Bricktown heads to Vegasby Kelley Chambers
The Journal Record February 19, 2009
OKLAHOMA CITY – Jim Cowan hopes Bricktown can hit the jackpot in Las Vegas.

Jim Cowan, executive director of the Bricktown Association, is working with the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber to put together an information brochure profiling every building in Bricktown. (Photo by Maike Sabolich)

Cowan, executive director of the Bricktown Association, is working with the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber to put together an information brochure profiling every building in Bricktown to take to the yearly International Council of Shopping Centers expo in Las Vegas.
The event is designed to bring together retailers, industry leaders and representatives from cities and states across the country to rub elbows and make deals.

It will be Cowan’s first trip to the expo, and the first time statistical information, lease rates, photos, and the condition of Bricktown buildings have been compiled in one volume. The chamber is producing the brochure.
“If X-Y-Z retailer says they are interested in the downtown area we’ll be able to give them the options available,” Cowan said. “What we want to be able to do is go to this national convention and say ‘if you’re considering Oklahoma City there’s not a better place than Bricktown.’”

The chamber will be there promoting the city as a whole, but will present Bricktown as a giant shopping center, focusing on the area north of Reno Avenue.
“We will target some national retailers for that north canal area,” said Alison Oshel, director of community redevelopment with the chamber.
Cowan said the information will also be used after the convention as the district tries to lure local and national interest. He said that up to this point, Bricktown landlords have handled their own leasing, which will continue, but a possible tenant will now have a plethora of information at their fingertips.

Jeff Brown owns the Miller Jackson building in Bricktown, and has a small amount of empty space. One area of his building is set for the first Oklahoma City branch of the New York-based bar chain Coyote Ugly Saloon.
Brown said the information being compiled by Cowan and the chamber for the convention will benefit all Bricktown stakeholders.
“The rising tide floats all boats,” Brown said. “I’m delighted to have Mr. Cowan go and represent us there.”

Kevyn Colburn, vice president for leasing at Morris Enterprises, will attend the ICSC convention for the 16th consecutive year.
Colburn said for Cowan, or anyone making the rounds at ICSC, the main advantage is planning ahead and knowing the retailers with whom one wants to talk. Networking is the way many deals get done.
“The No. 1 thing you can do is set up your appointments prior to the convention,” she said. “The key is having pre-arranged meetings.”
Oshel said attendance is expected to be down at the convention this year because of the economy, but that could work in Oklahoma City and Bricktown’s favor.
“Oklahoma City and Bricktown have a terrific story to tell,” she said. “Where other cities are going to be hurting because their local economies are in such distress, we may be able to get some nods from more national retailers.”

I'm glad to see Cowan and Oshel pushing for downtown retail. Not enough has been done in the past.

The only thing that may come out of this is an additional hotel. Almost all of the retailers there are food, mostly fast. Plus Bricktown is an extremely hard sell because of the demographics, which is less than 2,000 living within 1 mile.

Vegasby, sounds like a magical place.

soonergolfer, yet again you are forgetting that Bricktown is a TOURIST destination and sees over 8 million in foot traffic a year. That's nothing to balk at. If all these conventioners and people going to the Ford Center had a little more to do before going to an event they would. Retail makes sense w/o residents.

Trust me, I know about Bricktown and its real estate. I have been to ICSC the last 3 years. There are never any soft good retailers who attend the convention. It really is mostly big developers, hotels, and tons of food chains. Any clothing store will have a big issue with parking and ease of access to the retail areas. That is why only mostly local retailers have had any interest in the Bricktown area, aside from a few bars/restaurants. They would prefer either Penn Sq. or something like the Town Center 9 times out of 10.

How much retail does San Antonio have along their canal?

I know they have the indoor mall that is connected to the canal, but is there any retail that isn't in the mall?

Trust me, I know about Bricktown and its real estate. I have been to ICSC the last 3 years. There are never any soft good retailers who attend the convention. It really is mostly big developers, hotels, and tons of food chains. Any clothing store will have a big issue with parking and ease of access to the retail areas. That is why only mostly local retailers have had any interest in the Bricktown area, aside from a few bars/restaurants. They would prefer either Penn Sq. or something like the Town Center 9 times out of 10.

Have you been to The Plaza in Kansas City??

Yeah I have been to The Plaza. It is a great area.

Point is, that is a similar tourist-friendly urban area with parking garages and it is filled with national retailers.

I see the point, but The Plaza and Bricktown are very different. I can't see Bricktown being close to the Plaza. Its possible if they do something once I-40 moves and they start new developments to the south, then maybe. The problem is that the existing buildings in Bricktown are very old and cost a fortune to fix up. Also, there really is no continuity here. The Plaza is so much more confined and user friendly.

Any clothing store will have a big issue with parking and ease of access to the retail areas.

Maybe only because it's Oklahoma City and they don't see the potential or that it hasn't been developed with any real eye towards density.

Many major shopping districts in the country don't have much parking and most Oklahomans would say the access is bad. Most of those, however, have a density of residents and public transit. So, really, we're basically saying it won't happen here, because people won't move in without the services and services won't move in without the people.

So, clearly, what it will take is vision and planning. That, at least, is what this move is trying to address. It's not like they will go to any convention once and magically fill up bricktown. It takes constant and persistent marketing and networking to create an urban development where the demographics don't fit the turnkey formulas of potential corporate run tenants. It will most likely take a comprehensive vision by a few select individuals with a solid track record.

How do you find people like that and get this in front of them? How do you find those people who are actually trying to find expansion opportunities in a contracting economy? You pound the pavement and this is a start. You have to put it front of thousands of people before you find the one that can do it and wants to do it.

I see the point, but The Plaza and Bricktown are very different. I can't see Bricktown being close to the Plaza. Its possible if they do something once I-40 moves and they start new developments to the south, then maybe. The problem is that the existing buildings in Bricktown are very old and cost a fortune to fix up. Also, there really is no continuity here. The Plaza is so much more confined and user friendly.

I don't really think the Plaza is at all more confined and user friendly. What it does have is a bunch of shops, so that you can do a lot of shopping in a small area. Were Bricktown full of shops it would be the same. It's not, but that's more because of how our downtown was used in the last 40 years and the fact that Bricktown was never a retail destination than because there's a continuity problem in Bricktown.

I don't really think the Plaza is at all more confined and user friendly. What it does have is a bunch of shops, so that you can do a lot of shopping in a small area.

Exactly. And the buildings are not much newer than Bricktown. They never sat empty, sure, but they would work fine for retail if someone had the vision to create some critical mass like The Plaza has.

It also has free parking garages... hmm...