OKC Core To Shore

http://okmet.org/bb/gallery/4_09_02_07_9_06_05.jpg

http://okmet.org/bb/gallery/4_09_02_07_8_58_25.JPG

The Core To Shore team was created by the mayor last year to help plan the future of land between downtown's current southern boundary, the elevated I-40, after the highway is relocated about 5 blocks south to be replaced with a wide, landscaped boulevard. About 1,300 acres of mostly undeveloped or very lightly developed land lays between downtown and the north bank of the Oklahoma River.

At their most recent meeting, on February 7, planners presented the most detailed redevelopment plan so far. The committee has whittled down choices, choosing what to keep and throw out of various designs, and are still refining the final development plan.

Common elements are a gigantic parkspace stretching all the way from the current Myriad Gardens to the river, retail lifestyle center with residential elements, a large new convention center, transit center, a marina lake connected to the River for recreational boating, and a variety of residential styles from highrise down to dense single family homes.

The most recent plan included (for some reason- I don't know why, but the planner is from out of town) space for a 30,000 student university and student housing. The committee strongly felt that would be inappropriate, considering the size of OU with campuses in DT OKC and 30 minutes away in Norman, and OSU just an hour away, and rapidly expanding Oklahoma City University just two miles away. Instead, they suggested a nice amateur sports complex with all kinds of facilities to attract national cometitions etc. Other ideas for the property currently occupied by a gigantic cotton mill include a loop extension of the Bricktown canal and more mixed use development along it.

As you can see from the renderings, this is a MAJOR redevelopment effort for Oklahoma City, which will really change the way we view downtown- because currently, downtown is NOT south of I-40, so this will really double the size of the urban core and be a huge part of the city's future.

That looks completely HUGE!!! I don't think I've seen something that big of magnitude so close to a city center in my lifetime. The only thing I can compare that with is Milwaukee's Park East corridor redevelopment...

Glad to see OKC improve itself.

It's insane to me that there would be "about 1,300 acres of mostly undeveloped or very undeveloped land" right next to downtown Oklahoma City. How is it possible that a city as large as OKC could have this magical patch of undeveloped land right next to it's core... not to mention the fact that the parcel in question also borders a river!

I'm really not sure if it's different for other cities but in Milwaukee, almost every piece of land is developed in one way or another within (at the very least) five miles outside of the CBD. It's almost beyond my understanding how a city the size of OKC could grow that big without taking over the very land in question here.

An appropriate comparison to Milwaukee would be the efforts underway to redevelop the Menomonee Valley...adjacent to Downtown, lots of undeveloped or under-developed land, 1000+ acres in area, and a river/canals running through the site. The type of development in each project is different, but the magnitude of the projects seem quite similar.

That dwarfs something like the Park East corridor, which is only about 60-70 acres.

Also, from looking at OKC satellite images via Google, the area in the project doesn't appear to be so much "undeveloped" in the sense of wide-open fields, but rather various patches of vacant land scattered among low-density developed blocks and parkland.

An appropriate comparison to Milwaukee would be the efforts underway to redevelop the Menomonee Valley...

Ah yes, that would make sense now wouldn't it so I guess it isn't so unbelievable after all. Now that I think of the Menomonee Valley, I wonder how many other cities have similar undeveloped space. I guess when I read the original post I pictured a vast open area abutting downtown skyscrapers. I think of the Menomonee Valley as a removed portion of land with regard to downtown because of the freeway and river cutting it off.

At any rate, the Menomonee Valley redevelopment plan may be a good comparison with regard to size but it's nothing in comparison to what OKC is doing with their land. It'll be very interesting to see how this Core to Shore idea pans out. Securing funding, obtaining resident approval, dealing with political red tape, juggling such a large variety of development and handling everything else that comes with a project of this magnitude will be an extreme challenge for everyone involved.

Wow, That's a huge plan! I hope it all happens.

They're doing well with getting public support by holding public meetings for residents of the area in question and of the city in general to voice their opinions on what should happen there.

The reason this is mostly undeveloped is because the river used to have a terrible problem with flooding, and the river was never a development spur because it was always an empty ditch that needed to be mowed twice a year. We dammed it in 2000 and created a 7-mile Oklahoma River, (basically a lake in a riverbed) with parks and trails. Development is definitely going to start to heat up there one way or another and it's good that the city is trying to organize it.

A few more sketches from the April meeting. The committee is getting fairly close to the point of requesting official proposals from developers. They are looking at some very interesting configurations for the Boulevard, and they heavily favor a landscaped one with wide sidewalks, few travel lanes, and side sleeves almost like feeder roads for parking etc. Apparently it's a European kind of configuration that is also being tried in California and NY.

The most detailed portion of these sketches is the two highrise towers closest to downtown that will be part of the Lifestyle Center component of the plan. I'm wondering if that will be publicly developed. Should be interesting to see what happens.

View from the River.

http://okmet.org/bb/gallery/4_16_04_07_4_42_46.jpg

View from above downtown:

http://okmet.org/bb/gallery/4_16_04_07_4_46_50.jpg

wow, those last two are really great. i live in oklahoma city and had heard of this core to shore but had no idea it would affect downtown in such a major way. i really like those two concepts

http://newsok.com/article/3181248

The Core to Shore plan includes:

•$3 billion of development over three decades

•A 40-acre central park with a promenade park connecting it to the Oklahoma River

•3,000 households in three new neighborhoods

•500,000 square feet of retail space

•2 million to 4 million square feet of office space

•Sustainable design for buildings and pedestrian-friendly roadways

•A new 400,000 to 1,000,000 square foot convention center

•A 500 to 1,000 room convention center hotel

•Transit center

•Elementary school

•Restored Union Station



restating the elements of the C2S plan

The latest news is that OKC citizens overwhelmingly passed a huge bond issue last week, which funds various civic improvements, and includes money for parkland acquisition and infrastructure improvements in C2S.

The first big thing they need to acquire is the Post Office, which sits smack in the middle of the proposed park.

Yeah, acquiring the property and money to fund it is what's going to take the three decades lol. Wish it wouldn't have to take so long, by then everything will be outdated (hopefully not) but we'll see what happens, this is awesome for OKC. It'll make it look like a real NBA city.

Well not really. Other than the post office, Salvation Army, and Goodwill, there's nothing really of value that they'll need to acquire. It shouldn't take long at all. The post office is the big hurdle.

Oh really? I was thinking several blocks of property and businesses that were in the way.

yeah there is several blocks of businesses. Old dingy bars, and crappy businesses, junk yards, etc. They won't have any problem acquiring the land from those types of businesses. JBrown is right, the only ones i see them having a problem with is Post Office, Salvation Army, and Goodwill.

Well, and the whole "few decades" thing doesn't thrill me, but it is a big project.

Yeah me either...

Here is a two page pdf that is nothing but renderings if u want some pics of it all. There is couple in there that I havent seen.

Core to Shore (http://okc.gov/planning/coretoshore/visuals/coreshorrenderings.pdf)

Such a big project... Hopefully it'll be worth it in 20 years.

It will certainly be worth it... We'll have a huge new park and a lot of new options for urban, downtown, WATERFRONT living. Plus a huge new convention center and thousands of square feet of viable retail spaces along streets that will have high levels of pedestrian (and out-of-towner) traffic. Instead of junkyards and decrepit old buildings and vacant lots forming a wall between downtown and the emerging recreational corridor on the river.

This redevelopment push is going to start taking traction soon, and we'll even have something to enjoy out of it in a few years. Now I'm seeing that there is the possibility that development of this park may be a more ongoing project that takes place in phases over years, but there will be some park space that we can enjoy five years from now. And remember how fast the last 5 years of redevelopment have whizzed by. It will also be more common to spend a day in downtown and include the river because the trails will be nicer by then, and there will be additional boathouses added to the Oklahoma River.

The reason that this project will take 20-30 years is because we're also talking about somewhere around 10,000 units of residential units, some office towers, and a bunch of retail. This isn't just a city project, it's a community project that will be half-and-half Civic and Private Sector in execution.

True. It's all great, and it will be great for OKC.

The final concept is in. Or, final for now at least. The shapes in the blocks represent different development types (rowhomes, midrise/highrise, dense single family, retail, etc) and aren't meant to show that all the buildings in the area will be the same thing repeated over and over again... The park element is gigantic. It also shows a large expansion of the Bricktown canal to be the center of a new mixed use district south of Lower Bricktown, and several areas of development that will be focused around inlet ponds branching off the river. Also significant, the new convention center to the east of the park, and the large retail complex with office and residential towers north of the park.

http://okc.gov/planning/coretoshore/visuals/September07_Land_Use.jpg

A conceptual video of C2S, narrated by Mayor Mick.

http://www.newsok.tv/?bctid=1399221803&bclid=1111621425

You beat me to it Shane! =P

OMG
THIS IS HUGE
OMG
OMG
IM GONNA LIVE IN WHICHEVER NEIGHBORHOODS THE RICHEST
OR MAYBE IN THE COTTON EXCHANGE PENTHOUSE

OMG
THIS IS HUGE
OMG
OMG
IM GONNA LIVE IN WHICHEVER NEIGHBORHOODS THE RICHEST
OR MAYBE IN THE COTTON EXCHANGE PENTHOUSE

Yeah you can live in the Cotton Exchange penthouse :lol:

If anybody wants to see the -coolest- rendering video, check this out:

http://imaginativeamerica.com/2008/07/skyline-ink-core-to-shore-animation/

I just realized in those drawings that part of the plan is to extend the canal and make it entirely connected. That's going to be a amazing and hopefully the stretch they plan on extending will be wider.

Yeah this is the new Crosstown Expressway bridge over the Bricktown Canal:

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49/DougLoudenback/landrun/landrun_7_29_2008_42s.jpg

Oh ok, nvm I know what that is. That's in one of those conceptual videos, I think the one with Mayor Mick speaking. I see what's going on now lol. Wow that is really nice, very impressive. Going to be pretty awesome, SRG you're going to have to move back here when you're done with school, come on. Jk.

I have some Calgary photo threads coming.. Calgary aint half bad.

But yeah, I do still plan on coming home.

Calgary looks like a real nice city. It's bigger than I originally though. But then again I didn't know anything about it.

That bridge isn't over any canal I know, and I drive down the canal every day.

I think it's in one of the videos, it shows a water taxi going under a bridge like the one SRG showed and cars going over it.

The one in the rendering might be the eventual bridge they build when the new boulevard crosses the canal. The existing bridge could be for the extra extension of the inlet by the boathouse that they show in the final concept sketch, looks like it will come very near to the southern terminus of the canal, where the pictured bridge is located.

Shane is correct. That bridge shown in the pic, provided by SRG, is where the inlet next to Regatta Park will be extended underneath. It will indeed be very very close to the canal, but at different elevations. The canal is higher.

Also...that picture shows off how beautiful a otherwise bland highway can be. Its really going to be something when completed. Lets just hope that when they do finish this, that they'll focus on upgrading, i.e. painting, landscaping, other interstates around town. I wish overpasses on I-240 were kept maintained, but alas the shrubs are either dead, overgrown, or wittled. Grass is overgrown. But other than then those minor glitches, I find I-240 a very attractive interstate. The Centennial Expressway is going to be nice after its done also. And then I-44 is in okay condition I guess. Outdated, but fairly maintained. Look at me, ranting away. Haha.

They're just freeways. Hopefully the C2S area will NOT be dominated by the new I-40, and that's going to be the main challenge of OKC city planners' for a while.

Well, with the passage of MAPS 3 and the new I-40 to be completed within 2 yrs,look's like C2S will likely come to fruition!!!!!So let's see,anew I-40,convention cntr,central park,modern rail based street car,OK river(Boathouse row,olympic racecourse,white water rapids),massive overhaul of the myriad gardens,massive street improvements,Indian cultural cntr,Devon tower,sandridge energy's overhaul of the old KM property,Ford center upgrades,and alot more!!!! all going to be a GO in OKC(just downtown)just in the next 10 yrs!!!!CRANES!CRANES!CRANES!alot of closed streets and loud noise and detours are going to lead to and unreconizable incredible looking city!