(PROJECT) One Place Tower

[SXSW]

Just barely, if at all. +1 on the similarities between this building and hospitals. Also, let's talk about the wall lining Second St. some more... Some windows but no entrances? That entire block now has the grand possibility of becoming just like the rest of Second Street all the way to the Blue Dome: barren, with lots of blank concrete walls and the occasional parking garage entrance. If we are going to get serious about connecting all our disparate downtown districts, we need Second Street to be more than just a concrete wall. It needs to be engaging and encourage to pedestrians to keep walking instead of running to their cars.

This building has an opportunity to create a more lively, pedestrian-friendly Second Street. Let's not squander the chance we have.

I think 3rd is supposed to be more of a connector between the convention center/BOK Center and Blue Dome.  From what I've heard about One Place the primary retail frontages will be along Denver and 3rd St where the hotel and mixed-use will be.  I say concentrate on one corridor (3rd) instead of spreading things too thin with 2nd as well.  I do think the 2nd St streetscape should be extended west to Denver.

[ZYX]

The remainder of the slides make the building look more attractive.

I agree. I'm also a person who thinks that buildings look a lot better in person than in renderings. You just can't get the real feel of a building from a rendering. Although, I do wish the building was much more glass and much less concrete, stucco, mock stucco, or whatever that stuff is.

[SXSW]

I agree. I'm also a person who thinks that buildings look a lot better in person than in renderings. You just can't get the real feel of a building from a rendering. Although, I do wish the building was much more glass and much less concrete, stucco, mock stucco, or whatever that stuff is.

It's precast concrete (panels).

[BKDotCom]

I'll say it: that's the least inspiring design for that space I could imagine.  I could not have designed a more boring, lifeless structure if I had tried.  And I'm not an architect.

They must not have a lot of capital.  Looks like a tower on a major budget.

nitpick: 
major - adj:
     a : notable or conspicuous in effect or scope : considerable <a major improvement>
     b : prominent or significant in size, amount, or degree <earned some major cash>
budget - noun:  the amount of money that is available for, required for, or assigned to a particular purpose

so...  you probably meant to say " Looks like a tower on a small/tight budget."

[dbacks fan]

nitpick: SOP for a lot of Tulsan's.

[TheArtist]

  Well, does look like second street from the Blue Dome area to the Arena is officially a dead zone per the pedestrian.  But it is true that you can't have every street be a "best" street for you then run the risk of diluting things to the point that you end up with no street being excellent.  I guess we have to hope that Third Street focuses on becoming a good pedestrian friendly street.  However, there should be at least some limit to how "non-pedestrian friendly" a building along a public sidewalk can be. That ground level, north facing side is an absolute, depressing, affront.   NOBODY is going to ever be able to walk past that without feeling like they either need a shot of prozac or need to book an appointment with a good therapist afterwards.  

You know, I have often proposed that we zone some downtown streets to be our "A" top notch pedestrian friendly streets, and perhaps zone some streets to be, well, back alleys.  But some people then argue that this will go against the property owners rights and limit what they can do.  Well, isn't what this property owner has done, and others up and down this strip, haven't they with this unsightly ground level design also infringed on their neighbors property and what they can now do?  Whoever owns that property facing that north wall has now got a whole lot of ugly staring them right in the face.  This has in effect "randomly" and possibly, unexpectedly limited their property and what they can now do with it.  You can't put anything "fancy" along there thats for sure.  Would suck if you wanted to have ground floor retail facing that,,, a nice hotel, not gonna want that right out your front entrance.  If the street were zoned to be what it is, then at least the owner, or next owner, would know what he was getting, could plan for it, and not be leaving it purely up to chance and whim.  In this instance, not too much harm done, in that it simply extends our "depressingly ugly district, DUD for short" why not call it a district lol, but I am not the one who owns the property opposite so can't say for sure.      

So glad that the Northwest Mutual building looks like it will be a decent pedestrian friendly one.

As per the rest of this new building design wise,,, yawn.  Only saving grace I can imagine is that perhaps it will have some nice exterior materials?  But yes, glad we are getting the new building regardless ,and that a company is staying downtown.  Also, we can hope that the hotel/residential aspect of this development, if and when that part happens, will be something worth looking at.

[BKDotCom]

I'll repeat what's already been said.
Looks like a hospital.
Hopefully the renderings aren't doing it justice.

And.... why is this development being called Place One?
The first two buildings seem to share nothing in common. (either functionally or stylistically)

[carltonplace]

Hey, at least it's a building where an empty parking lot used to be, too bad its not an iconic/contributing building to add to our skyline. I'll take mediocre since its forward momentum.

We sure did downgrade from this to that though.

[Townsend]

Hey, at least it's a building where an empty parking lot used to be, too bad its not an iconic/contributing building to add to our skyline. I'll take mediocre since its forward momentum.

We sure did downgrade from this to that though.

from that angle, yeah, it's off a bit.

[Teatownclown]

Hey, at least it's a building where an empty parking lot used to be, too bad its not an iconic/contributing building to add to our skyline. I'll take mediocre since its forward momentum.

We sure did downgrade from this to that though.

I've said it before, be wary of men with crayons....

[SXSW]

Yeah from that angle it would look much better if the NW Mutual building was the same height as the parking garage so you don't see two levels of blank concrete above.  Or add openings to match the 5th and 6th levels of the east elevation of the parking garage.

That is the key angle as it is the view from the BOK Center entrance.  

[Jeff P]

Well, does look like second street from the Blue Dome area to the Arena is officially a dead zone per the pedestrian.

Which is something I absolutely do not get.

2nd Street is home to the main convention/event hotel downtown (Hyatt), the biggest office building/complex (BOK Tower/Williams Center/City Hall/OTC), the PAC, and really is the most direct connector between BOK and Blue Dome.

Heck, after any event at the BOK you can watch thousands of people stream east down 2nd Street.

It's the route that people naturally want to take... and yet we're going to try and force people down 3rd Street?  How very typical.

[JCnOwasso]

since we are bringing up "nitpick", I think 2nd is a waste of road.  The coolest thing about it is that it ends at the BOK (I mean it is a pretty neat view when you are on the street).  Unfortunately it is a one way in the opposite direction.  

[DTowner]

The five stories of parking garage really seem to limit how this building can look.  Stacking stylish glass sky scraper on top of a concret garage might be even more off putting than the current design.  Was locating the parking underground beneath the building simply not feasible due to soil/other issues or was it simply one of cost?

I have to agree on the 2nd v. 3rd st. issue.  I park in the garage next to the Hyatt, so I use it for all BOK events and there are always crowds walking on 2nd between the BOK and Blue Dome and Hyatt before and after events.

[SXSW]

While I think 3rd should remain the "A" street since it's one of the few thru streets in downtown and has existing and future retail/restaurants, extending the 2nd St streetscape (which is pretty nice with the trees and planters in the area by City Hall and the Williams Tower) further west to Denver would make a big impact.  

I have heard the lot to the south of the tower could eventually be the new federal building.  That would be another blank wall along 2nd.  OKC's is a pretty nice design but not pedestrian-friendly (for obvious reasons)..