OAK (formerly Penn Central)

[Pete]

The 7 houses on Barnes have been razed.

[rezman]

Once again, great shots. Do you fly these from your back yard Pete?

[Pete]

Once again, great shots. Do you fly these from your back yard Pete?

No, I always drive to sites so I can watch the drone with my eyes.

[Plutonic Panda]

I guess this is a sign the developers are moving forward?

[Richard at Remax]

I don't think so. I take it more of they don't want to deal with vacant dilapidated properties, and are going to get them reassessed to lower taxes.

[Pete]

They had forced out all the tenants in both the homes and the office park and the properties were becoming a nuisance to the neighborhood.

Oak is in a holding pattern as they try to figure out how to go forward in phases.

[SouthOfTheVillage]

Looks like the Oak Guys are trying to get their Miley Cyrus on.

Lots of big equipment on location and red dust flying everywhere.

[Rover]

When I was by there yesterday, it looked like they were clearing the site of trees, etc.

[HOT ROD]

sounds like GOOD news to me.

Hopefully OKC can get OAK looking somethning this (Kirkland, WA (Seattle Eastside) new Totem Lake):

[HOT ROD]

by the way, Totem Lake used to look like the below and was dead for years until the above town hall masterplan was implemented (construction in 2019 iirc):



old, boring, dead Totem Lake MALL

[HOT ROD]

sorry for the 3 posts, but I so wish OAK can develop like Totem Lake and Penn Square could redevelop like Alderwood Mall (Lynnwood, WA [Seattle North]) or even better Northgate mall in N Seattle.



Alderwood mall (new outdoor shoppes fronting the main mall)



New Northgate mall outdoor frontage shoppes

by the way, both of these opened after 2016 and Northgate is getting a light rail station (I don't know if Alderwood is).

but I hope OKC-OAK can develop like Totem and perhaps a few more of these mall-redevelopments like Northgate (great for Penn) or Alderwood (Quail, Crossroads). You no longer NEED department store anchors for regional mall success; today, you now need walkable frontage type shoppes and restaurants/hotels drawing customers to what's inside the rest of the traditional mall!

Imagine OKC with OAK (similar to Totem Lake), Penn redeveloped (similar to Northgate), and 50-Penn truly realized as an upper posh boutique galleria (Gucci, Prada, LV) - all three next to each other in/near the highest income area of the state with BRT right there at Penn/NW Expressway!!

Tell me that isn't doable, esp if it's phased built in the order like I presented!

[AlvarezK]

Steve what are the chances of this still resembling the original renderings ?

[SouthOfTheVillage]

Steve what are the chances of this still resembling the original renderings ?

Zero percent, unless oil goes to $100+/bbl

[kevin lee]

Why do you think a barrel of oil needs to be $100+?

[DowntownMan]

Why do you think a barrel of oil needs to be $100+?

I think you just need like 55-60 to see companies be stable again. Although I don’t think we will see growth of companies but rather companies be more financially stable. Which is better anyway

[SEMIweather]

This city's economy is not nearly as reliant on oil as it used to be.

Echoing the thoughts of a few other people further up the thread, I would hope that they complete it in 2-3 stages and come as close to the initial renderings as possible. They don't have nearly as much land to cover as Chisholm Creek, so it at least seems possible that they can pull it off at some point.

[Rover]

Oil people always think it’s about them and oil. This is a casualty of Covid. It has caused developers to reconsider the mix of product in new developments. Less restaurants and bars, less retail, and maybe even less office demand.

[Pete]

^

And less hotels, as one was planned for this project.

[jccouger]

Steve what are the chances of this still resembling the original renderings ?

Steve lol

[SEMIweather]

Given the recent vaccine news, I'm a little more optimistic that the people behind this project might be willing to wait 2-3 years and see how quickly the economy recovers. Of course the question is, how much are developers willing to see COVID as a one-off, versus a potential harbinger of future pandemics.

[AlvarezK]

Lol NO I DIDN’T

[OklahomaNick]

Is this project still moving forward?

[Pete]

Not anytime soon.

[G.Walker]

They keep posting on their social media sites, so that's a good sign I guess, lol?

[Pete]

Building permits have been filed for the first phase of this project, which will consist of 320 apartments, 20,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor, and a large parking structure in the center.

The developers have acquired an additional 12 homes that will be demolished. 9 homes have already been razed.