State of Bricktown, April 15
The Bricktown Association will host a press conference at 10 a.m. at Nonna's. Get the inside scoop on Bricktown from Mayor Mick Cornett, Lt. Gov. Jari Askins and Association Director Jim Cowan. RSVP by April 10 to lcryder@bricktownokc.org.

Just a reminder the State of Bricktown is tomorrow for anyone wanting to attend.

http://newsok.com/looking-for-answers-about-bricktowns-future/article/3361312?custom_click=lead_story_title
Looking for answers about Bricktown’s future
BY STEVE LACKMEYER
Published: April 14, 2009

The Bricktown Association will be hosting its first "State of Bricktown” news conference on Wednesday and the city’s leading entertainment district is going all out with speakers to include Mayor Mick Cornett, Lt. Gov. Jari Askins and first lady Kim Henry.

But will real issues be discussed? I expect some discussion on parking — that there isn’t a problem, that it’s just a management issue. And over the last couple months the association has been gearing up to unveil a new Web site.

But I’ve been hoping to get some other questions addressed. So far, I’ve had limited success getting answers from property owners even though the questions were distributed at an owners’ meeting more than a year ago.

The questions
So consider this a heads up, Bricktown. I’m coming to the news conference and I’ve got the some of the same questions drawn up and ready to fire at you:
→A decade has passed since the Bricktown Canal and AT&T Bricktown Ballpark opened. Despite the investment by city taxpayers and increase in property values, several buildings still have boarded up and broken windows and one even has chewed up wads of gum on the brick. What kind of impression does this make on visitors to what is hailed as the state’s premier urban entertainment district?

→Would Bricktown property owners tolerate living next to a home with boarded up and broken windows?

→The majority of storefront space at the canal level is empty. Are Bricktown property owners willing to consider that the rent being asked for this space is too high?

→Has there been any calculation on how much rent could have been collected on empty space if asking prices were dropped to $15 a square foot?

→What lessons do you think can be learned from the now desolate West End in downtown Dallas?

→Two years after a crackdown was announced on exposed trash bins, some remain unscreened. Why?

→Why should Oklahoma City invest any more money in Bricktown if several significant property owners won’t do so themselves?

→Is the "state of Bricktown” really healthy as long as space goes empty along the canal and boarded up and broken windows can be found along prominent buildings?

→The majority of storefront space at the canal level is empty. Are Bricktown property owners willing to consider that the rent being asked for this space is too high?

→Has there been any calculation on how much rent could have been collected on empty space if asking prices were dropped to $15 a square foot?

→Is the "state of Bricktown” really healthy as long as space goes empty along the canal and boarded up and broken windows can be found along prominent buildings?


I think these are the most important questions to ask.

Love the questions from Steve, I hope he doesn't let the property owners off the hook and he gets some real answers from them and city leaders.

i like this, please ask these, this really pisses me off now that a think about, we put our tax money into this place and these people sit on these properties!!!!

:iagree: with everything written above.

Dont let them off the hook Steve.

The Journal Record - Article (http://www.journalrecord.com/article.cfm?recid=97783)

Bricktown development on agenda
by Kelley Chambers
The Journal Record April 16, 2009
OKLAHOMA CITY – Jim Cowan said Bricktown is changing.


“The days of it just being a restaurant district with nightclubs are long over,” said Cowan, executive director of the Bricktown Association. “We’re going to continue to see new things come into the district.” Bricktown will soon be home to the American Banjo Museum and the University of Central Oklahoma’s Academy of Contemporary Music. Several restaurants and bars are also set to open in Bricktown this year.

But Cowan said the district continues to face challenges luring retail and office tenants, and in the development of additional residential units. He spoke about the future of the district Wednesday at a presentation to Bricktown merchants and city leaders.
An interactive Web site for Bricktown was also launched Wednesday and by this fall Cowan said the district will offer free wireless Internet access.

But two pressing concerns are residential units and retail space. The district is home to the Centennial condo project and a smattering of retail stores.

“We’re getting such a large influx of people coming into the district and they really are demanding retail,” Cowan said. “That’s something that we want to nourish and we want to continue to see grow into the district.”

In the next few weeks the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber will complete an inventory of leasable properties for Bricktown. Cowan and chamber leadership will take that to the International Council of Shopping Centers convention in Las Vegas in May.
That inventory list will also be a tool Cowan can use to lure retailers and show them what the district has to offer in retail space.

Numbers from the Bricktown Association show in 2008 there were 2.9 million visitors to the district, an increase of 900,000 over 2007. Cowan said Bricktown has started the year strong with visitors coming to the district during college basketball tournaments, before and after Oklahoma City Thunder games, and during several conventions.
Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett said Bricktown is a source of pride for local residents and a draw for visitors.

“Bricktown is becoming our identity for people who are coming here from out of town,” he said. “It is what our own citizens know they can count on for good entertainment when they invite their families and friends to come and visit Oklahoma City.”

But nearly a decade after the completion of the Bricktown Canal, some areas along the canal and throughout the district are vacant and derelict.

Cornett said he is pleased with the private investment in Bricktown in response to publicly funded features like the canal.

Cornett said market conditions will dictate the development of vacant and underutilized space in the district, but those who take a chance on Bricktown must be savvy and have a well-run business if they hope to succeed.

“Bricktown is not for amateurs,” he said.

“The days of it just being a restaurant district with nightclubs are long over,” said Cowan, executive director of the Bricktown Association. Several restaurants and bars are also set to open in Bricktown this year.
:butbutbut

OKCBiz > Leaders, officials gather to discuss Bricktown district (http://okc.biz/article/04-16-2009/Leaders_officials_gather_to_discuss_Bricktown_dist rict.aspx)

Leaders, officials gather to discuss Bricktown district
Pamela A. Grady
4.16.2009

Jim Cowan, Mick Cornett, Jari Askins, Kim Henry, and Avis Scaramucci. Photo provided State leaders, city officials and Oklahoma City leaders gathered in Bricktown April 15 to talk about the district’s future.

During “State of Bricktown” held at Nonna’s Euro-American Ristorante and Bar, First Lady Kim Henry, Mayor Mick Cornett, Lt. Gov. Jari Askins and Avis Scaramucci, and Executive Director of Bricktown Association Jim Cowan, expressed optimism regarding Bricktown’s recent growth and its future as an entertainment district.

Askins said more Oklahomans and residents of surrounding states are looking to Bricktown as their getaway destination.

Traffic in Bricktown has increased by 45 percent going from 2 million visitors in 2007 to 2.9 million in 2008.

Cowan informed community members that more restaurants and businesses have opened in the area in the past year, first quarter’s sales for 2009 have surpassed 2008’s numbers, and almost every business in the Bricktown district is currently hiring.

“Depending upon the type of business, sales have increased between 10 to 20 percent,” Cowan said. “We’re very optimistic about the trends we saw over spring break. The whole month of March was phenomenal. From basketball tournaments to conventions, restaurants saw record weeks and even Water Taxi had a phenomenal increase that they’d never seen before.”

Cowan said more activities will be taking place in the district. The sixth annual run benefitting Limbs for Life Foundation will take place in Bricktown in early May, and in June, Bricktown will host the National Harley Owners Group Convention.

“Bricktown will have the largest street and block party that we’ve ever seen,” Cowan said.

COMING ATTRACTIONS
This fall, Bricktown will add the American Banjo Museum and the Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma (School of Rock).

But while Cowan is glad to see that Bricktown is holding its own during this economy, he also expressed the need for further retail services in the area to meet the influx of new visitors coming to city.

“We have approximately 11 retail establishments,” Cowan said. “It’ll take some proactive work on our part and to work with the landowners to make it happen.”

Cowan said consultants are being brought in to help develop a master plan for future development in Bricktown.

“With the help of these consultants and the city planning department, we’re going to create a master plan for development,” Cowan said. “One that takes into consideration everything that we have down here, embraces it, but then also helps us look to the future to find out what do we need to help complement it to make this district better and better.”

Cowan said the report will also take a look at residential development and what role Bricktown should play with residential growth near the area “what it means to embrace an urban lifestyle.”

Also, a leasable inventory brochure is being produced by the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce to help the city reach out nationally to companies and explain to them why Bricktown is the destination for them, Cowan said. The brochure is expected to be complete within the next few weeks.

Further, Bricktown has partnered with Griffin Marketing Solution to create Bricktown’s first organized sales and marketing effort. A new Web site, WelcomeToBricktown.com, an interactive map and virtual tour of Bricktown has been implemented.

Cowan said Bricktown Association will be working with @Link Wi-Fi in the upcoming months to make Bricktown a completely Wi-Fi district.

“When you visit our district in the fall, it’ll be easy for you to do business, conduct business no matter where you are in Bricktown,” Cowan said. “Having Wi-Fi will be an incredible tool.”