Omni Hotel

[_Cramer_]

I'm excited more towers are being built, just a little apprehensive as to what they will look like.

[ethansisson]

What a minute. You say we shouldn't have something overwrought and pretentious but then you say Devon is a great example being recognizable and understated. I think that big phallic object in downtown is quite pretentious, out of place and hardly understated.

That's interesting. How do you figure? The best I can deduce is that you think it's too tall ("phallic"), in particular for the lot it's on ("out of place"). But I'm not sure how that makes it pretentious. As for any phallic effect, do you see a phallus in any tower that's not rectangular? Would you rather Devon was shorter so that it didn't appear phallic to you?

I think Pickard Chilton designs some of the most elegant and dignified buildings using honest and simple forms, and Devon is no exception. Accuse pretentiousness, if you like, but at least Devon could never be called gaudy, as the Westin Diplomat is.

[hoya]

The Devon building has a classic appearance. It is simple and elegant. It may be much bigger than the surrounding buildings, but they needed the space. It's already full. They are going to have to build a second tower now.

[Plutonic Panda]

Imagine if it were the originally designed 1000 footer!

That would have amazing. Taller than anything in Houston!

[JoninATX]

It would be close, but no cigar. The tallest buildings in Houston as well as Texas is 1,002ft.

[Mississippi Blues]

And Devon Tower was never supposed to be 1,000ft, it was supposed to be 925ft. It would've been taller than anything in Dallas by 4ft, but JPMorgan Chase Tower (1,002ft) and Wells Fargo Plaza (992ft) in Houston both would be taller.

[Plutonic Panda]

It would be close, but no cigar. The tallest buildings in Houston as well as Texas is 1,002ft.

Oh man that's awesome. Never realized H town had anything over a 1,000ft!

[Laramie]

Baltimore Marriott Waterfront



32 stories, 315 feet high, 750 rooms

Five feet higher than our present Bank of Oklahoma Plaza at 310 feet.

"Oklahoma City looks oh-so pretty... ...as I get my kicks on Route 66." --Nat King Cole.

[bombermwc]

Is it just me or do the articles by Steve in the Oklahoman seem more like comments off of the Mystery Tower thread these days than actual facts? Preftakes, really? That's you're "solid" information lead for a tower? Something we've discussed here without absolutely zero factual indication that anything is in the works.

Back to the CC Hotel though, the thing really does need to be about the size of that Baltimore Marriott above. It's not HUGE, but it is sufficient to give plenty of block-room space for larger conventions while not over saturating the market for the surrounding hotels as well. I'm not sure if i'm going to say this in a way that it is clear but i'll try. The CC hotel is going to be busy with CC traffic and shouldn't DE-tract from the other hotel options downtown, even if it's a significantly large hotel, in comparison to current hotel traffic. Other, non-CC, events will continue to fill the other hotels as they are today. If CC traffic picks up like we all hope it will, then it would mean that the increased traffic simply flows to the attached hotel. Not everyone stays at the "convention hotel", but a large portion will. Often companies are willing to pay a little more for that rather than pay for another hotel. it's always seemed odd to me, but sometimes i used to have to argue to stay at a cheaper hotel down the street (i dont care for the Marriott model of charging for wifi/parking/etc). I'd usually request a Hampton/HIE/Best Western/etc...something cheap that had free "breakfast", if that's what you call it LOL, etc. But the problem came in from a large corporation like ours getting deals with companies like Marriott so a cheaper bill was resolved on the back-end that I didn't see. So i say that just to say that the price you see online, isn't always the price the company pays when all is said and done. With as many tradeshows and client visits as our employees made, it really worked out nicely. And i only say that because if Marriott is chosen (and i really feel like they will because it's the generic option and we dont exactly get creative here with CC stuff), then it would keep those corporate folks populating the CC Hotel, while the normal visitors would still go with the other options around. Sorry, i know it's clear as mud...just not really articulating it well....must be friday morning and i've already checked out for the day.

[Plutonic Panda]

I hope it's taller than that

[warreng88]

I hope it's taller than that

You hope it's taller than the Baltimore Marriott which is 430 feet tall? That would put it around the same height as the Oklahoma Tower and the City Place Tower and taller than Sandridge. I think that would be pretty awesome. I would rather it be shorter and take up the majority of the streetfront of Robinson than a really tall skinny tower.

[s00nr1]

Here's another Omni design (San Diego) that's similar to their Fort Worth CC hotel that I'd love to see for the OKC CC site:

Omni San Diego
Cost: $124M (2004)
Height: 32 stories, 385 feet
Rooms: 511
Sq ft: 600,000

[BG918]

I love the Omni in San Diego, both the exterior and interior. That would be a major win for downtown to get something like that.

[s00nr1]

I love the Omni in San Diego, both the exterior and interior. That would be a major win for downtown to get something like that.

Yeah I try to stay there every time I'm in San Diego for business.

[soondoc]

I think they should seriously look at doing something with a little bit of residential mix. They could build something like the Omni in San Diego or Ft. Worth that is about 28 floors designated for the hotel. It would be awesome and I would think high demand for approximately 6-8 floors on top of those with residential use. Could you imagine the views of the skyline and Peake in the next few years? That is a great location for some great views. It would also give more height to the tower and more additional residents to the DT area.

I could see this end up being a 450-500 tower in this case and it could look amazing. Does anyone else like this idea or is it not a good idea. I just know that several cities, even Little Rock have done this and its been quite successful and really cool. For that matter, residents could even buy for investment purposes and lease out a 2-3 bdr condo for those who are seeking more than a hotel room. Heck, I might even invest in something like that and rent that thing out. In fact, I think they should build about 10 stories of residential on top of that hotel because I think quite a few people would prefer that condo feel as opposed to a hotel room for several days. Just some food for thought.

[Plutonic Panda]

You hope it's taller than the Baltimore Marriott which is 430 feet tall? That would put it around the same height as the Oklahoma Tower and the City Place Tower and taller than Sandridge. I think that would be pretty awesome. I would rather it be shorter and take up the majority of the streetfront of Robinson than a really tall skinny tower.

My bad, I was thinking of a different tower

[warreng88]

My bad, I was thinking of a different tower

No worries, when I read it, I immediately thought it said Biltmore and due to my age, I did not think about the one downtown that was removed during Urban Renewal, but the one on Meridian and thought, yeah I don't want that downtown...

[Laramie]

Here's another Omni design (San Diego) that's similar to their Fort Worth CC hotel that I'd love to see for the OKC CC site:

Omni San Diego
Cost: $124M (2004)
Height: 32 stories, 385 feet
Rooms: 511
Sq ft: 600,000

Looks great!

This would blend in with the Devon Tower and the proposed OG&E Tower. Glass façade with 700 - 715 rooms would shore up our needs as we approach 2020. Forty-42 stories of this model for 700+/- rooms; the height range 480-495 feet (sq.ft 800,000) comparable to our 2nd largest building--the Chase Tower.

I agree. I would really like to see OKC get a new second tallest. However, that is exciting to this of having all of those towers going up on Hudson at virtually the same time. Even though they are much shorter than the Devon tower, they will still help balance the skyline from the southwest angle, which is the angle it currently looks worst from.

Would settle for a third tallest building slightly smaller than Chase Tower. Could be developed for mixed-use (hotel, condo-residential top floors) as a part of the convention center complex in the neighborhood of 40 stories. This would also help balance the skyline.

"Oklahoma City looks oh-so pretty... ...as I get my kicks on Route 66." --Nat King Cole.

[urbanCOWBOY]

Is this rendering out-dated on City of Oklahoma City | Public Information & Marketing ?

[Pete]

^

Yes, that was a very early concept.

The exact design is still in process.

[Laramie]

How about a 735-room version of Tulsa's Camelot Hotel?

Could OKC resurrect a 20-25 story convention center hotel with a modern theme design of the once historic 330 - room
Camelot Inn Hotel in Tulsa?

(see center pic below...)

A mixture of glass & brick façade grand entrance would really look nice as an anchor to the new convention center; this would call for a new design of the convention center's façade. It would blend in with the Devon Tower & the proposed OG&E corporate headquarters.

.

"Oklahoma City looks oh-so pretty... ...as I get my kicks on Route 66." --Nat King Cole.

[bchris02]

I am not sure that something like the Camelot Inn Hotel could be created as new construction and pulled off well. To me, the hotel looks like it has that cheap, mid-century feel that would only be charming today because its retro. A modern replica would be..well..cheap. When I first saw it I thought of the Camelot Suites in Amarillo, which I've stayed at, and that place is a dive. Sorry to be negative here, I just don't think it would work for the convention center hotel.

[Pete]

Cathy O'Connor is making a presentation on the Convention Hotel at the City Council meeting next Tuesday, October 7th.

The presentation will also include a rep from Public Financial Management, a company hired by the City to explore financing options for the hotel.

[soonerguru]

That Omni in San Diego is beautiful.

[ljbab728]

http://www.oklahoman.com/article/5348334?embargo=1

Taxpayers could know within months whether a public subsidy will be needed to build a hotel adjacent to the MAPS 3 convention center.

The Oklahoma City Council is scheduled to get a hotel update Tuesday from Cathy O’Connor, president of the Alliance for Economic Development.


Council members said the first step would be to gauge developers’ interest. With options to select from, the city then could choose a proposal and negotiate a financial package, learning in the process how much the public would need to invest.