Old library turning new page as condos
Council checks out sale, says $775,000 buys vacant building

By John Estus and Bryan Dean
Staff Writers

The city's old downtown library is on the way to being renovated into urban condo living with street-level stores.
A group backed by Norman Realtor Judy Hatfield will pay the city $775,000 for the building, 131 Dean A. McGee Ave. It has been vacant since the MAPS-funded Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library opened in 2004.

After renovations, the first floor will be available for retail. About 14 condos will be for sale on the third and fourth floors. Private parking will be available on the second floor for tenants, Hatfield said.

"I've already got the vision in my mind because I have been living and breathing it for a long time,” said Hatfield, who runs Norman's Equity Realty and backs Carnegie Centre, LLC, the group buying the old library.


Honoring original library
Hatfield plans to name the building Carnegie Centre in memory of the city's first library, the Carnegie Library, which was built in 1901 and demolished 50 years later to make way for the current building.
Hatfield is preparing to ask architects for proposals and hopes to have an artist's rendering of the renovations soon, she said.

The Oklahoma City Council gave final approval to the purchase Tuesday, ending a long struggle to sell the building.

During a 2005 auction, the only bid the city received was lower than the initial minimum asking price of $950,000, and it took two public requests for proposals before the city accepted the Carnegie Centre offer.

Sure is an ugly building, but good to see something happening with it.

Will anyone want to live in that bomb shelter?

Many may want to with these terrorist times, its a pretty safe and secure building. I'm sure they'll add more windows and appeal to it if they're going to market it as such, don't you think??

Hopefully.

Developer has big plans for old library
by Kelley Chambers
The Journal Record
3/16/2007

OKLAHOMA CITY – Judy Hatfield is completely serious about her plans to buy and redo the old downtown Oklahoma City library. She’s so serious that she plans to live and office there when renovations are completed.

Hatfield and her two sons, Dray and Dak, as Carnegie Centre LLC, are taking on the project after the Oklahoma City Council agreed to sell the building to her for $775,000 in January.

Hatfield said she plans to call the four-story building the Carnegie Centre after the Carnegie Library, which sat on that site at 131 Dean A. McGee Ave. until it was demolished and replaced with the existing building in the 1950s. The Carnegie library was built in 1901.

But the Hatfields will have their work cut out for them. The building has been vacant since 2004 and has asbestos problems as well as garbage and remnants of the old library’s stacks. Structurally, however, Hatfield said architects have looked at the building and determined it is stable and sound.

And while several architects have looked at the building and submitted proposals, she will choose one for the project by the end of the month. The same rings true for a contractor who will also be chosen late this month or early next month.

Hatfield, now in the due-diligence period to close on the building, said the city has assured her it will be cleared of trash and debris soon.

One unique aspect of the project will be the opportunity for users to purchase their office, retail or living space. The project is one of the first of its kind in the downtown core.

“One of the big things is, we don’t have any downtown housing for sale in the core of downtown,” Hatfield said. “People are going to be able to own a little piece of downtown Oklahoma City. I’m all about ownership.”

The only similar project is the five-story 125 building at 125 Park Ave., which Precor Ruffin Properties is selling as office condos floor-by-floor.

Hatfield said she has not been able to put a dollar amount on the renovations yet, or determined how much the units will sell for. She said they are not requesting tax incremental financing money or historic preservation funds.

Each floor will have about 12,000 square feet, which will be divided between retail and office on the first floor, about 20 enclosed parking spaces on the second floor and 14 condos on the upper two floors. Each of the condos is planned to be just over 1,000 square feet.

Brett Hamm, president of Downtown OKC Inc., said the project will be a great addition to that area of downtown.

“I think that project is another example of how development is occurring throughout downtown,” he said.

Hamm said it will be good to have a mix of rental and for-sale properties in downtown.

When an architect and contractor have been selected and work begins, Hatfield anticipates the project will take about 18 months to complete.

Hatfield’s company, Equity Realty, will handle sales of the units. Pre-sales have not begun, although Hatfield said she already has been contacted by several interested parties.

And while the property may not be the best-looking building downtown, Hatfield said she sees its potential as a thriving urban center, which is how she presented her vision to the City Council.

“This project in a lot of people’s minds has been ugly,” she said. “It is ugly. But I dream in Technicolor and I looked at how could this be enhanced and I put that in my proposal.”

Good to hear an update. Hope work starts soon on it and she adds some visually appealing features to the building.

whatwasthat? she named her sons dray and dak? okay then. -M

Wow. This is a really gross building. it'll be interesting to see what the developer does with it. They have their work cut out for them.

Speaking of ugly buildings in the CBD, does anyone know what the status is with the old Park Harvey Center? I had heard that it was going to be condos, but I haven't heard much about it...

whatwasthat? she named her sons dray and dak? okay then. -M
You have to know Judy Hatfield...

Wow. This is a really gross building. it'll be interesting to see what the developer does with it. They have their work cut out for them.

Speaking of ugly buildings in the CBD, does anyone know what the status is with the old Park Harvey Center? I had heard that it was going to be condos, but I haven't heard much about it...

Actually john it never was going to be condos. It was always going to be apartments and they are still doing it as apartments. They just started their marketing campaign. The apartments were supposed to be finished last September but as of late, Tanenbaum seems to overpromise and under deliver. It still looks like they have quite a bit of remodeling left to go. I sure hope they are going to do something with the outside of the building to make it more visually appealing. I also found out that Tanenbaum kicked out the Chic-Fil-A restaurant that was on the first floor. I know they moved out early last year, but thought it was to slow traffic. Well I talked to the owner of that Chic-Fil-A recently and he said he was treated pretty rudely with the new owners and didn't have much of a choice. I don't understand that, they would have made an excellent anchor tenant in a building like that and wouldn't have been in the way of the redevelopment.

Thanks for the update, Metro. Have either one of these developments (the old library or the park harvey center) developed websites yet?

well I actually own 3 websites for the Park Harvey (used to office at that intersection if anyone is interested in buying the websites), although I just noticed they launched one last week www.theparkharvey.com , however that site just links to Gardner Tanenbaum's corporate site and I couldn't really find anything on the Park Harvey on their website that was of any relevance.

As far as the old library, not too my knowledge, it's way too early (not in my opinion) but in the mindsets of these developers who are jumping on the marketing bandwagon too late.

Well, when you haven't even picked a architect yet, I'd agree it's a bit early for a website.

What would you put on it? An ugly picture of the building as is that says "I promise it will look better."