Thursday, September 13, 2012

Saturday in the Park..on a 113 degree day

For those who don't know, there is a reason I've gone very quiet at such a pivotal moment for Downtown OKC. I accepted a position in Cleveland, Ohio and I moved in August, after the Friends for a Better Boulevard Town Hall. I am loving Cleveland, especially while the weather is nice. I am still not sure whether I will keep this blog running, but in the meantime, here are some photos of how I like to remember Oklahoma City -- the new-and-improved Myriad Gardens:










































Saturday, August 11, 2012

Paramount film screening tonight!

The Paramount has opened this week. I was having dinner at Joey's and noticed their coffee shop was open the other day, so I stopped in to check it out... upon chatting with the fantastic owners, learned that they were having their first inaugural film screening TONIGHT at 6:30 and 8:30. It will be a classic film, but beyond that they wanted to keep the film title under wraps until the curtain went up. I am kicking myself that I had a prior engagement, but I hope anyone who loves classic films and seeing OKC continue to grow and evolve will come down and check it out.

To get in you simply sign up for a membership. They are an extremely informal, well-intended operation - by "membership" they mean that you write your name down on a piece of paper and contribute whatever you think your membership is worth. A dollar could get you in if you're just wanting to see this screening. I hope tons of people show up to pack the house and give these ladies a very successful grand opening.

On a side note, Lee Avenue has actually turned into a nice, cohesive corridor?!?




Thursday, August 9, 2012

Midtown has that new website smell

Midtown Renaissance: Full Video Coming Soon from Midtown Renaissance on Vimeo.

MidtownRenaissance (Howard/Clagg/et al.), which has recently announced a ton of really exciting deals such as a partnership with Coury Properties to renovate the Osler into an upscale boutique hotel, or their partnership with the city to build a parking garage on NW10th between the 1101 building (on Broadway) and the Frontline Church (on Robinson) - has unveiled a new website recently that is getting so much buzz it is currently down because the servers appear to be swamped. That is a very impressive new website.

For those who don't know, MidtownRenaissance is the group who has redeveloped almost all of NW 10th as well as a few properties north of that strip. Their residential properties are the toast of downtown - all completely-occupied, usually fully leased before they even finish construction, and they have done nothing but top-notch historic preservation projects such as: The Cline, The Packard, Hadden Hall, some properties west of Shartel, and so on. They also own the Plaza Court, recently redid 1212 N. Walker, and are now in the middle of renovating the Guardian Lofts (which has a fantastic new parking structure that actually contributes to the built environment), 1100 and 1101 N. Broadway, and will soon start the 430 Lofts and restoring the old Marion Hotel with structured parking across the street.

MidtownRenaissance is probably the most successful downtown developer there is, and due to their impressive track record, I would highly recommend them to anyone in the market for a new downtown rental. Oddly enough, one thing they haven't done at all is for-sale residential, and I'd be curious if they could raise the bar for that sector as well, as they have already raised the bar for the rental market. The only thing they've been unable to do is provide enough units for all the interest they've gotten - which proves one important point: That people in the market for downtown living spaces will pay for quality.

Here are some photos from their 1212 N. Walker project:


Wednesday, August 8, 2012

OKC all-around beautiful

For the last few weeks I've been busy canvassing OKC, from Capitol Hill up to Chesapeake, taking photos of neighborhoods and street scenes that show the everyday nitty-gritty of OKC's built environment. As I tired of seeing countless photos of something nice downtown, I yearned to see greatness in the everyday built environment, so I went out and found it. In fact, I found it pretty easily... OKC "outside of downtown" is really shaping up, too.

Here is a sneak peak at the hundreds of photos that I've taken to document where OKC is at in preparation of my leaving town again:




Will Rogers Theater/Will's Lobby Bar

Random street in Edgemere Park















NW13th and Robinson (we'll call this "pre-streetcar")


Small-scale buildings in A-Alley


Mount Saint Mary's Catholic prep school in S. OKC (near SW25th/Shartel)


Random street in Crestwood


Skyline from Western/Main avenues


The historic armory on NE23rd


New "Lincoln Renaissance" state-related development


NE30th/Lincoln Blvd.


A significant concentration of mid-century mod along Lincoln


La discoteca on SW29th


No way, people, walking, around a traffic circle?!?


The Walker Circle - one of OKC's most unique public spaces


Random street in Mesta Park


Random street between Mesta Park and Heritage Hills


Random street in Heritage Hills


The sign says Heritage Hills, so we'll go with that


New development in Gatewood (NW18th/Classen)


The Plaza District (NW16th Street)


Yup.


Random street in Gatewood.


Carey Place (a sub-district of Gatewood)


The Cleveland neighborhood


New outlet mall


"Oklahoma" in a snapshot


The beautiful new 23rd Street Courts development in Uptown23rd


Spruced-up buildings along Uptown23rd


Lights turned on at the old Tower Theatre (we'll also call this photo "pre-streetcar")


Interesting modern infills between Paseo and Uptown


The Classen condo tower and historic Gold Dome cultural center; Rt 66 landmarks both


New public housing in JFK, fantastic design by architect James Williams


New OMRF tower rises above Capitol View neighborhood


Old Catholic church along NE Kelley


The sign says Lincoln Terrace, so we'll go with that


Nearly got mowed over taking this photo, NW23rd/Hudson


The big Presbyterian church on N. Western


N. Walker in Midtown (we'll once again call this "pre-streetcar")


Random homes in Putnam Heights


Cool art moderne home in Crown Heights


Random home in Central Park.. yard signs!! lol


The top of Paseo Drive


Looking up Paseo Drive, beside the newly-renovated Paseo Plunge


New homes in Jefferson Park


*All photos taken on my phone, to explain the quality... and not ONE photo of downtown and all the new development over yonder (I'll admit Midtown is getting kinda close though I'd still argue it as the beginning of "North OKC").