OKC to get highrise/ possible tallest skyscraper

[TheArtist]

http://newsok.com/article/3215709/

Devon plans downtown skyscraper

Steve Lackmeyer
The Oklahoman


Devon Energy Corp. is pursuing plans to build a new "iconic" downtown corporate headquarters #65533; one that would be the tallest building in Oklahoma City.

In an exclusive interview with The Oklahoman, Devon Chief Executive Officer Larry Nichols also confirmed he resigned from the board of the Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority because the city agency owns the proposed tower site.

In response to interest expressed by Devon Energy, Urban Renewal is set to issue a request for development proposals at next week's meeting for the old Galleria parking deck just north of the Myriad Gardens.

"In talking with experts and engineers, we're looking at something in excess of $350 million," Nichols said. "We're talking about something that matches MAPS I."

With 1,350 employees based downtown, Nichols said the company needs to move forward with construction of a new headquarters that he hopes can be completed within four years. He expects 2,000 people will move into the new tower when it is completed.

"Devon has recognized for some time that we need to consolidate into one building," he said. "We now have employees in five different buildings. There are obviously inefficiencies in that."

Nichols said Devon has yet to hire an architectural firm, though there have been "extensive conversations" with a potential candidate.

He estimates the building will span more than 1 million square feet. But when asked the potential height of the building, he could only cite the size of the floor plans. By dividing 1 million square feet by the proposed floor size, the height will be at least 37 stories.

Currently, the tallest building in Oklahoma City is downtown's 36-story Chase Tower.

"To have 1 million square feet, it will probably be the tallest building downtown," Nichols said. "That's not the goal #65533; I don't care about having the tallest building or not. I do care that it be an iconic building, that it be distinctive building. It will change the skyline downtown, and we want to build a building that everyone will be proud to have in Oklahoma City."

While he has toured buildings in major metropolitan areas including New York and Washington, Nichols could not single out a particular skyscraper as a personal favorite.

"I wish there were a building I could say, 'Go build that,'" Nichols said.

But Nichols does have some basic ideas as to what he does and does not want in a new corporate headquarters. He doesn't want the sort of windswept plazas that often are desolate around some of the downtown Oklahoma City towers built in the 1970s.

But he does want a large public space #65533; a large enclosed atrium with cafes, a large conference center, and an enclosed garden.

"We want a fairly large distinctive atrium that would be unlike anything that exists in Oklahoma at the moment," Nichols said.

He also wants to explore opening a never-completed tunnel that connects the Galleria parking deck to the gardens, and he hopes to somehow connect to The Underground pedestrian tunnels.

But before any of this can become reality, Devon must first respond to Urban Renewal's request for development proposals. Nichols isn't legally required to resign from his board seat, which he had held since he was first appointed by former Mayor Ron Norick. Nichols said he insisted on resigning to avoid any appearance of impropriety.

If selected as the developer for the site, Devon must still negotiate parking arrangements with the city for the City Center Garage. Nichols said the discussion would likely include adding floors to the west City Center garage, which opened two years ago. The tower would also have underground parking.

Urban Renewal Executive Director JoeVan Bullard called the proposed tower the largest single development in the agency's history.

"What a great, great day this is," Bullard said. "But there are always two sides to this story, and Larry not being an Urban Renewal commissioner any longer is really saddening. He has served admirably for 20 years. He's absolutely the best example of a corporate citizen willing to take on the responsibility to serve on this voluntary board, and he has been wonderful."






Hopefully it will be a skyscraper, but remember a skyscraper is 500' or more. They have 1 now "Tulsa has 4". Similar number of floors does not always add up to similar heights. Regardless 37 stories is a good catch.

May be a while, 10-15 years, before Tulsa sees a new highrise or skyscraper. 2 possibilities, Helmerich and Payne builds their new headquarters "though they seem to have nestled in nicely downtown from their spot by Utica Square", BOK consolidates some of their many offices spread about town into a new class A building downtown.

[sgrizzle]

They have a 36 story building over 500'? they got 12' ceilings?

I thought they were trying to oneup us, but really, it doesn't sound like it will be that huge. 2,000 people can fit in a pretty moderate sized building.

[cannon_fodder]

Well there goes their lead in downtown occupancy rates!

Congrats to OKC.  This is really good news for them and probably at least in part a result of their continued efforts to make downtown OKC livable.  I hope we can follow their example in that regard.

[bokworker]

Top indicator for the oil markets?

[Renaissance]

Yeah, this is really cool for OKC.  I certainly hope oil prices don't suddenly drop two years from now, or they may have a OneOK Tower situation, where a planned 80-story tower turned into a 20-story one.

I can't wait to see the design!

[okcpulse]

Actually, The Artist, from what I understand, a skyscraper is 400' or more by engineering standards.  I could be wrong, so I will double check.  If it is 500 feet, then you are correct on your count.  If it is 400 feet, then OKC has 4 skyscrapers, Tulsa has 7 or 8, I believe.

Regardless, I am very exited about this, especially since Devon wants to make this building a landmark icon.

[sgrizzle]

I can't find any real defining line, but here it is no matter than height you use:

500ft+  Tulsa 4   OKC 1
400ft+  Tulsa 6   OKC 4
300ft+  Tulsa 10  OKC 9
200ft+  Tulsa 16  OKC 16  Bartlesville 4
100ft+  Tulsa 29  OKC 17 Bartlesville 5

[FOTD]

"The end is near....."
Jack Bates and Charlie Thornton

[TheArtist]

From Wikipedia...


"A loose convention in the United States and Europe now draws the lower limit of a skyscraper at 150 meters (500 ft).[1] A skyscraper taller than 300 meters (984 ft) may be referred to as supertall. Shorter buildings are still sometimes referred to as skyscrapers if they appear to dominate their surroundings.

The somewhat arbitrary term skyscraper should not be confused with the slightly less arbitrary term highrise, defined by the Emporis Standards Committee as "...a multi-storey structure with at least 12 floors or 35 meters (115 feet) in height....:"




In this day and age where there are many typical apartment/condo buildings of 500' or more and its becoming ever more routine to see 1000' plus and now even 2,000' plus buildings. 500' is becoming more and more the lowest acceptable limit to reasonably be called a skyscraper. The other informal "we will let ya have it" definition is a tall building that dominates its surroundings.

[Kenosha]

Wanna bet it ends up like the ONEOK bldg, only half built?

Speaking of which, when are they gonna finish putting the rest of the floors on that building?

[Breadburner]

quote:Originally posted by Kenosha

Wanna bet it ends up like the ONEOK bldg, only half built?

Speaking of which, when are they gonna finish putting the rest of the floors on that building?

Bingo you beat me to it....Cities Service....

[Double A]

Smells like Enron to me, complete with golden parachutes for the CEOs in case of collapse.

[Gaspar]

quote:Originally posted by sgrizzle

I can't find any real defining line, but here it is no matter than height you use:

500ft+  Tulsa 4   OKC 1
400ft+  Tulsa 6   OKC 4
300ft+  Tulsa 10  OKC 9
200ft+  Tulsa 16  OKC 16  Bartlesville 4
100ft+  Tulsa 29  OKC 17 Bartlesville 5

Awsome!  We win!

Lets have a day of celebration!

I propose:

"Ours is bigger than yours day"!

We all have to dress like this:

[inteller]

quote:Originally posted by Double A

Smells like Enron to me, complete with golden parachutes for the CEOs in case of collapse.

unlike Enron, Devon isn't selling bull****.

The only way Devon and others like them go belly up is if everyone starts burning wood to keep warm.

If Devon wanted to they could probably build the building with cash only.

I think this is all BS though.  We don't need big buildings.....iconic or not.  We have plenty already.  get vacancy rates down to 15-12% and then start thinking about building capacity.  Once you start having a sustained healthy ecosystem like that you can start popping up buildings like Houston.

[swake]

quote:Originally posted by inteller

quote:Originally posted by Double A

Smells like Enron to me, complete with golden parachutes for the CEOs in case of collapse.

unlike Enron, Devon isn't selling bull****.

The only way Devon and others like them go belly up is if everyone starts burning wood to keep warm.

If Devon wanted to they could probably build the building with cash only.

I think this is all BS though.  We don't need big buildings.....iconic or not.  We have plenty already.  get vacancy rates down to 15-12% and then start thinking about building capacity.  Once you start having a sustained healthy ecosystem like that you can start popping up buildings like Houston.

Enron is a bad example, but Cities Service isn't.

Devon has long been rumored to be a buyout target. This building easily could end up like the Oneok Building which is now 17 floors instead of 60 because Cities Service was bought out during construction.