View Full Version : SandRidge Center & Commons




metro
07-29-2008, 10:37 AM
123 Robert S. Kerr (http://goo.gl/maps/ABGSL)
Height=393 feet / 30 floors
sq. feet=489,408
acerage=2.0

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/sandridgewiki1.jpg

Information & Latest News
SandRidge Energy giving Extreme Makeover to its new home
July 28th, 2008
SandRidge Energy giving Extreme Makeover to its new home (http://blogs.journalrecord.com/persquarefoot/2008/07/28/sandridge-energy-giving-extreme-makeover-to-its-new-home/)
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Links
County Assessor Record (http://www.oklahomacounty.org/assessor/Searches/AN-R.asp?ACCOUNTNO=R010012788)
Gallery

LIL_WAYNE_4_PREZIDENT08
07-29-2008, 12:09 PM
They shoulda just built a new tower

BDP
07-29-2008, 12:16 PM
Why would it better to have a dated and underused building on the market than to upgrade the inventory we have? I think it's this disposable mentality that has hurt Oklahoma City's development over the years and I think it's great that they are modernizing an existing structure rather than leaving it to rot.

Insider
07-29-2008, 12:28 PM
I agree, If everyone who came along just builds a new building, you would have a lot of empty, underutilized space on the market.

The only reason Devon is building a new building is because there is NO building in OKC that can hold all of its employees.

BDP
07-29-2008, 12:35 PM
Yeah, and I think what they are turning over to the market has been improved by their stay there. So now, with their move we have increased the inventory of desirable office space and are getting a new tower. I think overall, we want to see an overall upgrade to our office inventory in general and/or a conversion to residential where creating class A space would be difficult. This all works to making downtown a unique and desirable place to locate and build, hopefully offsetting the cost advantage of building on the outer perimeter, which only fuels the disposable building cycle.

sroberts24
07-29-2008, 12:54 PM
I think once Sandridge gets big enough, they will build a new building, and how great is it that when they leave the kerr McGee building it will have a new interior, well not completely by that time but not out dated by any means

Pete
07-29-2008, 02:18 PM
I would love to see before pictures and renderings for the interior plans for that building.

It just occurred to me that I don't think I've ever been in it.

OKCMallen
07-29-2008, 03:17 PM
They shoulda just built a new tower

Or not.

CuatrodeMayo
07-29-2008, 03:20 PM
I would love to see before pictures and renderings for the interior plans for that building.

It just occurred to me that I don't think I've ever been in it.

My grandfather was an accountant on the 29th floor when I was a kid. I went there a couple of times then.

Kerry
07-29-2008, 04:10 PM
My grandfather was an accountant on the 29th floor when I was a kid. I went there a couple of times then.

According to the story it should be just as you remember it. Right down to the harvest yellow appliances in the break room.

kevinpate
07-29-2008, 04:49 PM
could be worse, could be the avacado green ones :)

Pete
07-29-2008, 04:52 PM
I hope someone got some good photos before they started renovation.

I wonder if they are keeping the pool in the basement?

Luke
07-29-2008, 04:52 PM
If they leave it long enough, it'll come back into style.

OUGrad05
07-29-2008, 07:18 PM
Why would it better to have a dated and underused building on the market than to upgrade the inventory we have? I think it's this disposable mentality that has hurt Oklahoma City's development over the years and I think it's great that they are modernizing an existing structure rather than leaving it to rot.

I agree completely. Sand Ridge could easily build a new tower in a decade or less but at this point in time renovating and bringing our current infrastructure into the 21st century is a huge step forward and if/when they move on to bigger/better buildings they will have left a building move in ready for modern tenants.

OUGrad05
07-29-2008, 07:19 PM
could be worse, could be the avacado green ones :)

Oh gawd, those are making a comeback too :barf:

What happened to good old white?

Spartan
07-30-2008, 12:34 AM
Why would it better to have a dated and underused building on the market than to upgrade the inventory we have? I think it's this disposable mentality that has hurt Oklahoma City's development over the years and I think it's great that they are modernizing an existing structure rather than leaving it to rot.

What disposable mentality are you talking about?

I hope you realize that historically there hasn't been much construction downtown since the 70s. I also hope you realize that comparatively there still isn't much.

CuatrodeMayo
07-30-2008, 07:17 AM
According to the story it should be just as you remember it. Right down to the harvest yellow appliances in the break room.

I was a little tyke but I do remember everything being beige and yellow.

OKCMallen
07-30-2008, 07:33 AM
What disposable mentality are you talking about?

I hope you realize that historically there hasn't been much construction downtown since the 70s. I also hope you realize that comparatively there still isn't much.

Um, just look at our urban sprawl and that's what he means. Build it, use it for a bit, then build a new one further out...it's not a good thing to have low density downotwn, which is exactly what you end up with when you don't renovate older buildings to bring them up to par because then they stay VACANT. We're lucky duck SandRidge decided to renovate that tower.

rinni
07-30-2008, 07:59 AM
They shoulda just built a new tower

From the Wal-Mart school of real estate development. Build a new building and leave the old one to rot.

Luke
07-30-2008, 08:00 AM
Makes me think of Reno & Midwest Blvd. Old Target, Walmart and Albertson's big boxes just sitting there at that intersection.

ultimatesooner
07-30-2008, 08:37 AM
I wish the would have built a new building with a square mile of surface parking out around memorial/council ;)

taylor83
08-05-2008, 11:11 AM
As a .....

taylor83
08-05-2008, 11:33 AM
As a SandRidge employee, I would like to provide a few details that you may or may not know. About half of our corporate employees are already downtown. They office in the lower floors up to the 16th floor. Floors 17-29 are currently being renovated for the employees who currently office at the Valliance Bank Tower. I've seen some of the conceptual drawings and they are quite impressive. It's a very creative and modern design. The first round of Valliance Tower employees will be making the move as early as September. Then the remaining departments will move in one by one throughout the end of the year. The 28th floor will be all conference rooms and the 29th floor will be executive offices. Those floors are scheduled to take the longest. They say everyone will be downtown by January 2009. In addition, there are plans for a restaurant and to expand/renovate the existing fitness center. Also I know they have picked a firm from NYC to design the rest of the city block. All of these details were presented at our last quarterly meeting so I'm sure there will be more details to come at the end of September. Hope that helps!

OKCMallen
08-05-2008, 11:46 AM
Wow, thanks for the good info!

Pete
08-05-2008, 11:56 AM
Thanks for the information, taylor.

As much praise as we've lavished on Devon, Tom Ward & Sandridge deserve a lot of credit for stepping in and taking on that building and now spending tons of money to bring it up to date.

Looking forward to seeing the progress!

jbrown84
08-05-2008, 12:04 PM
As a SandRidge employee, I would like to provide a few details that you may or may not know.

Thanks for that info. So the employees that are there already were never in Valliance? And are the lower floors already renovated or is that phase 2?

taylor83
08-05-2008, 03:30 PM
Some of the employees started out in Valliance but they moved downtown to make room here. There was a lot of moving around a couple months ago because of all the new hires (mostly fresh from college) coming in. The lower levels were not gutted and renovated like the upper floors. They were just slightly updated to fit our needs. I believe there are plans to renovate the lower floors at a later date. Also, FYI, the floors being renovated are visible from the outside. If you notice there are 3 tiers and each tier has a different shaped window. The top tier's windows are the longer rectangles and these are floors 17-29.

HOT ROD
08-05-2008, 05:50 PM
very nice plans! Thanks for the update.

and yes, Sandridge deserves credit ala Devon~!!!

shane453
08-05-2008, 06:34 PM
Dang, sounds like Sandridge could get even more interesting when we find out what this NYC architect is planning for the rest of the block. I almost forgot that we still have to worry about the fate of the India Temple building.

DelCamino
08-06-2008, 10:11 AM
Glad to hear of their progress. I'm still hopeful Sandridge will leave the older buildings on Robinson, and the India Temple building, standing. The taking out of the Robinson buildings would kill the building/canyon atmosphere along that street.

DelCamino
08-06-2008, 10:14 AM
I'm wondering if, in all the new makeover plans, if Sandridge is planning on altering or adding something to the facade of the tower? As is, the building will, for next decade or so, be known as the 'old Kerr McGee building.'

If they were to add (if possible) a new architectural feature of some sort to the top of the tower, seems that would go a long way to change to mental history of the building.

Has anyone heard of such plans?

OKC74
08-06-2008, 11:56 AM
DelCamino - I haven't heard of any plans, but I've been thinking the same thing. The outside of the building, while attractive (maybe) for it's day, is a bit boring, IMO. Of course altering the exterior of the building would add a lot more money into the project, but I'm in agreement that something atop the building could change the look of the building completely...make it new and give it a fresh look. I've often thought the same about Chase...something that would get rid of the flat, boxy look. Maybe something that angled up from all 4 sides into a point at the top? Something like that may look good...I don't know...just throwing out ideas... Here is a link to the Dow Jones building in NYC...something like this is what I was thinking... New York City Sky Scrapers (http://www.nycskyscrapers.com/wallstreet/dowjones.html)

Pete
08-06-2008, 01:31 PM
I thought they had announced previously they were going to renovate the plaza in front of the building.

I think it would be hard to do much with the facade and although it's somewhat dated, it still looks pretty good, particularly when lit up properly at night.

HOT ROD
08-06-2008, 01:36 PM
I think they should just update the glass glazing, with some sort of coloured glass - something that is energy efficient and attractive.

Blue glass or light blue glass windows will make the tower attractive and add to it's LEED worthiness.

metro
08-06-2008, 01:45 PM
HOTROD, even better would be to paint the concrete facade black or some other color (ala Chesapeake did to the old Skrivner building off I-44 recently). And then they should put energy efficient clear green windows in it. Now that would look much more modern.

shane453
08-06-2008, 07:10 PM
Just to be clear... The facade of the Kerr McGee building is one of its most striking features... It won a lot of architectural design awards, and the distinguishing characteristic is the window size changes from small to big at the top, making some optical illusions. If you stand right in front of one of the faces and look up, the building appears to widen at the top.

jbrown84
08-06-2008, 08:50 PM
I don't think it would look right to add on to the exterior. It would look very tacked on.

taylor83
10-24-2008, 08:53 AM
Update:

Floors 17-20 have been completed and some Valliance Tower employees have moved in. The next phase of move-ins starts in a few weeks and will include floors 21-27. This will nearly complete the move from Valliance Tower to downtown. The executive floors, 28 and 29, are said to be taking quite a bit longer and they expect to move in after the new year.

jbrown84
10-24-2008, 09:57 AM
Do they have any exterior signage yet identifying it as Sandridge?

metro
10-24-2008, 11:44 AM
Not that I've seen jbrown. I also haven't heard anything about them funding the remodel of Couch Park and their entrance. I thought they were supposed to announce the plans last year then it got delayed until early this year. Sandridge has been awfully quiet since they've moved to OKC. Progressiveboy, this is one of those "large" companies that you keep referring to that OKC needs to lure. Sandridge was a good start. Now if we can buy back some of those energy firms that left years ago for Dallas or Houston and bring them back.......

jbrown84
10-24-2008, 11:52 AM
Well we need to diversify. I say let them have their Dallas/Houston traffic headaches and overbloated cost of living. Let's recruit some non-energy companies.

hoya
10-24-2008, 12:06 PM
We do need to diversify, but companies generally like to operate near like companies. It will be harder to lure non-energy companies to OKC than it will be to lure energy companies. We need to find some industry that doesn't already have a "go to" area of the country (such as Silicon Valley, etc), and start luring them in.

jbrown84
10-24-2008, 12:19 PM
I still think we need to do everything we can to lure Hertz here. They already have a significant presence in OKC with their financial and reservation centers and Tulsa is home to two car rental companies. It would make a lot of sense for them to move their headquarters here.

bretthexum
10-24-2008, 12:28 PM
I still think we need to do everything we can to lure Hertz here. They already have a significant presence in OKC with their financial and reservation centers and Tulsa is home to two car rental companies. It would make a lot of sense for them to move their headquarters here.


I've always heard that Hertz sucks to work for. Anyone else have an opinion? (Sorry for the threadjack)

lasomeday
10-24-2008, 09:26 PM
There is a lady I work with that used to work there a month ago, and she said they don't give raises and you are have to justify every piece of copy paper you use, and she was in accounting where documentation is a must. The problem is the top management in the Northeast from what she told me.

sgt. pepper
01-06-2009, 11:21 AM
Tom Ward sold 8.9 million shares of his personal stock to a Tulsa businessman for 50 million dollars. Should this be a concern, or is this normal stuff?

Kerry
01-06-2009, 11:48 AM
I think the biggest concern is that 8.9 million shares were only worth $50 million. I am continually stunned how and why people own stock in the sme comapny that provides their paycheck. Talk about putting all of your eggs in one basket.

Here is an example. I placed a $100 bet on Florida for the game Thursday. If Florida wins I get $100. If OU wins I paid $100 for OUs 8th NC. I win either way (unless Florida wins by 3 or less).

metro
01-06-2009, 03:12 PM
Plus isn't Ward worth over $1 billion, selling $50 million shouldn't be too much of a concern, considering most of his net worth is on paper anyways. I'd be more interested in how much percentage of stock he still owns. If anything, we should be happy another Oklahoman owns that much in Sandridge stock (obviously they believe in the company) and would help keep it out of the hands of out of state investors, REITS or corporate raiders.

sgt. pepper
01-06-2009, 03:39 PM
according to thier web site Tom Ward still owns 29 million shares, about 17.5% of common stock. So i guess Sandridge is not moving to Tulsa.

wsucougz
01-06-2009, 04:10 PM
I am continually stunned how and why people own stock in the sme comapny that provides their paycheck. Talk about putting all of your eggs in one basket.

It's the guy's company - his legacy, his baby. It's categorically different than some secretary putting 100% of their 401k in the Enron company stock.

Kerry
01-06-2009, 06:52 PM
It's the guy's company - his legacy, his baby. It's categorically different than some secretary putting 100% of their 401k in the Enron company stock.

Go tell that to Aubrey McClendon. Baby or not, you have to be smart with your money. I am not saying Aubrey and Tom are not smart but when you have that kind of money you need to seperate it from your own business In reality I am sure Aubrey and Tom did just that). After all, the point of starting a company is to make money. It is the same reason no one ever beats the house in Vegas. Take your winnings and diversify; don't just keep playing the same game.

onthestrip
01-06-2009, 09:20 PM
Go tell that to Aubrey McClendon. Baby or not, you have to be smart with your money. I am not saying Aubrey and Tom are not smart but when you have that kind of money you need to seperate it from your own business In reality I am sure Aubrey and Tom did just that). After all, the point of starting a company is to make money. It is the same reason no one ever beats the house in Vegas. Take your winnings and diversify; don't just keep playing the same game.

They did, the Thunder. I bet they are wishing they had that money back though. Two things stand out here. How is 23% of the company's stock only worth 50 mil. The other is that in the end this will make Kaiser even more wealthy. I guess it pays to have 50 mil in cash lying around.

Kerry
01-06-2009, 09:34 PM
When Sandridge was worth a couple of billion dollar Tom Ward should have been cashing out, not buying more. This all reminds me of CBS and the NFL about 15 years ago. Back then CBS bought the TV rights for the NFC for $6 billion. For $5 billion they could have bought every team in the NFL. After 5 years CBS lost the TV rights and the NFL teams are worth way more than $5 billion. Why spend all that money for the rights to show something on TV when you could just own it outright.

When I had my company we had 100 million share of stock. I owned 21.6 million shares. My goal wasn't to buy the remaining shares, my goal was to get the stock price up and sell what I had.

The Old Downtown Guy
01-07-2009, 08:48 AM
I'm wondering if, in all the new makeover plans, if Sandridge is planning on altering or adding something to the facade of the tower? As is, the building will, for next decade or so, be known as the 'old Kerr McGee building.'

If they were to add (if possible) a new architectural feature of some sort to the top of the tower, seems that would go a long way to change to mental history of the building.

Has anyone heard of such plans?

This building is one of the finest pieces of architecture in Oklahoma City and needs no architectural feature (aka crap) pasted on it to make it more interesting or alter it's image. There's nothing wrong with acknowledging the building's rich history by remembering it as the building formerly occupied by the Kerr McGee Corporation; not likely that the street names will be changed either. The new and the historic can coexist side by side . . . and should.

I don't think there will be any efforts by the new design team at Rogers Marvel Architects to change the exterior of the building, but I imagine that the master plan for the surrounding block may include the demolition of some, perhaps most, of the existing structures. I think the Branif Building will remain, but it may be the only viable building on the block. The India Temple Building has had a lot of the ornamentation carved off during ill-conceived "updating" in the past. It certainly could be restored if the building structure is still viable or repairable at a reasonable cost. The Skirvin Hotel was in MOL the same shape; much of the ornamental masonry was replicated and replaced. Restoring the fascade of a building like the India Temple is an expensive process and current economics may work to keep it standing for longer than it might have been otherwise, allowing more consideration of it's historical importance and giving it a better chance of remaining long term.

Some of the parking structure that wraps around the lower floors of the Sandridge Tower on the northeast corner could come out to create more public space at the base of the building on Broadway and the main entrance moved to the south side, facing the park rather than the present east and west orientation. Hopefully, the inviting water feature that was the hallmark of the curved south facing plaza will be restored or a different version reintroduced.

All in all, it will be a long process . . . twenty years or so.

Michael Smith

Pray For World Peace . . . pass it on

metro
01-07-2009, 11:59 AM
They did, the Thunder. I bet they are wishing they had that money back though. Two things stand out here. How is 23% of the company's stock only worth 50 mil. The other is that in the end this will make Kaiser even more wealthy. I guess it pays to have 50 mil in cash lying around.

You can't be serious right? You think they bought the Thunder for a money making investment? They knew good and well it would be a money looser for quite some time, break even at best. They KNOW their money would have and is better invested elsewhere if they want to make serious money. Professional sports franchises are not big money makers, but more for hobby or philanthropic purposes (which is clearly the case as they knew it would take OKC to the next level).

Shake2005
01-07-2009, 12:03 PM
Tom Ward must be in really deep financial trouble. Just over six months ago he paid $48.95 a share for 460,000 shares of stock and now he’s selling 8.9 million shares for $5.65, or 88% less than he paid last May?

Worse than that, he’s guaranteed Kaiser that the price won’t fall between here and February 16th or he will have to purchase the stock back at face value. Even worse than that he’s allowed the Kaiser Family Foundation (controlled by Kaiser) to restate existing stock warrants to purchase another 6.67 million of Ward’s shares at the current price for five years.

Ward basically just sold 15.17 million of his 36.95 million shares (41%) at $5.65 and had to guarantee the stock price to complete the sale.

From Forbes:

CEO of SandRidge sells stock
Tom Ward, the chief executive officer of SandRidge Energy Inc., has sold 8.9 million shares of his common stock in the company to Tulsa businessman George B. Kaiser.
The Oklahoma City-based company announced the privately negotiated transaction Monday. After the sale, Ward now owns 29.05 million shares of SandRidge common stock, or 17.5 percent.
Shares rose 99 cents, or 15 percent, to $7.67 in trading Monday.
Kaiser bought the 8.9 million shares for $50 million, or $5.62 per share. Under the sale agreement, Kaiser can sell the shares back to Ward at the same price on Feb. 16.
In a related transaction, existing rights held by a charitable income trust established by Kaiser were amended and restated as five-year warrants to purchase about 6.67 million shares from Ward for $5.62 per share, subject to certain adjustments.
Ward said the transactions were necessary for debt service and tax planning needs.
"Although I am disappointed to sell shares at this price, I am pleased to have completed a negotiated private transaction with such a highly regarded investor rather than an open-market sale," Ward said in a statement.

Kerry
01-07-2009, 12:52 PM
Tom Ward must be in really deep financial trouble. Just over six months ago he paid $48.95 a share for 460,000 shares of stock and now he’s selling 8.9 million shares for $5.65, or 88% less than he paid last May?

This is exactly the point I was trying to make. Instead of buying 460,000 shares at $48.95 he should have sold a few million and locked in the profit. Just think, he could have sold 10,000,000 shares (about 1/4 of his total) for nearly a half billion dollars. He could now buy it back for $50 million. He would have made cash profit (not paper profit) of $450 million in just 6 months.

The lesson I have learned is always get paid in cash. Don't take stock options, pensions, or promises of future benefits. Take the money now. No one can take away something they already paid you. Anyone can always break a promise, even a contractual promise.

I don't know, maybe these guys did think oil was going to $200 per bbl and we are in an oil bust.

onthestrip
01-07-2009, 03:37 PM
You can't be serious right? You think they bought the Thunder for a money making investment? They knew good and well it would be a money looser for quite some time, break even at best. They KNOW their money would have and is better invested elsewhere if they want to make serious money. Professional sports franchises are not big money makers, but more for hobby or philanthropic purposes (which is clearly the case as they knew it would take OKC to the next level).

Of course Im not serious. It was terrible investment, anyone can tell you that they overpaid for it. Im going to guess that the franchise is valued at least 30% less than what they paid for it. Nevertheless, I dont mind that its here now.

mcgrawsdad
02-02-2009, 08:32 PM
Kerry we are not in an oil bust. Oil will be 60 bbl by July 4th. A very healthy price that will keep the o&g sector in oklahoma running at full employment. I will also make another prediction. SD will be a $14 stock by labor day.

Kerry
02-02-2009, 08:47 PM
I guess it is all in how you define 'bust'. I take it to mean that an investor thinks the price is going to X but it only goes to X-1 and all of the leveraged investors have to take a huge loss. If Ward and McClendon thought oil was priced too high at $147 why did they keep buying company stock at inflated values? My guess is that they thought oil was going to go higher (maybe even to $200). They are in good company though - thousands of bankers thought exponential growth in the housing market would last foreven also.