CHESAPEAKE CITY?
Housing, heliport may be in company’s future
By Adam Wilmoth and Steve Lackmeyer Business Writers

The mystery is over.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. has outlined plans for recently acquired property adjoining its corporate campus.

The company’s north Oklahoma City headquarters complex eventually may include up to 75 condos, restaurants and a heliport, according to a zoning application filed with the city planning commission.

The natural gas company, however, said the Planned Unit Development application is more of an outline of what may happen rather than a definite plan of what will happen soon.

“This just gives us the opportunity at some point to do those kinds of things,” said Tom Price Jr., Chesapeake’s senior vice president of corporate development. “There’s no grand design to get that done within any period of time.”

The planned development roughly covers the area from Western Avenue to Shartel Avenue and from NW 63 to NW 59. It includes projects that are under construction, such as more commercial office buildings and a parking garage.

It still is unclear, however, exactly how all the space will be used, said Tim Johnson, an engineer at Oklahoma City-based Johnson & Associates.

“The language in the PUD is specifically structured so that it allows flexibility within the plan,” said Johnson, who wrote the application for Chesapeake. “Chesapeake does not have a hard and fast master plan.

“As the campus develops, they may stop with office buildings and move on with condos, and that would be a good mix in the campus setting. They want to take care of their employees, so we thought about restaurants and cleaners. But nothing is concrete.”

Still, the city’s planning department Thursday approved the company’s plan and will send it to the city council for approval.

Assistant City Planner Bob Tener said the most immediate effect of the zoning, if ap- proved by the city council, would be to allow the campus to use a new four-story garage instead of requiring parking attached to each building.

Tener, who has worked with the planning department for 25 years, said the Chesapeake zoning request is fairly unique and can be best compared with the recent expansion of the Oklahoma City University campus.

The company’s plan requires specific architecture that’s similar to the rest of the Chesapeake campus. Also, buildings on the outer edge of the planned development would be limited to no more than 65 feet in height. Interior buildings would be limited to 75 feet. The application also allows public art of up to 25 feet in height and can cross public right of way, subject to approval by the city.

Chesapeake rapidly has transformed an area that was once an abandoned rail line known as the “Grafitti Bridge” as it crossed Western Avenue.

Working with architect Rand Elliott, Chesapeake has developed a corporate campus that is a gem among office complexes in Oklahoma City. It resembles a college campus — red brick multistory buildings with dormers giving it an academic air.

Chesapeake also has spent millions of dollars for a dozenplus office buildings and retail centers — including Nichols Hills Plaza, the retail heart of Nichols Hills — plus numerous parcels of land around its headquarters the past couple of years.

Southwest Oklahoma City developer P.B. Odom III compared Chesapeake’s campus proposal with Oklahoma City’s version of a multiuse high rise.

“We’re not going up 40 or 50 stories like they do in Chicago or New York where they have limited land. We spread out,” he said. “Chesapeake’s whole concept is vertical mid-rise or lowrise rather than a high-rise. It fits in well with our community. Instead of having a million square feet going up in the air, we just have it spread out over a few acres.”

It remains to be seen how successful it will be, Odom said.

“Mixed-use developments are highly successful in other areas of the country,” he said. “Oklahoma City is a spread out community, so we haven’t had a great deal of those. But there’s no reason to think it won’t be successful.”

Chesapeake’s real estate efforts, however, have drawn some criticism from investors and analysts who say the ventures may distract the company from recovering oil and natural gas.

Analyst Kristal Choy, however, dismissed the criticism.

“It will increases the company’s general and administrative costs, but I personally don’t find it to be much of a concern,” she said. “If anything, it reaffirms management’s confidence in the company itself. If they’re buying up land to expand the physical holdings for employees, I would assume that is a vote of confidence for their resources.”


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There are still lots of questions unanswered, such as:

What are the plans for Nichols Hills Plaza?

What are the plans for Glenbrook office buildings?

Why are they purchasing land and property (such as Knights of Columbus) north of 63rd?

again...what happens when they get bought out and 3 miles of office space suddenly becomes vacant?

If they were bought out, it would be no different than any other large employer. There is always that risk.

However, at least their properties are setup like a campus, which would lend itself to other uses, like housing.

Please tell me that Irma's Burger Shack is not in their acquisition plans. I don't know if their burgers would taste the same anywhere else.

“We’re not going up 40 or 50 stories like they do in Chicago or New York where they have limited land. We spread out,”

Apparently we don't have enough space to meet their needs or they wouldn't have to buy out businesses and tear down existing structures to do this. I agree Oklahoma City has a lot of land for development, and a great deal of it deep inside its borders, but that is not what Chesapeake has chosen to do.

I know there are differing opinions here on whether that section of Western is better as publicly accessible community services or as a private corporate infrastructure, but let's not pretend that Chesapeake is capitalizing on Oklahoma City's inventory of space as the above quotation insinuates. They have instead chosen to redevelop part of an area that was, in my opinion, already one of Oklahoma City's most vital districts.

As for their future plans across 63rd or what they plan to do with Nichols Hills Plaza, I think they are just kind of reserving the right to redevelop that in their image and are using this stage to establish good will. I think if this plan is received enthusiastically, it will be a signal to them that they can expand across 63rd or across Western with little resistance. I think that’d be the correct assumption, as well. I don’t get the sense that anyone has any real concern with what they do in the area.

This has all played out in the private sector, so it’s not as much of a civic issue, like those associated with Lower Bricktown or anything touched by Urban Renewal. But I do see it as a continuation of the long standing idea in Oklahoma City that we have to give up something for any development to occur. I just have trouble seeing that as true and think it has held Oklahoma City back from increasing its quality of life.

I like the more mixed use plans suggested in this article though. Who knows if they’ll do it, but it would be nice to return some of the property back to retail and restaurant developments that serve the whole community. The addition of more residential property could also be a nice addition to the area.

I have conflicting feelings about all this.

I really hate to see anything torn down in OKC, as we've done way too much of that in the past. Bulldozing Pearls still really bothers me, as it was somewhat of a unique setting and had been there for several decades. Did they really need to tear down restaurant/retail on a major corridor (63rd) and replace it with prviate office space?

Developing along the Classen corridor is one thing, as there is little there worth saving, but otherwise I wish they'd leave the areas on 63rd & Western alone.

Developing along the Classen corridor is one thing, as there is little there worth saving, but otherwise I wish they'd leave the areas on 63rd & Western alone.

That's kind of how I feel. I think what they do build looks nice, but, again, why do we have to lose stuff for them to do it? It's kinda weird.

They also recently closed on some existing buildings south of their campus, but I don't see any mention of those as well.



Quite frankly, there is still a great deal of mystery concerning their plans, as the article vastly understates the amount of property owned by CHK in that immediate area and doesn't begin to address any larger overall plan.

With apologizes to Steve Lackmeyer (who no doubt gets his marching orders from on high), this is typical of the local media wherein they merely listen to what people want to tell them rather than ask some tough, probing questions.

This lack of scrutiny is exactly why I'm so nervous about what CHK is doing in that area. By the time most people realize what is going on, it's way too late to do anything about it.

They also closed on properties west of their campus, Reserve National Life Insurance Company, across Western.

Also, I don't see the Pearls property in the map. Are you sure they're bulldozing it? It's on the other side of Classen.

I thought they had already removed Pearls but I guess not.

But I can't believe it will have a different fate than Laredo's.

I noticed when I ate at Irma's a couple weeks ago that Laredo's and Wendy's are gone, but I think Pearl's was still there (the building at least).

Yeah, Pearl's is still open. Are the plans for them to shut down and demolish the building? The map above doesn't seem to show any building by Chesapeake on the Pearl's site.

Pearl's is out of their current location come February, I believe.

With apologizes to Steve Lackmeyer (who no doubt gets his marching orders from on high), this is typical of the local media wherein they merely listen to what people want to tell them rather than ask some tough, probing questions.

You will rarely, if ever, read any article in the Oklahoman or its partners that is critical of anything a local corporation or developer does. It functions largely as a mouth piece for those interests. Basically, they repackage press releases.

I agree BDP, and it's often at no fault of the reporters but because of the huge conglomeration OPUBCO and its self interests. The only reason I even still read the Oklahoman is because Steve Lackmeyer's articles are the only one's worth reading. He often provides valuable insight into current construction projects downtown or gives insight to new projects announced, etc.

Steve does a good job but it's incredible to me that CHK can be devouring huge chunks of real estate in the area, there are multiple stories about them recenlty buying very expensive properties west of Western, north of 63rd and south of the campus...

Then, they hold some sort of press conference about their supposed 'master plan' and nobody bothers to ask, "Why does this not include half the properties you own?"

I'm not expecting open criticism, just basic reporting. This was a feature, front-page article and it excluded huge amounts of information.

I think, these days, questions are considered criticism.

I live on NW 58th and Grand Blvd. The house directly across from us and three houses next to it have been bought out by Chesapeake. Their backyards face Classen and then across the way is the Cemetary.
I'm wondering what the future holds for NW 58th street. How can I find out information about this? Where do I turn to, to find out if our house will be bought out? We love our neighborhood, but it seems we are all kept in the dark about what the future is going to be. The neighbors across the way have less than three months to move out!!!!! What is going on? We have lived here nearly 10 years.

Sell your house to them for 3 times what it's worth!

The houses across the way sold for twice what it's worth. The house next to it was three times. Our land is twice the size of theirs, so if they do come across and buy, we are expecting a lot. We haven't heard anything about Chesapeake buying us out though. Do you know how we could find out?

Sell your house to them for 3 times what it's worth!

Nah, hold out for 5 or 6 times. They can't move forward without the property, so they'll pay whatever it takes to get it. Amy, sell your house, and move into a new house 5 times the size of your existing house. Thank Chesapeake for your upgrade! LOL!

I'm wondering what the future holds for NW 58th street. How can I find out information about this? Where do I turn to, to find out if our house will be bought out? We love our neighborhood, but it seems we are all kept in the dark about what the future is going to be. The neighbors across the way have less than three months to move out!!!!! What is going on? We have lived here nearly 10 years.

I didn't realize they were displacing residents as well. I'm starting to wonder why the hell they didn't just build a high rise.

I didn't realize they were displacing residents as well. I'm starting to wonder why the hell they didn't just build a high rise.

The use of eminent domain to acquire land for private use is unconstitutional in Oklahoma. They aren't doing that.

If, however, they want to buy a house for much more than it's worth, then how exactly is the property owner being victimized???

Nothing wrong with the free market.

WTF? I didn't say they were doing anything illegal or that they are using eminent domain (which would be impossible because they’re not the government), but they are aggressively redeveloping a perfectly vital neighborhood. They are choosing to tear down one of Oklahoma City’s most vibrant neighborhoods instead of building up or on some of Oklahoma City’s vast open spaces. It certainly doesn't sound like the previous poster wants to leaver their house of 10 years, but one day, it's either going to be that or live on Chesapeake’s campus. Some people do see their house as a home and their neighborhood as their community. Sure, they get paid well, but not everyone wants to sell out their lives.

With the free market comes opportunity cost. Maybe you don’t care that OKC is needlessly losing a perfectly fine neighborhood so that Chesapeake can spread out over acres and acres of land, but some might. The free market and giving a crap are not mutually exclusive.

Your implication that people were being "displaced" indicated that you thought there was some eminent domain involved. Sorry about the misunderstanding. Also, eminent domain has been used in Oklahoma in the past to acquire private property for private use. It's actually a fairly new idea that this is now unconstitutional. (by new, I mean it has only been unconstitutional since around June)

I'm a big fan of people being able to make the best use of whatever land they own or want to own. For what it's worth, I think that an energy company employing a lot of people at very high wages is better than a neighborhood.

Consider this: When people get paid 2-6 times what their property is worth, and they relocate, what are they doing with that money?

-- buying an even nicer home than they had before!

These people don't go away, they just take their newfound money and improve another part of the metro. I really see no problem with that.

Our neighborhood WILL be changing, we can't stop that. We just hope to get in on the RIDE. Our neighborhood was not listed on the Oklahoman's map, yet we know that Chesapeake owns the other side of the street. Does anybody know how to get more information about Chesapeake's plans? If the offer is right, we will sell.

Yeah, sell it for several times it's value and buy your next house in cash and pay off your old mortgage. If nothing else, you can contact them and see if they're interested......