heres what i'm sure is just a partial list of development for some cities similar in size.
birmingham: SoHo 76 residential unit, 2 buildings 38 units ea. located in homewoodhttp://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/okcland/sohoflats2th8hd.jpg
highland on southside 40 condo highrise scheduled for completion in 2006.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/okcland/2600highlandsign0at.jpg

in the birmingham area, don't know if its downtown, skyscrapers 30-40 stories ,looks like it should be in hong kong.(sorry no pics)
two 27-story towers in baldwin county, AL -condos-

charlotte: new 22 story tower-mixed use.

little rock: getting 17 story condo tower for thier downtown.
first security center just opened its doors, mixed use w/ bank marriott, condos and office space
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/okcland/17nstorycondo.gif

nashville: signature 25-35 story condo. possible to 40 story.

memphis:29 story vue.
16 story condo towers announced in southend
40, 30, 20, story towers built in a tiered arrangement on front street.

whats going on with the development here? are there no developers willing to put up new highrises downtown? studies show that there is major interest for downtown living. so why wont they put some highrises, or are there plans that i just dont know about?

Have there not been about 5 or 6 of these projects proposed in the past few months? Am I confused? The Montgomery, Tenenbaum's Condos, the Triangle District, and whatever the last upscale high-rise for downtown???

the montgomery is what? 6,7 stories? maybe a touch higher. the classen is a revamped '60's building, it's not even downtown. i'm talkin bout downtown high rises.
i dont think the triangle is going to have high rise. ive been to the web site. 3 stories i think is all they are going to do. i could be wrong, havent been to it in a while. so i have not heard of any high rise, skyscaper whatever going into dt. if any one knows put it here.

and here is a charlotte update. this is what they are putting up. lucky them.








http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/okcland/avenue.jpg

the avenue 36 stories

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/okcland/230_south_tryon.jpg

230 s. byron 13 stories

and the 28 story trademark. (no pic)


i'm begining to think i wont see any new skyscrapers in dt okc in my lifetime, and i'm only 24! ahahaha!!

here are some more pics of buildings going up in charlotte. not enough room for them in the last post.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/okcland/epi-renderNW.jpg

the epicenter 53 stories

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/okcland/park.jpg

the park 21 stories

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/okcland/cortside.jpg

courtside 17 stories

Continuing density downtown is a trend Oklahoma City developers must continue. The one feature about Oklahoma City's skyline that I have long enjoyed was the density of the highrise buildings. As long as carefully developing highrise buildings close together continues, Oklahoma City will have a better reputation for its skyline.

The issue here is the size of the projects being discussed. After the handful of residential projects that were announced, we can only hope that new residential development downtown, especially after I-40 is relocated, will ignite a renewed energy to live downtown and enjoy true urban living. Then perhaps a 25-story residential tower will grace our skyline. I still personally prefer a mixed-use 60-story tower to be built downtown. It will happen, without a second thought.

I think in the short term that projects like the Montgomery and the Classen (not downtown, but good example) which focus on renovation and/or converstion are best. We have a lot of empty space downtown and it would be great to see it filled one way or another. But, I agree that highrise living makes a lot more sense for downtwon and should be the focus of any new construction. Density is the key to achieving the lifestyle desired by anyone wanting to live downtown and it makes the sharing of services much more likely, increasing the motivation for development. You lose all that with sprawling low rise condos.

The birmingham developments look nice and appropriate for OKC, especially if they are affordable units. Do you happen to know how OKC's real estate market compares to Birmingham's? Were buildings cleared for these projects or are they being built on available land?

If anyone has had a chance to check out the SKYSCRAPERCITY.COM forum, you will find that OKC is way behind its peer cities when it comes to downtown development. One post stated how companies considering a move to another city base some of their decisions on what cities make the cut just by the fact that there are cranes in the sky in a downtown area. It shows how progressive an area is economically. Yes, things are good here, however, the average person passing through won't see it based on our lack of visible development from the freeways. It seems as though this city needs to make downtown development THE number one priority. Nashville, for example, has plans for a 65-story signature tower and a 55-story tower. Also, they are set to begin construction on a Leadership Square-like development in the West End district which is just across the downtown loop from their CBD. Furthermore, Birmingham is refurbishing a 29-story building that is equivalent to our First National Building, and they are turning it into a residential tower. I hate to say it, but OKC is falling further and further behind by the day.

One thing we have to consider...before we start thinking about building these structures, we have to consider what types of corporations will locate in them. I think it's obvious we already have a glut of downtown office space available. It doesn't make sense to build more office space when we already have space available downtown.

You guys mention residential towers. If you remember right, a residential tower was proposed in McDermid's Walnut Hill proposal. Unfortunately, Urban Renewal voted for The Hill, a collection of surbuban townhomes, instead.

Unfortunately, I think Urban Renewal has been our main problem for years. Developers hate working with Urban Renewal because of all of the red tape and the good ole boy network. Just see how McDermid got burned by them. Unfortunately, OCURA owns most of the developable land downtown. That sets us back.

I still think we need to consider turning First National into a mixed use development. A mix of retail, office, hotel, and residential. First National could become the first residential tower downtown, or possibly the first mixed use building downtown. Yeah, people continue to complain that First National doesn't have any parking. Well, Leadership Square doesn't have parking either. Parking away from the building is simply a way of life in most downtown areas, and we need to get used to it here. The Galleria Parking Garage isn't too far of a walk to First National.

I still think we need to consider turning First National into a mixed use development. A mix of retail, office, hotel, and residential. First National could become the first residential tower downtown, or possibly the first mixed use building downtown. Yeah, people continue to complain that First National doesn't have any parking. Well, Leadership Square doesn't have parking either. Parking away from the building is simply a way of life in most downtown areas, and we need to get used to it here. The Galleria Parking Garage isn't too far of a walk to First National.

And besides... What happened to exercising by walking? No wonder Oklahoma City is far from lean.

I may not plan on living downtown, however, if I did, I am FAR from being too lazy to walk to a parking garage.

OKC already has a high-rise residential building, Regency Tower:

http://mysite.verizon.net/res17zef/regency.jpg


And comparing us to Charlotte is a bit unfair... The Carolinas are one of the few real hot spots for growth right now and Charlotte in particular has benefitted greatly from the continued acquisitions by Bank of America. Almost all the good jobs from the various acquirees have been centralized in Charlotte.

The proof of our current renaissance is non existent downtown with regard to highrises. Yes, we have Regency Tower, but it's OLD. Our skyline needs new energy.

I love tall buildings more than anyone, but it makes zero sense to build tall, expensive structures when we are already way overbuilt. Our building boom was in the 70's and 80's... Leadership Square is a perfect example of a new building cannibalizing existing developments.


Also, there is still a great deal of vacant or nearly vacant land adjacent to downtown, and it's always more cost-effective to building horizontally than vertically.

I don't think we'll see more high-rises any time soon but we will see lots of in-fill and mid-rise residential and that's what downtown needs most.

is there anything we as citizens can do or say to civic leaders to get them to give out some kind of incentives for people to relocate downtown to fill up the older buildings? arent they suppossed to listen to us? you guy are so right we are very far behind the times and falling with each passing day. nope no new highrises in my lifetime.

Why are all of you so certain there is no high rise residential tower in sight for downtown OKC?

downtownguy, are you aware of something we are overlooking?

I've yet to hear of anything that is even speculative at this point.

The closest thing was The Factory but that seems dead in the water and wasn't high-rise anyway.


I'd love to see a new addition to our skyline but the only thing I've seen in any sort of planning stage are all 2-5 stories.



BTW, I believe the building code in OKC requires anything higher than 6 stories to have a full sprinkler system which is a major expense. It may have changed (although I don't think it has) but it's one of the big reasons you see a lot of 6-story structures in town.

That code exists in most major cities.

think of it, would you want to be in a structure taller than six storeys with a fire going on and there was no sprinkler? Fire engine ladders only go so high before they are ineffective.

Honestly, I would not feel comfortable being in a building taller than 3 storeys without a sprinker system. Three storeys (30 feet) is the highest I feel reasonably comfortable jumping.

I do think OKC should form a citizens oversight committee. And folks like you on this forum would be great representatives. I think Urban Renewal should be dissolved or at least have a citizen oversight committee for the reasons all of you have brought to the table - ineffective use of city land and resources, corruption and good ole boy interests, and lack of urban vision.

It seems daily that they forgo the true meaning of the name of their committee - URBAN. Heck, before they started tearing everything down, OKC had a pretty dense, Urban Downtown full of department stores, grocery and pharmacy, convenience, shops, restaurants, action : all of the venues we all talk about as missing from downtown OKC - but we used to have it!!!

I say, goodbye to the URA just like we said goodbye to Luther! They only hold/held Oklahoma City back.

Why are all of you so certain there is no high rise residential tower in sight for downtown OKC?

Becuase there are none proposed and any that have been proposed have been denied or failed. Those projects that have been approved and are going forward do not have a tower and that seems to be the desire of the city. If there are any in the dream stage, it would be hard to even consider it a possibility when we often can not count on developments that have been publicly announced and even approved.

I agree that comparisons to Charlotte are a little premature at this point. However, Birmingham is half the size of OKC, so I think that's fair.

Hell,

Little Rock is starting to look like a more impressive city. Their waterfront district is wonderful. They have light rail. They have a bustling downtown farmers' market. Maybe it was all largesse from Bill Clinton -- my favorite prez in the last 30 years (sorry, righties!:).

You can tell we're falling behind when we're praising a downtown district in Wichita! :)

You can tell we're falling behind when we're praising a downtown district in Wichita! :)

Could be worse. We could be praising downtown Slapout, Oklahoma.

OKC has 5 buildings at 30+ stories, while Wichita has none and Little Rock has 3.

OKC has 10 buildings at 20+ stories, while Wichita has 2 and Little Rock has 6.


www.skyscrapers.com

Hotrod, I'm with you - I was at the top of the Stratosphere in Vegas (after just riding the Drop Zone type of ride and having a near height induced panic attack), having a cocktail and the fire alarm went off. I think the conversation that ensued was similar to this:

"Waitress, what's that screeching sound?" " Oh that, it's just the fire alarm - goes off all the time - false alarm."

"Waitress, if it were real, how do we get down from here" "Well, you take the stairs, but it takes about 1.5 hours to walk down"



"Waitress, check please"

I do think OKC should form a citizens oversight committee. And folks like you on this forum would be great representatives. I think Urban Renewal should be dissolved or at least have a citizen oversight committee for the reasons all of you have brought to the table - ineffective use of city land and resources, corruption and good ole boy interests, and lack of urban vision.

It seems daily that they forgo the true meaning of the name of their committee - URBAN. Heck, before they started tearing everything down, OKC had a pretty dense, Urban Downtown full of department stores, grocery and pharmacy, convenience, shops, restaurants, action : all of the venues we all talk about as missing from downtown OKC - but we used to have it!!!

I say, goodbye to the URA just like we said goodbye to Luther! They only hold/held Oklahoma City back.


how would we go about forming this committee, becuase im interested.

OKC has 5 buildings at 30+ stories, while Wichita has none and Little Rock has 3.

OKC has 10 buildings at 20+ stories, while Wichita has 2 and Little Rock has 6.
- Key facts you should consider when comparing OKC to Wichita and Little Rock.
Look at the Montgomery. Will there be a NEW residential highrise? I don't know, though some are talking about it. Will there be MORE residential highrises downtown? That's almost a certainty.

I think the best chance we have for a high rise is for Devon to decide they need their own building. I keep holding out for that.

I never understood why some of the companies in this city spread themselves out in different buildings around town, when they could consolidate into one building. I believe Devon is in three buildings downtown. That doesn't make sense for a company that is growing by leaps and bounds to not be in the same building. I also hope they build a new signature tower that truly shows a major corporate presence in our CBD. Imagine if Chesapeake had built a new tower downtown instead of the campus in Nichols Hills. It seems like companies should want as much visibility as possible.

I never understood why some of the companies in this city spread themselves out in different buildings around town, when they could consolidate into one building. I believe Devon is in three buildings downtown. That doesn't make sense for a company that is growing by leaps and bounds to not be in the same building. I also hope they build a new signature tower that truly shows a major corporate presence in our CBD. Imagine if Chesapeake had built a new tower downtown instead of the campus in Nichols Hills. It seems like companies should want as much visibility as possible.

Which is more attractive to the eye? A google story highrise or several colonial style buildings?

I like Chesapeake's campus, but I would also like some new highrises.

A google story highrise. They speak of dominance and awe.

devon would be the greatest company in the city, in my opinion, if they would build a new highrise. but i have to think if chase leaves its building devon would move into that one since it is the tallest in the city.

Is Chase vacating?

i dont know im just saying if they do devon would more than likely move into that building instead of building one.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What every happened to The Green Light Attraction Close to downtown in The Park? They said that was going to be a "St Louis Arch" attraction for us. It was supposed to shine high into the sky thousands of feet. I always thought this project was unique just im not sure when its supposed to be completed or even started on?

There are some planned, these things dont come overnight, other cities are just now seeing them because of their planning long before us, give us 10 years and you will see several, in fact, possibly 2 within the next 2 years will start to take shape.

Fromdust,

Devon already occupies much of the Chase Tower!

In fact, they occupy all of their building (Mid America tower, 19 storeys) and at least 50 percent of the 36 storey Chase.

I think they could easily build a new 50 storey tower, but we need our city to get businesses to relocate downtown (and better yet, get companies from out of state).

Once the incentive is there, Devon could sell Mid America and build either a private tower like Kerr McGee or (hopefully) a new signature 60+ Class AAA tower which they would lease out (and reside in much of it).

Don't be surprised if you see Devon buy KerrMcGee Center in the near future. KerrMcGee won't be in OKC much longer. I give them 10 years, at best.

The main delay is probably the city inspectors office.
They are so behind it's pathetic. (Believe me, I know).
If you want something done business wise, you better plan to wait in a looooong line.
You would think that because of all the new downtown/bricktown developement, they would hire a crew just for those sectors to speed things up but nope, they have about 6 inspectors for the whole city. Trim the fat from other governement offices and redirect it where there is only skin and bone.
OK, I'm jumping off my milk crate now. AHHHHHHHH

Dungeon Master

This sounds like major ***** envy, who cares how tall a building is!
Large corporations are looking to re-locate to China or India so fast, to cash in on low cost labor, what does it matter.
To think that they are the least bit concerned about their image in OKC is to totally ignore reality.
If you think the accountants who are guiding major corporations these days give a rat's patootie about downtown OKC, or it's skyline image , I've got some bonds in a little nuclear venture called "Black Fox" that can't miss.
For those of you old enough to know what that means you'll know that every scare of "You'll be left behind by City(state) XXXXXX" is total crapola!
For all you gated community and upscale highrise lovers let's face facts, the only thing that is going to bring the former to downtown is progressive civic leadership as well as an investment in an educational system in both secondary and higher education.
Check the property values and tax base in outlying communities who have invested in both.
"Bass Pro" shops and "Toby Kieth" are only there as long as the pickins' are good!

Soonerstan

This sounds like major ***** envy, who cares how tall a building is!
Large corporations are looking to re-locate to China or India so fast, to cash in on low cost labor, what does it matter.
To think that they are the least bit concerned about their image in OKC is to totally ignore reality.
If you think the accountants who are guiding major corporations these days give a rat's patootie about downtown OKC, or it's skyline image , I've got some bonds in a little nuclear venture called "Black Fox" that can't miss.
For those of you old enough to know what that means you'll know that every scare of "You'll be left behind by City(state) XXXXXX" is total crapola!
For all you gated community and upscale highrise lovers let's face facts, the only thing that is going to bring the former to downtown is progressive civic leadership as well as an investment in an educational system in both secondary and higher education.
Check the property values and tax base in outlying communities who have invested in both.
"Bass Pro" shops and "Toby Kieth" are only there as long as the pickins' are good!

Soonerstan


But businesses that move international are relocating to high rise buildings in China and India. In fact, more skyscrapers ae being erected (excuse the pun, but I couldnt resist) in Asia than all of the rest of the world put together.