Devon Energy building new skyscraper downtown! (real estate market, calculated, zoning)

[fciman]

Originally Posted by okcpulse

That is actually VERY incorrect and VERY inaccurate. This is where I stress a need for an urban geography course in college or high school.

Oklahoma City's urbanized area is 243 contiguous square miles, to be exact. If Oklahoma City were to shed the rest, its population would drop from 547,000 to 510,000. not a big difference at all. That would place our population density at nearly 2100 per square mile. A simple glance at a wall map would quickly prove my point. Much of OKC's area will never be developed. Some of it will go underwater when the proposed Elm Creek Reservior is built.

So, Oklahoma City does not have over 500,000 BECAUSE we have 608 square miles of land area. Our land area is of no consequence, and to assume that only 800 people live in the square mile area of, say, Hefner/N.W. 122nd/MacArthur/Rockwell is a bad assumption.

Now, you accuse OKC of not being able to stand the fact that Tulsa has taller buildings. That is also very inaccurate. OKC doesn't care that Tulsa has taller buildings. Tulsa cares that Tulsa has taller buildings, and they love to rub it in OKC's face every chance they get.

The fact that Devon Tower will be the tallest in the state is not to satisfy any competition with Tulsa. Larry Nichols just wanted an icon for OKC, and he got one. No need to read deep into it.

And the Ford Center isn't being remodeled to "look better" that Tulsa's roll of duct tape. We are remodeling because we knew we had a bare-bones arena and needed a better facility for ourselves to enjoy, and to accomodate the NBA.

Please don't put words into OKC's mouth, especially when you are no Rembrandt of urban analysis.

Bare bones arena, as you quote. Why not do it right the first time?

[okcpulse]

Originally Posted by fciman

Bare bones arena, as you quote. Why not do it right the first time?

The first time, construction costs went through the roof because of rising steel prices and other building materials, so the designs had to be revised and scaled back to meet the $89 million budgeted for the arena. Because of lesser-than-expected sales tax collections that occured in the 1997-98 fiscal year, coupled with higher-than-expected construction costs of several other MAPS projects under construction at the time, the problem was compounded.

There was discussion of scrapping the arena altogether, but ultimately, the sales tax was extended an extra six months to meet the construction costs in a campaign called "Finish MAPS Right".

Keep in mind, fciman, 8 other major projects from the same package were under construction as well, and the program was design to be a "Pay-As-You-Go" program, meaning the city didn't finance any of the projects. The projects were paid for strictly from the coffers, so all projects are debt-free.

Thus, the city simply didn't anticipate that by the time construction began in 1999, $89 million would not be enough for a state-of-the-art arena, and to keep cost overruns under control, a bare-bones arena was built and left for a future upgrade. We all knew that when the facility opened. Bringing events to the city with a facility in place was the number one priority, and not necessarily building an icon.

[okcpulse]

Let's please get back on topic regarding the Devon Tower.

[LadyRobyn]

Originally Posted by okcpulse

Let's please get back on topic regarding the Devon Tower.

Excellent idea. Thank-you.

[jt6195]

Hi, Ive read that the building has been changed, of design? and time when its going to be built.

Is there a specific date that its going to be built?

[decious]

Originally Posted by jt6195

Hi, Ive read that the building has been changed, of design? and time when its going to be built.

Is there a specific date that its going to be built?

Hi. The building is still on track and actually progressing a little ahead of schedule. I attempted to post an article that contained the update, but it was deleted in light of the TOS. You can go to the journalrecord.com and search "devon" to find the article. You have to subscribe to read it though. Regards.

[okcpulse]

Originally Posted by jt6195

Hi, Ive read that the building has been changed, of design? and time when its going to be built.

Is there a specific date that its going to be built?

The design of the building has not changed. However, they are considering adding an auditorium next to the podium.

[happytown]

Construction starts soon!!











http://www.okc.biz/Libraries/June_2009_issue/devontower.sflb.ashx (broken link)

[happytown]

New rendering...God this tower is so pretty.

[fromdust]

its height also got cut by 17 ft.
http://www.newsok.com/devon-official..._lead_business