What happened at 1401 NW 16th/ 16th and Douglas?!?!

[John_T]

The 3 story house on the NW corner of 16th and Douglas, What happened to it??? A while back it was being restored, now it was demolished. Why? was it destroyed in an accidental fire or something? Can't imagine someone destroying a huge, historic home on purpose when there is still an abundance of vacant lots on 16th street near the Plaza to build on.
Here's an image of this historic beauty before it was destroyed. Gotta love those old three story homes.

[baralheia]

From what I can piece together from public documents, here's a timeline of events:

The property was purchased by Brick & Mortar Investments, LLC in March 2015. Brick & Mortar Investments appears to specialize in flipping houses - renovating them for resale. They did so and then sold the property to Jonathan and Grace Middlebrooks in August of the same year for $137,500. Google Street View shows the property in November of that year; There was a smallish pile of construction debris in the back yard, but there did not appear to be anything wrong externally with the house. In early December, a $200,000 building permit was filed by Jim Abernathy Construction to further remodel the home - apparently, it appears, to remove additions to the rear of the property, and rearrange interior walls. Around the same time, a mortgage was taken out on the property for $595,000. The course of this property changed right about here, somewhere between December and January. I can't find any news articles that might suggest there was a fire or other damage here. According to OG&E's attachment to the demolition permit, the meter was disconnected on Jan 08, 2016; and the demo permit was issued to Midwest Wrecking on Feb 04. A $550,000 building permit for the land then followed in July 2016 by the same construction company to construct a large 2-story, 4br/4ba/2 car garage home totaling 5080 sq. ft. on the property.

I can't be for certain, but I think Jonathan is the pastor of Skyline Church, which relocated in January of this year to 1901 N Douglas Ave. The Middlebrooks also appear to own 1409 NW 16th, purchased in January of this year for $235,000.

[John_T]

I'm just baffled because there are other vacant lots nearby/lesser homes to be demolished if they wanted a lot to build on. Plus, alot of work had just been put into the house.

[John_T]

Hmmm, the same guy owns the Victorian house near by? I guess that one's next. Oh well. New construction is good for the economy at least.

[baralheia]

Yeah, I dunno. That house was built in 1909 according to the county assessor's office. Very disappointing to lose it. My guess is the people working on the renovations accidentally screwed it up bad, but I have no way to confirm that and it's merely speculation on my part. Either that or they just really wanted this hugenormous house. :P

[LakeEffect]

I think I had heard that the interior was in much, much worse shape than originally thought. Not sure if it was mold, rot, etc., but it was beyond repair.

[OKCRT]

I think I had heard that the interior was in much, much worse shape than originally thought. Not sure if it was mold, rot, etc., but it was beyond repair.

Prob. asbestos-knob & tube electric with old cloth wrapped wiring- plaster and lathe walls-galvanized fresh water lines with cast and lead drains-foundation isues with uneven floors-termite damage ect. ect.. At some point it comes down to tear down and rebuild or remodel.

[warreng88]

My wife works in the Plaza district and she said she noticed the front porch was under construction, then completely taken off and then the house was gone. To add to what OKCRT said, the work was probably more extensive than originally thought and I would guess termite or water damage to add to his list.

[LakeEffect]

Prob. asbestos-knob & tube electric with old cloth wrapped wiring- plaster and lathe walls-galvanized fresh water lines with cast and lead drains-foundation isues with uneven floors-termite damage ect. ect.. At some point it comes down to tear down and rebuild or remodel.

My 1930 house had all that; we replaced it all and still kept the structure. My guess is that this one had structural issues that could not be remedied.

[OKCRT]

My 1930 house had all that; we replaced it all and still kept the structure. My guess is that this one had structural issues that could not be remedied.

Was your house a 3 story?

[LakeEffect]

Was your house a 3 story?

Close. Poured concrete basement with 8' ceiling height, two floors (each with 9.5' ceiling height), and then a massive attic space with pretty high roof pitch.

[John_T]

From what I can piece together from public documents, here's a timeline of events:

The property was purchased by Brick & Mortar Investments, LLC in March 2015. Brick & Mortar Investments appears to specialize in flipping houses - renovating them for resale. They did so and then sold the property to Jonathan and Grace Middlebrooks in August of the same year for $137,500. Google Street View shows the property in November of that year; There was a smallish pile of construction debris in the back yard, but there did not appear to be anything wrong externally with the house. In early December, a $200,000 building permit was filed by Jim Abernathy Construction to further remodel the home - apparently, it appears, to remove additions to the rear of the property, and rearrange interior walls. Around the same time, a mortgage was taken out on the property for $595,000. The course of this property changed right about here, somewhere between December and January. I can't find any news articles that might suggest there was a fire or other damage here. According to OG&E's attachment to the demolition permit, the meter was disconnected on Jan 08, 2016; and the demo permit was issued to Midwest Wrecking on Feb 04. A $550,000 building permit for the land then followed in July 2016 by the same construction company to construct a large 2-story, 4br/4ba/2 car garage home totaling 5080 sq. ft. on the property.

I can't be for certain, but I think Jonathan is the pastor of Skyline Church, which relocated in January of this year to 1901 N Douglas Ave. The Middlebrooks also appear to own 1409 NW 16th, purchased in January of this year for $235,000.

How did you even find the records of demolition permits?

[baralheia]

The site is down right now, but I got those records through the Citizen Permit Access Portal from the City of OKC's website; when it's working, it can be found at access.okc.gov

[Pete]

The owner told me that the foundation (and other things) were beyond repair.

So, they had to start all over.