Edge @ Midtown

[Kerry]

I think the McMansion neighborhoods will become urban slums before either of them.

That already happens. This is the problem with sprawl. Instead of maintaining their homes, the people that can afford to move to the next great new subdivision leaving behind one that just grows older and gets more run down, usually due to renters and in the recent past - sub-prime borrowers. About 6 years after we moved from Tampa I had a chance to go back and see the old house. We were the original owners and kept it what I like to call "Disney quality". Everything was always kept immaculate, and not just by me, but by all the homeowners.

I was shocked upon my return. It looked like a bomb went off. Trees were not pruned, grass wasn't mowed, there were weeds growing in the sidewalk joints, mailboxes were falling off (or down), homes were painted every color of the rainbow, nearly every driveway had oil leak stains, and cars were parked in the grass. I was in shock and awe when I saw our old house. I am pretty sure I was the last person that had worked in that yard and I had been gone 6 years.

[Urban Pioneer]

Are there more renderings of Tannenbaum's proposal? His has the most units right? The singular rendering I've seen doesn't seem to suggest how that's being accomplished.

[king183]

Check out Steve's most recent post at his blog. It seems there are some serious shenanigans going down at the Urban Renewal Authority by someone who is trying to discredit Marva Ellard's plan or someone just did an inexplicably terrible job writing that report.

http://blog.newsok.com/okccentral/20...ital-property/

[Rover]

Seems like everyone on this board is a pro Marva Ellard with others not so much. If anyone other than Ellard gets it we will live through months or years of hearing about how she got gypped. I don't personally think hers was the strongest design, but I hope she gets it so we can quiet the conspiracy crowd.

[king183]

Seems like everyone on this board is a pro Marva Ellard with others not so much. If anyone other than Ellard gets it we will live through months or years of hearing about how she got gypped. I don't personally think hers was the strongest design, but I hope she gets it so we can quiet the conspiracy crowd.

Good point. I'm not pro- or anti- Marva. I was just reacting to Steve's post that seems to indicate either someone is trying to swing any favor away from her or it was just poorly written. I don't care who is chosen as long as we get a good design and strong build that contributes to the surrounding environment and city. And I certainly don't want this to become another source of conspiracy theories, which are often destructive to confidence in our city.

[betts]

I liked Chuck Wiggin's design best, but Marva Ellard's was certainly good enough to be in the discussion. My worry is that OCURA is dumb enough to fall for the smoke and mirrors of Henderson's design. "Fooled me once" don't really seem to be the watchwords here.

[Rover]

I think whichever is best for the development of OKC and midtown is the one chosen. If that happens to be Henderson's, I hope we have the wisdom to put many and early benchmarks in place and require solid proof of ability to get it done without changes. Everyone has negatives and bait and switch seems to be Henderson's.

[Kerry]

http://blog.newsok.com/okccentral/20...ital-property/

I asked Urban Renewal director JoeVan Bullard to let me attend the committee discussion. I was denied the request on the basis of the old excuse of needing to foster a “free and open discussion” and that I’d get in the way of that

If they can only be open and honest in the absence of outside ears, what are they doing the rest of the time when someone is listening?

[BoulderSooner]

i just hope that whomever they chose they require retail along walker

[okclee]

I was browsing the OCURA website (www.ocura.com) and it appears that everything is on the "up and up" with the Mercy proposals.

[Kerry]

I was browsing the OCURA website (www.ocura.com) and it appears that everything is on the "up and up" with the Mercy proposals.

That is awesome.

[Spartan]

I was browsing the OCURA website (www.ocura.com) and it appears that everything is on the "up and up" with the Mercy proposals.

I knew OCURA was evil all along.

[Doug Loudenback]

NEWS ALERT: A special meeting of OCURA will occur on Monday, May 16, 2011. It will convene at 8:00 a.m. in the PHF Conference Center’s Colloquim Room at 655 Research Parkway.

The Mercy Redevelopment Teams presentation times are follows.

8:00 to 8:40 Mercy Redevelopers, LLC (Marva Ellard's proposal)
8:50 to 9:30 Wiggins Properties, LLC
9:40 to 10:20 Cornerstone-Midtown, LLC
10:30 to 11:10 Gardner Tanenbaum Group

The memo to the above contestants says, "The Commissioner’s agenda remains limited, thus Redevelopment Teams need to be cognizant of their allocated time and prepare accordingly for a 25 minute presentation and 15 minutes to respond to questions."

The Conference Center will open at 7:30 a.m. and the meeting is open to the public.

[metro]

That's the same place they has the meeting where they chose The Hill "at Bricktown" over the other better proposals. Hopefully the fate of their last big meeting there doesn't carry over.

[Pete]

If you haven't seen it, Steve Lackmeyer did a great job covering the project presentations at www.okccentral.com.

[ljbab728]

If you haven't seen it, Steve Lackmeyer did a great job covering the project presentations at www.okccentral.com.

Pete, Steve elaborates a little more here:

http://newsok.com/developers-pitch-h...adlines_widget

[betts]

How anti-urban is this statement? The "gated community" concept is so elitist and paranoid, to me.

Tanenbaum said he likes to control access to his projects, and that by including retail, he suggested customers might include an unwelcome element.

Read more: http://newsok.com/developers-pitch-h...#ixzz1MaWeXv9g

[Larry OKC]

I liked Chuck Wiggin's design best, but Marva Ellard's was certainly good enough to be in the discussion. My worry is that OCURA is dumb enough to fall for the smoke and mirrors of Henderson's design. "Fooled me once" don't really seem to be the watchwords here.

Nothing to worry about. We can trust them. All the data isn't in (we need to wait until they complete the projects to pass judgment). And if some things aren't built exactly "as sold", they will at least get built and they will have made the best project they could with the resources they had available. And their next project should be approved without question.

[HOT ROD]

gated community with no retail is not urban at all.

[betts]

Nothing to worry about. We can trust them. All the data isn't in (we need to wait until they complete the projects to pass judgment). And if some things aren't built exactly "as sold", they will at least get built and they will have made the best project they could with the resources they had available. And their next project should be approved without question.

Larry I get your mini MAPS analogy There are ways to cut corners that are acceptable and understandable, and there are ways that ruin the function of the project. You have to know when to pick and choose. Where housing is concerned, easethetics and function are the primary components and I pity those who think we don't need to worry about either.

[Larry OKC]

Larry I get your mini MAPS analogy There are ways to cut corners that are acceptable and understandable, and there are ways that ruin the function of the project. You have to know when to pick and choose. Where housing is concerned, easethetics and function are the primary components and I pity those who think we don't need to worry about either.

LOL

I was hoping you might see it ;-)

No matter if private or public, they need to be held to the same standard. Deliver on what was promised, as promised. No smoke-n-mirrors, no promised grand renderings and state of the art/world class hyperbole just to make the sell. Truth in advertising. If they don't deliver, deny them the "second chance" or third or fourth....

[city]

LOL

I was hoping you might see it ;-)

No matter if private or public, they need to be held to the same standard. Deliver on what was promised, as promised. No smoke-n-mirrors, no promised grand renderings and state of the art/world class hyperbole just to make the sell. Truth in advertising. If they don't deliver, deny them the "second chance" or third or fourth....

I agree.. so Brooks/Henderson and Wiggin's projects should be eliminated from consideration.

[betts]

LOL

I was hoping you might see it ;-)

No matter if private or public, they need to be held to the same standard. Deliver on what was promised, as promised. No smoke-n-mirrors, no promised grand renderings and state of the art/world class hyperbole just to make the sell. Truth in advertising. If they don't deliver, deny them the "second chance" or third or fourth....

Using your argument, we would simply stop passing MAPS projects. It's not as if we have a MAPS competitor who might deliver a superior product. This is an apples to oranges analogy.

[Kerry]

Using your argument, we would simply stop passing MAPS projects. It's not as if we have a MAPS competitor who might deliver a superior product. This is an apples to oranges analogy.

We actually did but it was scrapped to make way for the new convention center.

[Rover]

We actually did but it was scrapped to make way for the new convention center.

Sorry, I must have missed that "plan" for the Ford site. All I ever saw was a general statement of vision with no details, timelines or financing. A real aternative has those things.