OKC could get skyscraper twice as tall as Devon (Oklahoma City: apartment, rental)

[saibot]

Originally Posted by Nyc1664

The Devon Energy Center has a popular restaurant on its top two floors in part due to the views this tower brings. When the Devon Tower was under construction, a lot of people were asking the developer if they were going to include an observation deck on top. The developers wanted more than that, so they included a restaurant that the public could dine at. So, an observation deck on the top floors of this building would make sense.

I understand that, and I'm not trying to be rude. There may well be a small subset of people who are willing to travel the globe to visit all the world's tallest buildings. Of course, people who already live in OKC would enjoy going up the tower to eat at the restaurant and look around. But I've been to Oklahoma multiple times (my sister lives in Edmond) and I can't imagine too many people making a special trip there just to see an aerial view of Oklahoma City. I mean, even if this was actually the tallest tower in the country, wouldn't it be much more worthwhile to most people to visit New York City and go up one of the skyscrapers there?

[Threestep2]

Originally Posted by saibot

I understand that, and I'm not trying to be rude. There may well be a small subset of people who are willing to travel the globe to visit all the world's tallest buildings. Of course, people who already live in OKC would enjoy going up the tower to eat at the restaurant and look around. But I've been to Oklahoma multiple times (my sister lives in Edmond) and I can't imagine too many people making a special trip there just to see an aerial view of Oklahoma City. I mean, even if this was actually the tallest tower in the country, wouldn't it be much more worthwhile to most people to visit New York City and go up one of the skyscrapers there?

Your sister's impressions of Oklahoma are absolutely negative if memory does not fail me. What has she seen/experienced besides Edmond? What has she shown you?
NYC was part of my work territory for the last 2+ years. There is nothing I need to spend time and money on.

[saibot]

Originally Posted by Threestep2

Your sister's impressions of Oklahoma are absolutely negative if memory does not fail me.What has she seen/experienced besides Edmond? What has she shown you?
NYC was part of my work territory for the last 2+ years. There is nothing I need to spend time and money on.

I wouldn't say absolutely negative. She says many of the people are nice, and the cost of living is low.

But you misunderstand me. I'm not judging Oklahoma, just musing that the idea suggested in this thread that people will flock to visit or even potentially move to the state because it has a very tall tower sounds a bit like wishful thinking. I have never actually been to New York City, but I've been to Tokyo, and have been at the top of Tokyo Tower, which was then (no longer is) the tallest tower there. The view of the vast city with Mt Fuji in the background was staggering. I like panoramic views. But I certainly wouldn't have bothered to fly all the way to Japan just to go up a tower and see the view. There would have to be more, a whole lot more, to make it worth my while.

[dontbelievehim]

Originally Posted by saibot

I wouldn't say absolutely negative. She says many of the people are nice, and the cost of living is low.

But you misunderstand me. I'm not judging Oklahoma, just musing that the idea suggested in this thread that people will flock to visit or even potentially move to the state because it has a very tall tower sounds a bit like wishful thinking. I have never actually been to New York City, but I've been to Tokyo, and have been at the top of Tokyo Tower, which was then (no longer is) the tallest tower there. The view of the vast city with Mt Fuji in the background was staggering. I like panoramic views. But I certainly wouldn't have bothered to fly all the way to Japan just to go up a tower and see the view. There would have to be more, a whole lot more, to make it worth my while.

I laughed at the observation deck idea, too. But on second thought, I think it might do better than some people think. A lot of people drive through Oklahoma on road trips. this building will pull some of those people to stay in okc to eat and take photos of the building. Maybe they all won't go up on it, but they'll stay in town to see the building. As for the deck, I think people from all over the plains region will visit to check it out. Omaha, kc, Dallas, etc. itll be more for them than for big city coastal folks. The deck will be used and have it's fans.

[Nyc1664]

Originally Posted by dontbelievehim

I laughed at the observation deck idea, too. But on second thought, I think it might do better than some people think. A lot of people drive through Oklahoma on road trips. this building will pull some of those people to stay in okc to eat and take photos of the building. Maybe they all won't go up on it, but they'll stay in town to see the building. As for the deck, I think people from all over the plains region will visit to check it out. Omaha, kc, Dallas, etc. itll be more for them than for big city coastal folks. The deck will be used and have it's fans.

Oklahoma City is also known for the memorial to the 1995 bombing, the state capitol, and Route 66. There are tourist attractions related to those and an observation deck here would certainly add to the tourism appeal.

[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by dontbelievehim

I laughed at the observation deck idea, too. But on second thought, I think it might do better than some people think. A lot of people drive through Oklahoma on road trips. this building will pull some of those people to stay in okc to eat and take photos of the building. Maybe they all won't go up on it, but they'll stay in town to see the building. As for the deck, I think people from all over the plains region will visit to check it out. Omaha, kc, Dallas, etc. itll be more for them than for big city coastal folks. The deck will be used and have it's fans.

I agree. It might also be motivation for cross country travelers to spend the night in OKC instead of perhaps another place on the I-40 or I-44 corridor.

For instance, it might cause somebody to say, "hey, let's stay in OKC and go up the big building" instead of trying to eat the big steak in Amarillo. LOL.

[Johnhw222]

Current okc downtown vacancy rate is over 30% now. No lender is going to loan to built this and I doubt the developers have cash to build it without a lender. Makes zero sense and makes okc seem like a joke not something good.

[brock2010]

I really hope that this isn't a scam as some of you believe but I do believe that scaling it down by building 3 or even 2 towers about 60-65 stories each would look better than one 134 story building. I read another article recently that showed the proposed height increasing from 1,750 ft to over 1,900 ft.

[oil capital]

I may have figured out the game they are playing. They may be following the model Hunt Realty used in Dallas to tease maximum subsidies out of the City Council. Step 1: Post fantasy renderings of (in Hunt's case) an 85-story building; Step 2: city council drools and gives you whatever subsidy you want; Step 3: Build a 12-story building.


The developer proposing this OKC tower may have gotten carried away and made it so ridiculous even a city council doesn't fall for it.

[oil capital]

Originally Posted by saibot

I understand that, and I'm not trying to be rude. There may well be a small subset of people who are willing to travel the globe to visit all the world's tallest buildings. Of course, people who already live in OKC would enjoy going up the tower to eat at the restaurant and look around. But I've been to Oklahoma multiple times (my sister lives in Edmond) and I can't imagine too many people making a special trip there just to see an aerial view of Oklahoma City. I mean, even if this was actually the tallest tower in the country, wouldn't it be much more worthwhile to most people to visit New York City and go up one of the skyscrapers there?

Yeah, the idea that any significant number of people are going to make a special trip to OKC to see this tower or go up to its observation level reminds me of Tulsans who were convinced that having a Cesar Pelli-designed arena was going to generate large tourism traffic to Tulsa LOL.