OKC residential towers change hands, for sale
Journal Record
March 21, 2008

OKLAHOMA CITY – There was a time when a handful of high-rise apartment buildings began popping up in Oklahoma City. During the late 1950s and into the 1960s, three residential high-rises were built around Oklahoma City, and despite ups-and-downs over the years, the properties still function as apartments.

Now decades after the properties were built, their conditions vary. Two of the properties recently sold, and the third is on the market. In the past few years, developers have also taken two 1960s-era office buildings in Oklahoma City and converted the structures into apartments and condos. But the first residential towers on the scene were the Lakeview Towers, the Tiffany House and the Regency Tower.

Anthony McDermid, with TAParchitecture, said those three high-rise apartments in Oklahoma City are poured-in-place concrete archetypical of residential towers that were built in the 1960s around the world. “The design was fairly prevalent in the ’60s,” he said. The reinforced poured-in-place concrete buildings originated in France, and then began to spread around the world. McDermid said the design could be compared to standing a bottle crate on its edge so that the entire face of the apartment can be glass or a lightweight material.

Lakeview Towers, at 6001 N. Brookline Ave., was built in 1959. The 15-story, 170,940-square-foot tower, has 195 units. Since it was first built, however, the tower has undergone some renovation, but still has many of the original core building functions including heat and air systems. The plumbing and wiring systems are also in need of updates.

The tower sold last Friday to Massachusetts-based VTT Management Inc., which will also manage the property. Jason Little, Gary Gregory and Andy Burnett, with Sperry Van Ness Oklahoma, brokered the deal.

Little said the seller, MMA OK LLC, acquired the property through a foreclosure. The property was listed at $5 million with a bid deadline of Feb. 29. Little said by the deadline 16 buyers had made an offer. One condition, however, was that rehabilitation estimates must be addressed for a new heat and air system, as well as wiring and plumbing upgrades, which were estimated to run from $4 million up to about $8.5 million.“Many systems in the building are 50 years old,” Little said. Knowing the investment that would be required for the property, the buyer closed on the property one week after placing a winning bid of $3.23 million. Little said the price was discounted because of the required rehabilitation costs. He said the building underwent a mostly cosmetic remodel in 1997.

Just south of the Lakeview Towers across Northwest Expressway is the Tiffany House Apartments, a 12-story tower built in 1966, at 5505 N. Brookline Ave. The 93,920-square-foot tower, with 124 units, sold to a California buyer in 2005 for $3.9 million, and sold to another California buyer last week for an undisclosed price. On Thursday, the Oklahoma County assessor’s office did not yet have the sale documents.

A third high-rise apartment complex, the Regency Tower, at 333 NW Fifth St., has been in downtown Oklahoma City since 1967. The 24-story, 230,812-square-foot Regency, served as downtown’s only high-rise apartment for several decades. The next closest is the seven-story mid-rise Aberdeen Apartments at 125 NW 15th St. The 274-unit Regency, which underwent a major renovation after it was damaged in the federal building bombing in 1995, is on the market for $15.3 million. The building previously sold in 2004 for $11.3 million.

Darren Currin, vice president and research director for OKC Property Research LLC, said he is not surprised the properties have continued to draw interest from out-of-state buyers.“That’s really attractive to out-of-state investors especially those from large markets dominated with apartment high-rises to then come here,” he said. “It’s attractive to own one of the few in town.” And as new apartments and condominiums have sprung up around Oklahoma City, two developments in the past few years have worked to turn 1960s high-rise office buildings into residential units.

The 18-story Classen High Rise Apartments, built in 1966, at 2200 N. Classen Blvd., was converted from an office building and now has both apartments and retail space.

Likewise the former Founders Tower, at 5900 Mosteller Dr., now known as 360° at Founders Plaza, a 20-story office building from 1964, is undergoing a renovation for 65 high-end condominiums.


The Regency Tower, at 333 NW Fifth St., is a high-rise style apartment building for sale in downtown Oklahoma City. The asking price is $15.3 million. (Photo by James Keathley)