OKC 2nd Tallest Skyscraper in the USA

[Athomsfere]

I've seen this float around a few times elsewhere now. OKC's newest idea that makes zero sense given their utter lack of any sort of density:

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/20 ... 958934007/

[Louie]

I give this a 5% chance of happening as depicted.

[Athomsfere]

I give this a 5% chance of happening as depicted.

Agreed. At some point building a supertall in OKC just makes zero sense. Land can't be that expensive when half of downtown is surface parking lots.

Unless the developer is trying to build an American Dubai: Flashy highrises next to absolute squalor and human rights violations. Which, maybe that makes sense for OKC.

[stormchaser]

Just imagine how ridiculous that would look if they actually built it...

[Greg S]

Even if they don't build the tall one, the rest of this development looks nice. Love to see the high rise retail. Decent chance that happens as they already have $200 million in incentives approved. OKC seems to make it to the finish line with a great deal of their projects. Their MAPs program just flat out transformed their downtown. Has been very impressive to watch.

[NEDodger]

134 stories in OKC!?!?! WOW

Like, I understand three skyscrapers at 45 stories a pop. But this....? Nonsensical.

[GenX]

They should call it the OKC Dong

[thenewguy]

They should call it the OKC Dong

haha

[PotatoeEatsFish]

They should call it the OKC Dong

haha

I’m never going to complain about the parking lots in downtown Omaha after seeing OKC’s downtown

[Doctor Fate]

I’m never going to complain about the parking lots in downtown Omaha after seeing OKC’s downtown

Salt Lake City's is worse. They have multiple super block surface parking lots.

[Garrett]

I’m never going to complain about the parking lots in downtown Omaha after seeing OKC’s downtown

Salt Lake City's is worse. They have multiple super block surface parking lots.

You are indeed correct it seems. Parking is 29% of SLC’s downtown vs 28% of OKC’s downtown. Omaha’s is 21%.

https://parkingreform.org/resources/parking-lot-map/

[Athomsfere]

I’m never going to complain about the parking lots in downtown Omaha after seeing OKC’s downtown

Salt Lake City's is worse. They have multiple super block surface parking lots.

You are indeed correct it seems. Parking is 29% of SLC’s downtown vs 28% of OKC’s downtown. Omaha’s is 21%.

https://parkingreform.org/resources/parking-lot-map/

I love that site. It's been in my bookmarks for maybe 6 months and gets likely a good amount of traffic.

There is something about being in downtown KC though, other than walking through Bricktown the downtown feels just so sad.

Maybe the small footprint of Omaha's CBD and overall density somehow works out here.

Lincoln is 23%, but it doesn't feel like more parking lots than Omaha.

Wichita is 35%, and that tracks. Downtown Wichita feels like it might as well just be a parking lot.

[Louie]

There is something about being in downtown KC though, other than walking through Bricktown the downtown feels just so sad.

Was that supposed to be OKC?

Lincoln is 23%, but it doesn't feel like more parking lots than Omaha.

Wichita is 35%, and that tracks. Downtown Wichita feels like it might as well just be a parking lot.

Totally agree on Lincoln not feeling that 'parking lot-y'. Though a lot of their parking is on the fringes of downtown to the east and south and not necessarily near a lot of the heavier walked areas.

[Athomsfere]

There is something about being in downtown KC though, other than walking through Bricktown the downtown feels just so sad.

Was that supposed to be OKC?

Lincoln is 23%, but it doesn't feel like more parking lots than Omaha.

Wichita is 35%, and that tracks. Downtown Wichita feels like it might as well just be a parking lot.

Totally agree on Lincoln not feeling that 'parking lot-y'. Though a lot of their parking is on the fringes of downtown to the east and south and not necessarily near a lot of the heavier walked areas.

Yes, should have been OKC.

[CBJason]

The developer is now trying to make this the tallest in the country.

https://journalrecord.com/2024/01/propo ... -approval/

[Garrett]

God I need to see that pro forma where this makes any sense

[skinzfan23]

Are they insane?

[CBJason]

I'm waiting for April 1st to roll around and find out this is one elaborate April Fool's joke!

[Dusty]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realest ... 99b2&ei=14

Not sure if this is the same project, but modified plans. It's interesting! Seems a little extreme considering the rest of OKC downtown.

[CBJason]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realest ... 99b2&ei=14

Not sure if this is the same project, but modified plans. It's interesting! Seems a little extreme considering the rest of OKC downtown.

Really? Yes it's the same, even if it's behind a paywall, I explained the change.....

[Renovator2559]

OKC can't be this "bold", after all the lawsuits being filed in billionaire's row at NYC for many of the issues present in some of its super tall thin buildings. There are more building design challenges when building such tall buildings.

‘Intolerable’ noise and stuck in the elevator for hours: NYC Billionaire Row condo board sues developers over 1,500 defects
https://fortune.com/2021/09/24/intolera ... 0-defects/



If OKC believes that having supertall buildings will make their city vibrant, I say go for it. Its their city not ours. Omaha is much more focused on maintaining its great livability stats.

[GenX]

The developer is now trying to make this the tallest in the country.

https://journalrecord.com/2024/01/propo ... -approval/

Now it looks even more like a dick…

What is that white stuff coming out of the tip?

[Cermak]

Good for them , maybe they want to be the next Dubai. This would be the 5th tallest building in the world.

[thenewguy]

dumb

[Linkin5]

The Vortex Tower seemed more realistic and aesthetically pleasing and that was one of the most hideous projects ever.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

This could have been, like, 9 mid-rises instead and then OKC could have, you know, a skyline.

[CBJason]

This could have been, like, 9 mid-rises instead and then OKC could have, you know, a skyline.

Yeah, I keep thinking this same thing. And, actually they would probably still be more like high rises than mid-rises. Also, it would have been nice if they could have just bought the land where the current arena is and did the project there. It would have been even closer to all the downtown core buildings instead of the low-rise bricktown area.

[Garrett]

This could have been, like, 9 mid-rises instead and then OKC could have, you know, a skyline.

Yeah, I keep thinking this same thing. And, actually they would probably still be more like high rises than mid-rises. Also, it would have been nice if they could have just bought the land where the current arena is and did the project there. It would have been even closer to all the downtown core buildings instead of the low-rise bricktown area.

Definitely. For every floor you add to a skyscraper the budget increases on an exponential level. They could have built way more with less, instead of pushing this bizarre fantasy.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

This could have been, like, 9 mid-rises instead and then OKC could have, you know, a skyline.

Yeah, I keep thinking this same thing. And, actually they would probably still be more like high rises than mid-rises. Also, it would have been nice if they could have just bought the land where the current arena is and did the project there. It would have been even closer to all the downtown core buildings instead of the low-rise bricktown area.

Indeed. I think I have a pretty generous definition of what a mid-rise is. This could certainly be 9 high-rises. And it's not like they're strapped for land. Literally across the street from the proposed site is a vacant lot the size of 8 city blocks.

And what would the space on the top floors of the building even have a view of?

[CBJason]

And what would the space on the top floors of the building even have a view of?

The OKC skyline and Tulsa skyline?! Lol

[GenX]

And what would the space on the top floors of the building even have a view of?

Space.

[MadJack]

This could have been, like, 9 mid-rises instead and then OKC could have, you know, a skyline.

Yeah, I keep thinking this same thing. And, actually they would probably still be more like high rises than mid-rises. Also, it would have been nice if they could have just bought the land where the current arena is and did the project there. It would have been even closer to all the downtown core buildings instead of the low-rise bricktown area.

Indeed. I think I have a pretty generous definition of what a mid-rise is. This could certainly be 9 high-rises. And it's not like they're strapped for land. Literally across the street from the proposed site is a vacant lot the size of 8 city blocks.

And what would the space on the top floors of the building even have a view of?

They would have a great view of the expansive Oklahoma prairie which would be very cool. The sunsets/sunrises and lights at night would be cool. I have no problem with a city doing something bold like this. Not every city has to have a "proportional" skyline. That said, i can't imagine any way this would make financial sense.

[nativeomahan]

I read the story as to how this project has evolved to be now 1907 feet tall.
And here I thought Nebraska had a lock with our state capitol building being the “peenis of the plains”.
I can just see the OKC Chamber of Commerce’s new ad campaign: “OKC, Like Dubai, but with less sand and more tornados!”

[Busguy2010]

Oh come on, you all know we'd all be slobbering if Omaha went and tried this. I hope it works. I think it actually looks really good. Just imagine this at 15th & Dodge. You would see it from nearly everywhere in the city. Imagine a building 3× as tall as First National and viewing it from one of the common vantage points of 90th & Dodge.

[Linkin5]

Oh come on, you all know we'd all be slobbering if Omaha went and tried this. I hope it works. I think it actually looks really good. Just imagine this at 15th & Dodge. You would see it from nearly everywhere in the city. Imagine a building 3× as tall as First National and viewing it from one of the common vantage points of 90th & Dodge.

The skyline would look incredibly disproportionate and just…bad. I would not be excited if this was in Omaha.

[Erik]

First, we have been burned too many times by speculative developers to be excited for something big to be built (Wallstreet, Civic, UP etc).

Second I'd be very curious as to what kind of backdoor prize the developer is trying get from the city/state to build something, anything, at that site.

Third, high-rises are awesome, but even if this comes to fruition, wouldn't it be better to build out several tall buildings than to put it all into one phallic?

I'm trying to understand this, how do you compute anamolies into logic? Mutual of Omaha was within two standard deviations, this is like thirty

[nebport5]

Oh come on, you all know we'd all be slobbering if Omaha went and tried this. I hope it works. I think it actually looks really good. Just imagine this at 15th & Dodge. You would see it from nearly everywhere in the city. Imagine a building 3× as tall as First National and viewing it from one of the common vantage points of 90th & Dodge.

The skyline would look incredibly disproportionate and just…bad. I would not be excited if this was in Omaha.

Yes, I would rather have two in the 750-900 feet. Or even a couple 350-500 footers and 1-2 750-800 footers. Anything over 1000ft would really diminish Mutual, OFNC and the rest of the skyline. Plus the design of that thing is uninspiring. It's just tall for the sake of being tall. I feel like this whole project is just an ego trip for the developer.

[nebugeater]

I will go ahead and say it.

OKC has already had too much destruction with the bombing in the 90's. They do not need to build another target that could be a focal point at some point in time for the wrong reasons.

[thenewguy]

I will go ahead and say it.

OKC has already had too much destruction with the bombing in the 90's. They do not need to build another target that could be a focal point at some point in time for the wrong reasons.

to be fair, they shouldn't have built the Freedom tower in NYC either then. That being said, I don't think they should build this because it will look stupid.

[nebugeater]

I will go ahead and say it.

OKC has already had too much destruction with the bombing in the 90's. They do not need to build another target that could be a focal point at some point in time for the wrong reasons.

to be fair, they shouldn't have built the Freedom tower in NYC either then. That being said, I don't think they should build this because it will look stupid.

I get what you are saying, but to me, anyway, there is a little difference. In NYC, it is one of many. Sure, they can be targets, but the environment is different.

In OKC, it would stand out like a sore thumb and be in an environment that I would speculate is less monitored also.


EDIT:
I too do not think it will ever be built.