago. It is an interesting choice of location. Between Nichols Hills and Crown Heights / Putnam Heights, etc., the surrounding neighborhoods may be able to support both stores.

Me too. And the NH store is packed on weekends. It's possible they can pull off having both.

[Plutonic Panda]

Is Helm on Western still moving forward?

[Teo9969]

If they actually build that to the corner of 50th/W as it looks on the little map I'm going to give a big kiss to whoever made that decision.

It's the small decisions that make a difference in the long run.

[RustytheBailiff]

I've been hoping for an OnCue at that location. Now I will be ble to walk to Hideaway.

[rte66man]

Although they spent a lot of money on the rebuild after the fire, I suspect most if not all of it was from insurance. I hope they close the northern Western location once this one is open. I don't like the old location because of the terrible parking and poor layout, even after the rebuild.

[Spartan]

I would be surprised, as they put a fair amount of money in to it after the fire 4 years ago. It is an interesting choice of location. Between Nichols Hills and Crown Heights / Putnam Heights, etc., the surrounding neighborhoods may be able to support both stores.

It would have to be a lot to outweigh the positives of moving such a potentially lucrative use into prime space. I think this is a good move for Hideaway.

[Pete]

This property just sold to the new development group for $1.6 million.

Aubrey / CHK paid $4.6 million about 10 years ago.

[jn1780]

Although they spent a lot of money on the rebuild after the fire, I suspect most if not all of it was from insurance. I hope they close the northern Western location once this one is open. I don't like the old location because of the terrible parking and poor layoutt, even after the rebuild.

This is probably the best explanation on why their building at a new location. They can build a bigger more efficient building. I don't see operating two locations 1.5 from each being very efficient.

[Teo9969]

This property just sold to the new development group for $1.6 million.

Aubrey / CHK paid $4.6 million about 10 years ago.

Man...did Aubrey do more charitable giving to OKC through donations to non-profits or through real estate purchases at 250%+ of market rate?

[ljbab728]

New plans for this intersection as per Jack Money of the Oklahoman.

http://m.newsok.com/article/5542967

Hideaway Pizza's owners and a local development group are teaming up to bring a new project to a busy corner in north Oklahoma City.
Restaurant owners Brett Murphy and Darren Lister are working with William Mee and Greg Downs of Pro Realty to develop a mixed-use, three-building project with enough room to park about 155 vehicles at NW 50 and Western.

It's nice to see that the plans show the buildings pushed to the street on Western with parking in the rear.

He added the project will be integrated into the neighborhood using both sidewalks and lighting.
"We want to see a lot of walk-up business. We want to enhance that, both from the schools, the surrounding neighborhood and the Western Avenue commercial district," Mee said.

[Teo9969]

This is actually a super important project. Getting a high quality project pushed to the corner of Western/50th establishes the urban fabric from 36th all the way up to 50th. Right now, you get to 7/11 and it starts to feel more cut off.