^^^^ agreed
I am for anyone not Marva. She has the properties north of the Pump that she has barely even done anything to, Villa Teresa which she hasn't touched and now she is going to take on this?
Agreed. While I don't like all the surface parking in the Carpathia proposal, Marva's site plan wasn't so much better that it becomes a slam dunk for me. Not to mention she's rapidly approaching Dowell territory with her pace of development. The density of the Far Wespen proposal is awesome, but I question the likelihood of them successfully developing the area in that manner, but it's the best proposal IMO.
Yeah it looks like Carpathia at least has a local track record for success. Unsure about Far Wespen and their background. All I can find is a record of an easement protest that suggests they've been forcing local businesses nearby to sell their land. Sounds like gentrification to me. Short of large public subsidies, I'm extremely skeptical of their capacity to deliver on their promises in an ethical manner.
https://agenda.okc.gov/sirepub/cache...9100919743.PDF
Hotel development recommended for former OKCPS HQ
Oklahoma City Public Schools has been working with the Oklahoma City Redevelopment Authority (OCRA) to find a buyer and redeveloper for its old headquarters building at 900 N. Klein.
After receiving three ambitious plans as a response to a request for proposals, OCRA will recommend to the OKCPS board that a hotel project be selected for redevelopment of the large property just to the west of Western, formerly home to Roosevelt School but more recently used by school administration.
The recommended project would convert the main building into 109 hotel rooms with a pool, performance space and three food and beverage concepts.
The smaller structure would become a creative workspace for local businesses.
The newly-formed development group called Carpathia includes Elliott Nelson of the McNellies group which operates 19 restaurants in Oklahoma; four are in Oklahoma City. The team also includes Warren Ross and Casey Stowe, both based in Tulsa with several commercial mixed-use projects to their credit in that area.
The project would be named The Theodore and design work handled by Mass Architecture with the intention of marrying the historic architecture with contemporary finishes.
Hotel rooms on the third and fourth floor would be developed with the ability to convert to multi-family apartments if the market demands it. The old auditorium would be restored into a performance space that could serve as a movie theater, community meeting space, concert venue, or lecture hall.
A proposal was also received by east coast developer Far Wespen which owns a good deal of adjacent property between Western and Classen. As we previously reported, they are in the process of selling a large parcel for senior housing and had planned to bridge the old school with new development to the west.
The third proposal was from a group led by Marva Ellard which envision housing on the site.
The Carpathia proposal will only move forward after the approval of the OKCPS board.
What’s with the surface parking fronting Western? Not a fan of that element.
This same group had the notion to do this same sort of thing at Villa Theresa once upon a time if i recall.
I like it. Seems a bit large for a boutique hotel concept though. This really reminds me of McMenamin's Kennedy School hotel in Portland but that hotel has only 57 rooms total.
required parking mins need to go
I definitely like the Far Wespen proposal the best.
I'm surprised nobody posted this. OKCPS board approved the recommendation for Carpthia, LLC as conditional re-developer of 900 N. Klein, OKC, OK 73109.
I've included some links to documents provided to OKCPS with the projected being dubbed The Theodore.
https://go.boarddocs.com/ok/okcps/Board.nsf/Public
https://go.boarddocs.com/ok/okcps/Board.nsf/files/BGJK6S505CE7/$file/The%20Theodore%20-%20900%20N.%20Klein%20Property.pdf
Looks like we need to see an new forum on The Theodore soon with some OKCTALK intel.
That link didn't go directly to the Board minutes, but it is under October 7th. All of the documents are provided if you scroll down to the 900 N. Klein portion.
It appears that construction set to begin in July 2020 with completion in January 2022.
So the other proposal that was much more ambitious isn’t happening?
Is there a link anywhere to the full FarWespen proposal?
I meant to post this a while back but have been forgetting. I wasn't sure if this was a better fit in this thread or in the Thrive thread but Far Wespen has apparently decided to move on. There's been a for sale sign up on the block owned by Far Wespen and bounded by N Western Ave, N Classen Blvd, NW 10, and NW 9 for at least a few weeks now. The property just east of Good Times, also owned by Far Wespen, has recently been cleared of a duplex and a two story building consisting of a garage and upstairs apartment and is now up for sale, too.
Interesting.
The developers actually bought that 9th/10th/Classen/Western block last year.
I just reached out to them to see if Thrive is still moving forward. They told me two years ago it would take years to develop, as they work with government agencies and the whole process is involved.
Has this development died or are there still hopes for it to move forward?
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Bookmarks