Living Spaces

[soonergolfer]

It's actually an old attempt to keep animals from entering and obstructing traffic.

That is probably a good thing. There is nothing more terrifying than hitting a deer while going 80 mph.

[Bowser214]

Nothing says upscale like a chain link fence lol

[Timshel]

I know what that area needs:

[mugofbeer]

^^^^^^^^^^^
I don't have any specific info to support OR to dispute this, and it seems reasonable. That said, pretty sure that generally speaking the development dead zones along the northern edge of that portion of incorporated OKC had more to do with white flight than anything else. The city was reliably creeping in that direction in the post-war era, but several court rulings moved OKC in the direction of forced busing throughout the 1960s and culminated in a 1972 order that required individual schools to more closely represent the minority student population in the district.

White parents responded in droves by moving to places with largely white school populations, for instance Edmond, which in many cases is literally across the street.

After that you saw large scale suburban housing development shift north and west. While we all think of commercial retail as being drawn to street frontage, what REALLY draws it (especially national credit retail) is proximity to rooftops AND the demographics of said rooftops. In this case the broad swaths of undeveloped land on the outer edge of the City limits was a hindrance and land along that stretch became much more difficult to develop for an extended period. Nowadays we think of Memorial and also the Kilpatrick Turnpike as having massive traffic count, and while it is largely true it certainly wasn't the case when the turnpike opened around '89-'90 (they used to literally make jokes on the radio giving shout-outs to the single individual driving on the turnpike) and that overall low traffic count persisted for quite a few years.

I can confirm seeing a map of OKC highways 50 years ago including an outer loop encircling the city. The current Kilpatrick is roughly in the same place but the east loop was to be down Sooner Rd. If l remember correctly, there was to be a south outer segment following the S. Canadian to Norman and east 23rd was to be upgraded to a freeway.

[scottk]

I can confirm seeing a map of OKC highways 50 years ago including an outer loop encircling the city. The current Kilpatrick is roughly in the same place but the east loop was to be down Sooner Rd. If l remember correctly, there was to be a south outer segment following the S. Canadian to Norman and east 23rd was to be upgraded to a freeway.

Here is the state map from 1974 and you can make out the proposed outer loop (Kilpatrick) and also the east side that was never built.

https://www.odot.org/hqdiv/p-r-div/m...pdfs/1974b.pdf



By 1988 the east loop proposal was gone and what remains was just the north and western portions along Memorial and Sara Rd.

https://www.odot.org/hqdiv/p-r-div/m...pdfs/1988b.pdf

[mugofbeer]

Thanks!

[therhett17]

Pete is this still happening?

[Pete]

Pete is this still happening?

Yes.

I check on the building permit periodically and they are still sorting a few things out via back-and-forth with the city, which is typical of these larger projects.

I would expect them to start work soon.

[MagzOK]

Wow that's interesting. If you overlay that with google maps you can see that Sooner Rd there just south of that 35/Turner interchange is already divided four-lane almost like a highway. Continuing south of 122nd, your an see what appear to be the outlines of the right-of-way that may have been bought up years go in anticipation. f you go even further down south to where the proposed highway curves and heads toward the river, you can see what could be easement of the same thing. Now, all this could just be the lay of the land, too. But kind of fun to follow along the proposed path nonetheless.

[Dustin]

Dirt is flying at this corner. Lots of work being done as of today.

[fortpatches]

Your original post said 148k sq ft and the other post you copied in (I suppose from another news source) said 138k sq ft. Do you know what they are planning on now?

[Pete]

Your original post said 148k sq ft and the other post you copied in (I suppose from another news source) said 138k sq ft. Do you know what they are planning on now?

The original planning filing showed 148K but then they filed their final building permit the number was 138K.

[Pete]

Work has started (SE corner of May & Memorial):

[Bowser214]

Further west on memorial, traveling north on Hefner taking the Kilpatrick East exit...on the fly over ramp there's a 3 story structure being built. I assume it's a hotel. There's a County Inn Suites and a Holiday Inn Express in that same area.

[Pete]

Further west on memorial, traveling north on Hefner taking the Kilpatrick East exit...on the fly over ramp there's a 3 story structure being built. I assume it's a hotel. There's a County Inn Suites and a Holiday Inn Express in that same area.

It's a medical facility: Memorial Park HealthPlex.

[Plutonic Panda]

It's a medical facility: Memorial Park HealthPlex.

Pete, I think I’ve asked this before but I can’t remember what you said or where the post is at sorry, but does Pappadeaux still own the land they were going to build on?

[Pete]

Pete, I think I’ve asked this before but I can’t remember what you said or where the post is at sorry, but does Pappadeaux still own the land they were going to build on?

Yes, they do still own it.

They had it for sale for a while but pulled it off the market.

They've owned it since 2014.

[Plutonic Panda]

Thank you. I’ll keep holding my breath. Hopefully they make the right decision.

[Pete]

[Pete]

[Pete]

[Pete]

[Pete]

[gjl]

Any idea when this might be open for business?

[Pete]

Any idea when this might be open for business?

I would think by the end of the year.

They are going to do very well here. Quite different that anything else we have and I really like their style.