Classen Circle

[crimsoncrazy]

Yeah, but that's a common developer tactic to get their proposal passed. Let's hope this building gets sold to someone who will invest in it.

Well I'm guessing the price just went up.

[Rover]

How about the city buying it for the agreed upon price with Braums and then put it out for re-development proposals?

[shawnw]

The city outright or OCURA? Does OCURA have to stay in certain boundaries (asking because I don't know). If not this is a GREAT idea that I totally support.

[Pete]

OCURA can purchase property anywhere but has to date only targeted downtown and the near NE side.

[shawnw]

Thanks good to know. I didn't know if the U(rban) in the name somehow restricted where or what they could buy.

[TheTravellers]

http://newsok.com/braums-withdraws-z...rticle/5567015

[Uptowner]

The firm working for Braum's specialize in pushing agendas of those who can afford it, and their methods aren't always very savory. There's absolutely nothing keeping them from keeping the purchase contract, the current owners dozing and clearing the lots, braums can likewise demolish the duplex on the lot it already owns. And see how everyone feels about the deal after the entire 3.5 acre site sits as a dirt plot after several months. As sad as it sounds, entirely plausible.

[warreng88]

Braum’s withdraws rezoning application for Donnay Building

By: Molly M. Fleming The Journal Record October 6, 2017

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Donnay Building will get to stand, but possibly not for long.

The building is home to the HiLo Club, The Drunken Fry, and Charlie’s Jazz-Rhythm & Blues.

Braum’s Ice Cream and Dairy Stores had filed an application to rezone the property, which would have led to the site being cleared. The neighboring Classen Grill is in a separate building, but was also on the rezoning application.

Braum’s withdrew its rezoning application on Friday, the city confirmed.

Red Oak Properties LLC owns properties that would have been demolished. Attorney David Kennedy said during the Sept. 28 Planning Commission meeting that the owners won’t keep the building much longer. He said the owners were under contract to sell the property to Braum’s.

“If we do not sell it to Braum’s, we’ll redevelop and demolish (the Donnay Building) next spring,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy and Red Oak representatives could not be reached by publication time to confirm whether plans had changed. David Box, who represented Braum’s at the Planning Commission meeting, did not return requests for comment Friday.

The Planning Commission was expected to review the application again at its Oct. 14 meeting. At the September meeting, the commission did not have the five votes required to make a recommendation on the application. The commission did have four votes against approving the application.

The commission’s main concerns were traffic around the property – which is nearly a triangle in shape – and a single Braum’s not fitting with the city’s planning guidelines. The guidelines call for density, and Braum’s design doesn’t fit that idea, said Asa Highsmith, Planning Commission member.

Braum’s executives planned to rezone six lots from R-1, residential, to a simplified planned unit development. The remaining NW 50th Street and Classen Circle site is zoned C-4, general commercial. This zoning allows for multiple commercial uses, including a gas station and a truck stop. It is considered not compatible with residential zoning, said Sarah Welch, program planner in the city of Oklahoma City Planning Department.

Welch said if Red Oak wanted to demolish the Donnay Building, there would not be a public hearing. The building is not in a design district. But if owners wanted to do something on the property that is outside the R-1 zoning, then the rezoning process would be public.

[Rover]

Who owns Red Oak Properties Llc ?

[traxx]

I just can't believe that demolishing the building out of spite could be a good business move. There's already been a ton of backlash for Braum's about this. Now that they've withdrawn their zoning app, for the owners of the building to go ahead and doze it would be stupid. Who would be dumb enough to buy it? No one wants to be known as the business that resides where a historic building was leveled against the citizens' will.

[shawnw]

Braum's. Braum's would be dumb enough to buy it.

[Paseofreak]

I just can't believe that demolishing the building out of spite could be a good business move. There's already been a ton of backlash for Braum's about this. Now that they've withdrawn their zoning app, for the owners of the building to go ahead and doze it would be stupid. Who would be dumb enough to buy it? No one wants to be known as the business that resides where a historic building was leveled against the citizens' will.

Who would be dumb enough to buy and demolish the last original block of original downtown OKC to conduct demolition by neglect and then build a skyscraper? Or for that matter an architectural landmark and cultural center and then build nothing?

[traxx]

Braum's. Braum's would be dumb enough to buy it.

If Braum's were to buy it then any goodwill they receive from pulling their application would be gone.

[shawnw]

Have they actually received goodwill for withdrawing? I'm personally still very skeptical of this whole situation. I'm probably not alone. Until the property is truly "safe" I'm not sure much goodwill is out there. I mean, I suspect a bunch of Braum's hold outs said "oh thank god" and bought an ice cream the day of the announcement, but other than that I'm not sure anyone is comfortable about this just yet.

[TheTravellers]

Have they actually received goodwill for withdrawing? I'm personally still very skeptical of this whole situation. I'm probably not alone. Until the property is truly "safe" I'm not sure much goodwill is out there. I mean, I suspect a bunch of Braum's hold outs said "oh thank god" and bought an ice cream the day of the announcement, but other than that I'm not sure anyone is comfortable about this just yet.

Will this property and set of buildings ever *really* be safe? Seems like they're headed down the path of purposeful-deferred-maintenance to tenant-eviction to condemnation, but I hope I'm wrong...

[traxx]

Have they actually received goodwill for withdrawing? I'm personally still very skeptical of this whole situation. I'm probably not alone. Until the property is truly "safe" I'm not sure much goodwill is out there. I mean, I suspect a bunch of Braum's hold outs said "oh thank god" and bought an ice cream the day of the announcement, but other than that I'm not sure anyone is comfortable about this just yet.

No, I don't think anyone is comfortable yet. But if things transpire in a way that the property is sold as is to an owner that rehabs the place and it becomes a historic property that is not only saved but given new life, I think Braum's could reap some benefit for pulling out of it. People would see Braum's as a good guy now and not boycott them.

[shawnw]

I don't disagree with that.

[gopokes88]

Until it gets sold and not demolished I'll keep boycotting Braums. It's not like they put out a statement saying sorry guys didn't know you loved this building. All they said was we pulled out.

[Paseofreak]

Until it gets sold and not demolished I'll keep boycotting Braums. It's not like they put out a statement saying sorry guys didn't know you loved this building. All they said was we pulled out.

Rue enough, but the root of the problem is the current owner. Until pressure is applied there, serious uncertainty exists. Sure, Braum's mis-read the situation pretty badly, but all they really did was say yeah, I'll take it. The real villain (if there is one) is the owner.

[stile99]

I'm not 100% sure that's true. The owner seems to want to ditch the property, that's certainly not evil. The owner is also ignoring the property and letting it rot, that's a little evil. But imagine a buyer came in and said hey, I'm going to buy it, I'm going to fix it up, and I'm not going to hassle the current businesses. People would have no problem with that. Heck, tis buyer would be seen as the hero/savior of the story. Now imagine another restaurant, name doesn't matter. They're going to buy it, knock it down, and build one of their restaurants. Hell, just for fun let's go with In N Out. There's going to be the exact same outcry as with Braum's. All the owner did was sell a property, it's the buyer that makes the situation different. It's not that people didn't want a Braum's, it's that they didn't want the buildings knocked down. If this board is any indication, people DO want an In N Out, but I highly doubt they would tolerate one being built at that location.

Braum's did far more than say yeah, I'll take it. They had multiple opportunities to back out without being dicks, they chose not to accept any of those opportunities. They're the dicks. If there's anyone who did nothing more than say "yeah I'll take it" it's the owner, to the buy offer.

[traxx]

I'm not 100% sure that's true. The owner seems to want to ditch the property, that's certainly not evil. The owner is also ignoring the property and letting it rot, that's a little evil. But imagine a buyer came in and said hey, I'm going to buy it, I'm going to fix it up, and I'm not going to hassle the current businesses. People would have no problem with that. Heck, tis buyer would be seen as the hero/savior of the story. Now imagine another restaurant, name doesn't matter. They're going to buy it, knock it down, and build one of their restaurants. Hell, just for fun let's go with In N Out. There's going to be the exact same outcry as with Braum's. All the owner did was sell a property, it's the buyer that makes the situation different. It's not that people didn't want a Braum's, it's that they didn't want the buildings knocked down. If this board is any indication, people DO want an In N Out, but I highly doubt they would tolerate one being built at that location.

Braum's did far more than say yeah, I'll take it. They had multiple opportunities to back out without being dicks, they chose not to accept any of those opportunities. They're the dicks. If there's anyone who did nothing more than say "yeah I'll take it" it's the owner, to the buy offer.

I don't know that I would label the owner of the building as evil but there certainly aren't without blame.

Unless I've misunderstood what's been said in this thread, other people have tried to buy this property before Braum's with the intent of rehabbing it and the owner wasn't interested in selling. Then Braum's came along and because the owner apparently has a personal relationship with Braum's ownership, they decided to sell. Now that Braum's has pulled out, the owner is threatening to go ahead and knock down the building anyway. That would just be spite.

All that makes the current owner of the building look like a bad and petty person to me.

[gopokes88]

I don't know that I would label the owner of the building as evil but there certainly aren't without blame.

Unless I've misunderstood what's been said in this thread, other people have tried to buy this property before Braum's with the intent of rehabbing it and the owner wasn't interested in selling. Then Braum's came along and because the owner apparently has a personal relationship with Braum's ownership, they decided to sell. Now that Braum's has pulled out, the owner is threatening to go ahead and knock down the building anyway. That would just be spite.

All that makes the current owner of the building look like a bad and petty person to me.

He is not tearing it down out of spite.

He's tearing it down because it will be easier to rezone if there is no building on the site anymore. There won't be community meetings to save the building because it's already gone. It's just a bait and switch.

[rezman]

I don't know that I would label the owner of the building as evil but there certainly aren't without blame.

Unless I've misunderstood what's been said in this thread, other people have tried to buy this property before Braum's with the intent of rehabbing it and the owner wasn't interested in selling. Then Braum's came along and because the owner apparently has a personal relationship with Braum's ownership, they decided to sell.

All that makes the current owner of the building look like a bad and petty person to me.

Thank you! .. all this vitreol towards Braum's has been misdirected IMHO, and a little old.. The owners are the ones picking the direction for the property.

[David]

There is no reason to give Braum's a pass on this, they are the ones who want to replace a historic structure with a cookie cutter fast food joint and a parking lot. There is blame to spread around.

[HangryHippo]

There is no reason to give Braum's a pass on this, they are the ones who want to replace a historic structure with a cookie cutter fast food joint and a parking lot. There is blame to spread around.

+1