Meet Oklahoma City

[Hosed101]

Wow. OKC has really been on a march to greatness lately. Although they will never be as great as Tulsa, they're making big strides as we speak.

The first most is that St. Anthony's Hospital, OKC's oldest hospital and oone of three hospitals downtown announced that they were changing plans to leave town for the SW suburbs, and weren't only staying put, but they announced a $180 million facelift for their Midtown-Downtown hospital. The plan features a new $30 million surgery center for the campus, and road construction that will go with the facelift that the entire campus will be getting.

Urban housing has gone up in downtown with a boom. The Montgomery is a restored 1920s building that was recently turned into upscale lofts. 56 upscale lofts were made out of the formerly vacated building, and 160 people have signed up for the waiting list for those 56 lofts. Just down the street developer Mike Henderson's $25 million-plus Legacy Summit at Arts Central is under construction, with over 200 individual units, and ground-floor retail space up for rent at $2,000 a month. Deep Deuce at Bricktown is another condo in Downtown with over 300 apartments. The Factory is a planned $40 million residential highrise that will go up in Bricktown. The Hill at Deep Deuce will be a planned community of brownstone lofts on downtown's NE side, close to the OU medical center.

The Skirvin and Colcord, two vacant art deco highrises, will have been turned into hotels by this fall. Sonic Drive-In recently completed their new headquarters building on the banks of the Bricktown Canal. Toby Keith's new restaurant, Toby Keith's I Love This Bar and Grill opened last week across the Canal from Sonic. 2 new hotels are planned for Bricktown.

And to round our urban tour off, Richard Tanenbaum, the developer of The Montgomery, recently bought The Classen, a 21-story highrise in Midtown OKC for under a million. The building is being gutted, and will reopen as a highrise condo in the heart of OKC. Actually, I think I feel like posting some pics of that, so here they are:

Interiors from The Classen:

Views from The Classen:

[Viper]

Sounds like it's doing pretty decent for itself there.

I do have a question though? Is this CVS on fire?

[Hosed101]

I wish. LOL

[ncguy06]

Hosed101, What do you mean when you say OKC will never be as great as Tulsa?

I would definitley prefer OKC over Tulsa though both are great cities.

[Hosed101]

Home town.

[ncguy06]

Oh I see, well that's cool, we all have to have our hometown pride!!

[azbadpuppy]

Hosed101, What do you mean when you say OKC will never be as great as Tulsa?

I would definitley prefer OKC over Tulsa though both are great cities.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Just curious as to why you would pick OKC over Tulsa? Have you been to either? I think if you had you would definitely choose Tulsa. Everybody does for aesthetics alone. Also, Tulsa is definitely the more cosmopolitan and sophisicated of the two. OKC is bigger in population, but that's about it.

[ncguy06]

Yes Ive been to both, in fact I used to live in Norman(Home of OU!! GO SOONERS). And my Dad was born and raised in Broken Arrow right outside of Tulsa so I have been to both. But to answer your question, I like the feel of downtown OKC especially with Bricktown and the canal. If you ever have a chance to go, go at night when all of the clubs are open. Tulsa's skyline is taller but it seems dead at night. I love both cities and Im not trying to rat on either of them but my pick would go for OKC.

[azbadpuppy]

Yes Ive been to both, in fact I used to live in Norman(Home of OU!! GO SOONERS). And my Dad was born and raised in Broken Arrow right outside of Tulsa so I have been to both. But to answer your question, I like the feel of downtown OKC especially with Bricktown and the canal. If you ever have a chance to go, go at night when all of the clubs are open. Tulsa's skyline is taller but it seems dead at night. I love both cities and Im not trying to rat on either of them but my pick would go for OKC.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thats cool, I grew up in Jenks (Tulsa Suburb) but all my family lives in Norman or OKC (GO SOONERS!!!) so I know both cities very well. I have to say I'm surprised that OKC is doing so well, but I'm glad for them- god knows they needed to do something! Tulsa's central downtown district is dead at night, but if you head towards the Brady district just to the north, or Cherry Street or Brookside just to the south you'll find a very vibrant nightlife in each of those neighborhoods. Downtown tulsa is definitely on the rise, although it's taken longer to do so than other similar cities. Check out www.vision2025 for many more improvements for Tulsa's future.

[Mith242]

I've always been impressed with Tulsa. I think it compares to a number of other cities that are larger than it population wise. I would probably have to pick Tulsa over Oklahoma City. But I admit that Tulsa is a lot closer and I know it better than Oklahoma City too.

[bobliocatt]

Any pics of Bricktown?

[fromdust]

Just curious as to why you would pick OKC over Tulsa? Have you been to either? I think if you had you would definitely choose Tulsa. Everybody does for aesthetics alone. Also, Tulsa is definitely the more cosmopolitan and sophisicated of the two. OKC is bigger in population, but that's about it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

why is tulsa more cosmopolitan?

cosmopolitan:1.belonging to or representative of all parts of the world.

2.free of national prejudices;international in experience or outlook.

3.sophisticated.

4.composed of people from all different parts of the world.

by this definition is sounds like both cities are pretty cosmopolitan. i know here that we are striving to be a leader in the global market place. we have the largest ethnic population in the state, from asians to the middle east. and for sophistication whatever that means for a city, be it the arts, rcreational activities, sports, to international conventions, we definetley got that.

[jdsplaypin]

Hosed, which 2 hotels are planned for bricktown? Also, where do you here these rumors considering Bricktownokc.com doesnt do updates very often

[fromdust]

Hosed, which 2 hotels are planned for bricktown?

[jbrown84]

I have posted info on the new Bricktown hotel in the OKC projects thread.

[mcheiss]

Do you know the other hotel being planned?

[jbrown84]

The second hotel is a Residence Inn that will be on the South Canal between the Sonic building and Bass Pro. It will be six stories and a little nicer than your typical Residence Inn. (still disappointing for prime canal frontage, IMO) There's a picture somewhere but I don't have time to find it now.

The Hampton Inn will overlook the SBC [at&t??] Bricktown Ballpark.

We also have two historic buildings that will open as hotels in the next year and a half. The historic Skirvin hotel will become the Hilton Skirvin and the historic Colcord [office] Building is being converted to a boutique hotel.

And John Q. Hammons (who developed the Renaissance, the Courtyard, and now the Residence Inn) has announced he will build a large Embassy Suites downtown somewhere, but the location has not been announced.

[mcheiss]

Thanks Jbrown!!

I had no idea that John q Hammons was building an Embassy in OKC.

I like the idea of the historic buildings being converted to hotels. It's good to see historic buildings being preserved.

[jbrown84]

Yeah we've been trying to get the Skirvin reopened for 15 years. It closed in 1988 and has sat empty since. A couple years ago the city bought it and put out a request for developers. They chose between three or four really good bids, and one of the developers who wasn't chosen decided he'd just buy the Colcord then and make it into a hotel. A good sign that OKC is on the rise.

[fromdust]

Thanks Jbrown!!

I had no idea that John q Hammons was building an Embassy in OKC.

I like the idea of the historic buildings being converted to hotels. It's good to see historic buildings being preserved.

i think this is his second embassy. the first is on meridian ave. i belive.

[jbrown84]

i think this is his second embassy. the first is on meridian ave. i belive.

I don't think he built that one. I know it's not on his website but it's at least 20 years old so who knows.